You might want to cross-reference those deaths with the rate of wrongful arrest (don't have it in front of me, but high ~48% black), and a clearer picture will form: it is clear that black people are simply policed more and often for exceptionally petty charges. It turns out the rate of criminals in a place is directly related to the amount of police in a location that are motivated to arrest people. The number is highly misleading, purposefully so. And of those alleged "criminals" how many really deserved to die? So, yes, there is definitely a racial element to this.