Racial profiling and tensions between the police and poor black communities are real problems, but these are effects rather than causes, and they can't be addressed without also addressing the extraordinarily high rates of black criminal behavior--yet such discussion remains taboo. Blacks who bring it up are sell-outs. Whites who mention it are racists. (Mr. Dyson accused Mr. Giuliani of "white supremacy.") But so long as young black men are responsible for an outsize portion of violent crime, they will be viewed suspiciously by law enforcement and fellow citizens of all races.
Pretending that police behavior is the root of the problem is not only a dodge but also foolish. The riots will succeed in driving business out of town, which means that Ferguson's residents will be forced to pay more at local stores or travel farther for competitive prices on basic goods and services. Many Ferguson residents today can't go work because local businesses have been burned down.
Even worse, when you make police targets, you make low-income communities less safe. Ferguson's problem isn't white cops or white prosecutors; it's the thug behavior exhibited by individuals like Michael Brown, which puts a target on the backs of other young black men. Romanticizing such behavior instead of condemning it only makes matters worse.
Mr. Riley is a member of the Journal's editorial board and the author, most recently, of "Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed" (Encounter Books, 2014).
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