Unfortunately, I think when it comes to experiences it becomes too easy to let the things we see and experience become what we consider the complete truth.

To illustrate, here in Peoria we have about a 25 percent black population. Now, when I suggest liberal beliefs in conflict, one thing I mean is that if you took the sheer number of our shootings and murders, black males by population perentages are over-represented and vastly. So without looking deeply at all of what I consider to be all of the causal factors, it is easy to extrapolate that race is possibly a causal factor. But it is deeper than that and the mere over-representation.

Also in policing, we deal with not only the same people over and over again, but people in the same typology groups as well, so again, it is easy to ascribe these behaviors to these groups of people just because numerically they are overrepresented, rather than admitting we only see a small population of the same groups.

In other words, because police deal with so many poor people it is easy to fall spell to the thoughts that the majority of poor people misbehave when facts show us that that is not true.

It's like the concept of "free will" and how its existence is a foundation of conservative thought, when to me, true "free will" is often times hard to really exist in one's life - there are too many other factors that influence our thinking that are often time impulsive or impaired decision making avenues that actually conflict with "free will."

Sadly, I don't think groups of different people can sit down and really discuss these problems because groups are too quick to assign their beliefs how people of the other groups are in their thinking.

Whites are too quick to fail to understand all the dynamics of race or take the time to factor its depth in American society. Then, though, when pointing out statistical findings of race and crime, they are often deemed "racist" and in return, we whites too often confuse race with causal factors, often times using race as the most determinate factor.

I think the most distressing thing in all of this is that solutions are in short supply and right now in American society we have all retreated to our own tribal corner.

As for the apartment shooting - this is one of those things where facts are important and hopefully they will come out. It does seem to be one of the strangest things and it makes me wonder if she was fatigued, became frightened and completelly over-reacted. The latest I have heard is she went to the wrong floor of her apartment building and from there what happened is both murky and has not been fully revealed (if it ever will be). It's almost like she went to the wrong apartment, entered and saw a stranger and felt she was in danger.