The 5-Minute Fix: The divided politics of race

Before the terror of Dallas, I assumed we would be using this space to talk about the politics of police brutality, of racial disparity in America and of the Black Lives Matter movement -- issues that have seized the nation this week after the killings of two black men in Minnesota and Louisiana by two white police officers.

We still will, but that discussion gets much more complicated after sniper fire (and there may have been only one shooter) killed five police officers and injured seven at a peaceful protest in Dallas.

Our paper's chief political correspondent, Dan Balz, recently put into words what many of us are feeling right now after all this bloodshed -- confusion:

"The week of gunfire and fallen bodies and videos too graphic to absorb but impossible not to watch has produced a whiplash of emotions and reactions. Whether they add up to anything constructive or simply add to the feeling of a country that is fractured and breaking apart is another matter — but one of genuine urgency."

We'll come back to that question in a minute. But first, in assessing the immediate political aftermath of this week, I have a takeaway of my own to add: Racial politics does not always fall into neat categories, but it is still quite divisive.

Let's start with Donald Trump, who said this:

Maybe it's just us, but the passage above from Trump's decidedly toned-down statement (at least, compared to the bluster of his reaction to Orlando) could be interpreted as sympathizing with the protesters of police violence. Which is notable since it's a group that tends to be concentrated on the left of the political spectrum.

The Fix's Aaron Blake explains: "'Senseless' is a very loaded word in what is a very heated political debate over police violence. And it's not loaded in the political direction in which Trump generally veers."

We noticed a similar dynamic with Newt Gingrich. The former House speaker said to be on Trump's short list for vice president said this in a Facebook Live chat with CNN on Friday:

Gingrich went on: "If you are a normal white American, the truth is you don’t understand being black in America, and you instinctively under-estimate the level of discrimination and the level of additional risk."

Again, writes Blake, those are sentiments you expect to hear from the political left -- not from the potential No. 1 and No. 2 Repubilcan in America.

Maybe there is some room in our political arena for an actual conversation about race and policing in this country.

Maybe. Americans are split on a lot of thorny questions from this week

Marques Armstrong chants in support of Philando Castile, who was fatally shot by Minneapolis area police during a traffic stop on Wednesday, at a "Black Lives Matter" demonstration, in front of the Governor's Mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota. (REUTERS/Eric Miller)

Let's briefly run down some stats.

On the issue of equality in our criminal justice system: About half of white Americans believe black people and other minorities receive equal treatment in the criminal justice system, according to the Public Religion Research Institute.

And perhaps more interestingly, a Washington Post-ABC poll in December 2014 showed eight in 10 white Republican believed police treat black and white people equally.

I'll be curious to see how the numbers change after this week. But for now, this is our starting point: