Politicians and journalists often blame racism for the social ills that afflict a greater portion of blacks than whites. However, comprehensive facts reveal no associations between racism and these afflictions, many of which have grown worse over the past half-century as racism dramatically declined. In contrast, there are strong and consistent associations between leftist public policies/mindsets and scourges like poor educational outcomes, poverty, violence, incarceration, and bad health. Because association does not prove causation, these facts don't show that leftism caused these outcomes, but they open the door to this possibility.