Joe Biden says we are after 'truth not facts'. Curious statement, but not untrue. In our extreme political arguments, wish we could call them debates but we can't, the left & right present "facts'. Then they explain how the other's 'facts' are wrong. President Trump gets accused of lying on a daily basis because someone in the media doesn't like his 'facts'. They will fact check and say something to the effect of 'while technically true, his statement is misleading because it leaves out other important information'. The other important information is the data the media want you to focus on. There in lies our problem with 'facts' and with 'truth'. If you present two people with all the available data on any subject, the two are likely to come out with elements of the data that are particularly meaningful to them. They are also likely to come to a different conclusion from that data. Doesn't mean that one set of data is wrong and the other correct. It just means that people view information differently.(Just look at the articles to the left & right.) That is exactly the case when political narratives are at stake. And today, as we all know, political narratives are attached to everything. This is clearly the situation with regard to the overheated issue of police brutality and the black community. On Tuesday, President Trump gave an interview to CBS News in which he was asked: why Black Americans are "still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country." The President said the death of George Floyd was "terrible" and should not happen. Then, he offered, "So are white people. So are white people". This CBS exchange resulted in an emotional media frenzy. The media make it worse the way they ask questions. On a sensitive topic where data serve to confuse rather than clarify, questions that presume bad faith create more heat than light. This contributes to the cries of media bias and/or incompetence across the board. The frenzy in the media and the Democrats from the CBS exchange came because it affects two political narratives that they need to control. The first narrative is that blacks are disproportionately harmed by police due to race and/or white supremacy and white privilege, and it must not be challenged. Simultaneously, coming from President Trump, another media and Democrat narrative can be reinforced, that he is a liar & a racist. And, therefore, immediately, the data, the 'facts', don't matter. Whatever data, or opinion about the data, that President Trump has, cannot be as important or more important than my data or my opinion about the data, and therefore must be disregarded. That thinking has brought us to this point, where we refuse to evaluate all available data on an important issue and come to a mutual conclusion. Why? Because, with this was of thinking, only one political side can win on any issue. Not both sides. Or, more importantly, those affected by the issue need not really win. We can & must do better than this! Here is some data that is accurate and that all of us should be able to rally around:

• We have seen too many unarmed black men harmed at the hands of police.
• As a % of population, these statistics stand out as a problem.
• given the racial makeup of the data, racial injustice can be assumed, if not confirmed.
• however, the number of unarmed black Americans shot by police is very small, falling to single digits last year.
• the vast majority of unarmed blacks killed by police were involved in some criminal activity
• in many cases the person was also resisting arrest.
• some cases were mistaken identity or situations
• some were clearly bad decisions by police
• not all who were victims, were really victims
• more White people are shot by police than blacks, just raw numbers.
• as a % of population, whites are killed less than blacks.
• black Americans encounter police more often.
• And we do not know whether that is because black people commit more crimes, or because of racial bias by police.
• There are racial differences in use of nonlethal force, but not in officer involved shootings. 
• yet, when black and Latino suspects did not resist arrest — a common feature in many controversial cases, Black civilians who were recorded as compliant by police were 21% more likely to suffer police aggression than compliant whites”.
• if there is any racial bias in such shootings, police aremorelikely to shoot white suspects than black suspects.
• police are more likely to mistreat black and Latino suspects in non-lethal ways
• do all African American view police the same?
• do all black celebrities, media personalities, politicians and intellectuals view racial inequality the same?
• If America is so racist, why have nearly 2 million black Africans and more than 1 million blacks from the Caribbean have emigrated to the United States in just the last 20 years.
• and more, ...

So what does all this tell us?

• That this is a complicated issue.
• That more analysis is needed.
• What role does family play?
• Why involvement in criminal activity?
• Why resisting arrest?
• That some data can support racial bias and injustice, other data can point to other causes.
• That the volume perception of police brutality against blacks is disproportionate to the facts.
• That race bias can be seen in some police reactions.
• and, more ...

Net, net. If we can evaluate ALL the data, we should be able, together, to determine what is necessary to improve this complex situation. The 'truth' will come from a more complete & honest review of the 'facts'. More From CBSNews: