FBI Director James Comey recently made thoughtful remarks about race and crime that received insufficient attention. His views contrasted sharply with those of former Attorney General Eric Holder, who offered the more mainstream, i.e., liberal, understanding of the issue.

Comey said that “police officers on patrol in our nation’s cities often work in environments where a hugely disproportionate percentage of street crime is committed by young men of color.” This persistent exposure to high black crime creates a “mental shortcut” among police, he suggested, an assumption about African-Americans and crime. Our national problem, in other words, is rooted in the reality of high crime in minority communities and the way our police are affected by it.