White Privilege? Recently, in social media discussions arising from police executions of black Americans, friends of mine have expressed ideas that seem to reflect a belief that racism doesn’t exist. Briefly, what follows is an attempt to factually establish the existence of systemic racism in the United States. Since the events inspiring outrage lately were encounters with police, let’s start there. Encounters with Police Black drivers are more likely to be stopped by the police, and three times more likely to have their car searched. They are arrested for drug-related offenses at twice the rate despite the fact that whites use drugs at comparable rates. Once arrested, blacks are more likely to be jailed awaiting trial, probably due to poverty. This disrupts their family and work life, may impede future employment, and makes it harder to prepare a defense. Black defendants are more likely to be offered plea deals that include prison time. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/20