Race, class, and gender as factors in the Ferguson killing

I had a MANN reader inquire via email how MANN felt about current events in Ferguson, Missouri here in the US. He asked about the shooting of unarmed men v. that of unarmed women by police and how police killing unarmed men was much more likely than police killing unarmed women. MANN, being a web site and one with no official editorial positions, cannot collectively render a traditional op-ed on the topic. But yours truly can. :) So with a few supporting additional comments added to the reply I sent the reader a couple days ago, here's my response:

Thanks for asking your question.  Details may vary for different reasons around the world, but it's true police of both sexes are a lot more likely to fire on unarmed men than unarmed women.

It's a function of the perceived value of men's lives and the degree the shooter thinks he/she will be held accountable.  The second factor is what is likely to tip the scale more one way vs. another when taking social factors into account.  For example, unarmed men of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to be shot under the same circumstances as men of higher such status (assuming the shooter is drawing this conclusion based on the victim's appearance, clothing, or other info or assumptions), since such men are less likely to have relatives capable of hiring lawyers who can press the issue with the authorities.

In different places in the world, the actual or perceived ethnicity of the victim can and does play a factor (as many believe is the case in Ferguson, though what the shooter was thinking or what he thinks of black people generally/prejudicially hasn't been discussed in the media, since the officer probably won't speak to the press).   In India and elsewhere, unarmed ethnic Dalit men (so-called "Untouchables" - ugh, what a terrible way to stigmatize your fellow humans!) are much more likely to be shot by police than "higher caste" men.  In some European countries, Roma (a.k.a. "Gypsy" - a word I despise, but is used non-diminutively by most people unfamiliar with the politics around it), the same goes if the Roma man is identified as such by his language, clothing style, etc.

But the one consistent factor the world over is the victim's sex: almost always male.  So yes, you're right to make the point you do.