Racial Reckoning Reduces Police Shootings
False Assumption: The racial reckoning and intense focus on racial bias in policing after George Floyd's death would reduce fatal police shootings.
Written by FARAgent on February 10, 2026
George Floyd died on May 25, 2020. His demise triggered the racial reckoning and great awokening. Law enforcement's use of deadly force became an obsessive topic. Google Ngram shows 'police shootings' spiked in American books.
The hubbub focused on racial bias in police killings as the cause of the storm. Activists and media demanded change. Yet fatal police shootings proved an almost complete flop. Numbers went up every single year since 2016.
Five years later, discussion has faded since Trump's reelection. Data from graphs shows no reduction. Hope remains we learned not to do it again.
People Involved
- In the years following George Floyd's death in 2020, Steve Sailer emerged as a persistent critic of the prevailing narrative. He wrote columns and analyses that questioned the effectiveness of the racial reckoning. Five years later, he warned that society should avoid repeating such episodes, pointing to data that contradicted the optimistic assumptions. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“I guess we learned not to do it again. Or so I hope.”— What did we learn in the 5 years since George Floyd?
Organizations Involved
Media outlets and publishing houses played a central role in amplifying the idea during what became known as the great awokening. They filled bookshelves and airwaves with discussions of police shootings, turning the topic into a cultural fixation. Google Ngram data tracked this surge, showing how institutional incentives in journalism and literature sustained the momentum. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“Google Ngram’s graph of all the times “police shootings” appeared in American books from 1900 to 2022:”— What did we learn in the 5 years since George Floyd?
The Foundation
Elites in 2020 held that racial bias was the root cause of disproportionate police killings, making the racial reckoning appear as a logical fix. This view gained traction amid the protests and public outrage that summer, seeming credible at the time. Yet growing evidence suggests it overlooked existing data that showed no real impact on shooting rates, increasingly recognized as a flaw in the foundation. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“the issue that was said to be the cause of the storm: Is there racial bias in police killings?”— What did we learn in the 5 years since George Floyd?
How It Spread
The assumption spread rapidly through cultural channels starting in the mid-2010s. Books and media outlets obsessed over police shootings during the great awokening, embedding the idea in public discourse. This relentless focus helped it take hold, even as the debate over its validity remained unsettled. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“law enforcement’s use of deadly force was an obsessive topic during the great awokening. Here’s Google Ngram’s graph of all the times “police shootings” appeared in American books from 1900 to 2022:”— What did we learn in the 5 years since George Floyd?
Harm Caused
The racial reckoning did not deliver the promised decline in fatal police shootings. Instead, numbers rose every year since 2016, marking a clear policy failure. Growing evidence suggests this outcome wasted resources and deepened divisions, though some still debate the full extent of the harm. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“all the hubbub was an almost complete flop at reducing fatal police shootings, which have gone up every single year since 2016:”— What did we learn in the 5 years since George Floyd?
Downfall
By the mid-2020s, the assumption began to crack under scrutiny. Data revealed fatal police shootings increasing annually since 2016, directly challenging the expected reductions. This trend, increasingly seen as evidence of failure, prompted critics to question the racial reckoning's core promises, even as the consensus on its flaws continues to build. [1]
▶ Supporting Quotes (1)
“fatal police shootings, which have gone up every single year since 2016:”— What did we learn in the 5 years since George Floyd?
Sources
- [1]