When black people are stopped or arrested for breaking the law liberals tell us it’s racist because police are racially profiling them. As preposterous as that sounds liberals are now claiming that automated traffic cameras, which are incapable of racial profiling, are also racist.
ProPublica did an “important” study on the red-light cameras in Chicago and found that black and Hispanic people disproportionately received tickets, which obviously means racism.
A ProPublica analysis of millions of citations found that households in majority Black and Hispanic ZIP codes received tickets at around twice the rate of those in white areas between 2015 and 2019.
The consequences have been especially punishing in Black neighborhoods, which have been hit with more than half a billion dollars in penalties over the last 15 years, contributing to thousands of vehicle impoundments, driver’s license suspensions and bankruptcies, according to ProPublica’s analysis.
“We felt the brunt of it the way white people didn’t,” said Olatunji Oboi Reed, a longtime activist for racial equity in transportation in Chicago who has received a handful of camera tickets over the years. “Fortunately, I’ve always been in a situation where I can survive financially, unlike many Black and brown people in the city; one ticket is throwing their whole finances in a hurricane.”
Maybe the “racism” of this comes from the fact that there are more of these cameras in the hood. Then again…
Today, motorists are monitored by cameras at close to 300 locations around the city, making Chicago’s automated traffic enforcement program one of the largest in the country. Both red-light and speed cameras are distributed roughly evenly among the city’s Black, Latino and white neighborhoods.
The biggest problem with this theory is that these traffic cams don’t come equipped with racial recognition software. They hand out tickets to people who blow through red lights and speed.
Here’s a thought: maybe black people disregard the law more and are shittier drivers. This is something ProPublica hit upon without realizing it:
The irony is that some of the factors that contribute to ticketing disparities, such as wider streets and lack of sidewalks in low-income communities of color, also make those neighborhoods more dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists and even motorists. According to a 2017 city report, Black Chicagoans are killed in traffic crashes at twice the rate of white residents.
That’s not irony, it’s called a pattern of behavior. More black people get traffic cam tickets and more black people are killed by other black people in traffic accidents. It doesn’t take a genius to see the connection here but since when are liberal ding-dongs smart?
ProPublica attempted to show that red-light cameras are racist but what they’ve actually proven is law enforcement in general is not racist. If blacks are “disproportionately” nabbed by both automated cameras and human police officers at about the same rate, that means black people commit a disproportionate amount of crime.
None of these racial justice warriors are arguing that black people didn’t commit the offenses they are accused of, they are trying to say arresting or ticketing black people itself is racist, which is stupid.
The great thing about this latest form of insipid racism is that is very easy to beat. Don’t want a traffic ticket? Drive safe and obey the f*cking law.
