OK, to clarify - a line like the one quoted, about hip-hop being popular at white weddings, to me sounds like a very clueless white-person thing to say, along the lines of "some of my best friends are black." So I am surprised to see it coming from McWhorter. I can't make out what he's aiming to say with a line like that.

And, I should have put my second comment first as that is my main point here. Really not about McWhorter, my apologies for that getting in the way.

Point being, we live a society where one man kills another because nobody present has the knowledge, experience, or abilities to facilitate a less tragic resolution. To put someone in a choke hold is to intend them serious harm. There are lots of other ways to deal with the situation that was happening, some not requiring physical force at all, some using force that is far less likely to end in death.