Well-stated, Rob. I particularly agree with you here:

“i personally believe that the system is rigged against people based on the size of their bank accounts, not the color of their skin. …i would argue it is policies that have driven a disparity in poverty proportions by race, not a direct result of racism by the police.”

Of course there are racist police officers in this country, and of course their racism sometimes prompts aggression against the suspect. It would be naïve to suggest otherwise. It is also true that black and Hispanic Americans -by proportion - face more aggression from police that white Americans do.

The point of controversy is whether this is prompted by systemic or individual racism. If there were any tangible, codified policy in law enforcement or the courts that white people be given special treatment, I would agree that systemic racism against non-whites exists in them. But that is simply not the case today. Some might understandably argue that the individuals in the system are themselves the system. But I believe that this thinking casts blame in the wrong place. By that logic, one could say that an organization of 1,000 people is systemically racist if only 2 people in it are racially biased. There are true examples of systemic racism against non-whites that exist, but they exist in soft forms that are well-intended towards non-whites. To see examples, I invite you to read my article “The Problem With ‘Equity.’”

The racial disparities in policing and criminal sentencing, based on my research, are less a result of racism and more a result of - as you say - racial wealth disparities, as well as the relative concentration of blacks and Hispanics in highly-populated areas where police presence is heavier.

Hopefully it’s apparent that I’m not looking to dismiss the legitimate experiences that non-whites do face in America. But I believe that there is too much conspiratorial rhetoric against white people that impedes our discourse on this nation’s social ills.