More disturbing news regarding the Black homicide rate
Washington, DCâ€â€Pennsylvania leads the nation in the rate of black homicide victimization according to a new analysis of unpublished Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The study, Black Homicide Victimization in the United States: An Analysis of 2004 Homicide Data, uses 2004 dataâ€â€the most recent data available from the FBIâ€â€and is the first analysis to rank the 50 states according to their black homicide rates. The study found overwhelmingly that firearms, usually handguns, were the weapon of choice in the homicides.
The top 10 states with each state’s corresponding black homicide victimization rates are: 1) Pennsylvania, 29.52 per 100,000; 2) Louisiana, 29.48 per 100,000; 3) Indiana, 29.30 per 100,000; 4) California, 28.95 per 100,000; 5) Missouri, 28.63 per 100,000; 6) Michigan, 28.27 per 100,000; 7) Maryland, 24.64 per 100,000; #8 Minnesota, 24.45 per 100,000; 9) Nevada, 23.67 per 100,000; and, 10) Arizona, 21.54 per 100,000.
The study warns that “the toll that homicide exacts on black teens and young adults in America, both male and female, is disproportionate, disturbing, and undeniable” and concludes, “As efforts are made to reduce America’s black homicide victimization toll, the unique facilitating role of firearms cannot be ignored.”
For PENNSYLVANIA, the study found that in 2004:
* There were 398 black homicide victims, resulting in a homicide rate of 29.52 per 100,000. Of these, 348 were male and 50 were female.
* For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 86 percent of victims (335 out of 389) were shot and killed with guns. Of these, 81 percent (273 victims) were killed with handguns. There were 48 victims killed with firearms, type not stated. There were 25 victims killed with knives or other cutting instruments, 7 victims killed by bodily force, and 9 victims killed by a blunt object.
* For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 79 percent of victims (130 out of 165) were murdered by someone they knew. Thirty-five victims were killed by strangers.
* For homicides in which the circumstances could be identified, 51 percent (146 out of 285) were not related to the commission of any other felony. Of these, 77 percent (113 homicides) involved arguments between the victim and the offender.
For the entire UNITED STATES, the study found that in 2004:
* There were 6,644 black homicide victims in the United States. Of these, 5,629 (85 percent) were male, and 1,012 (15 percent) were female. Gender was not recorded for 3 victims.
* The homicide rate among black victims in the United States was 18.71 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall national homicide rate was 4.86 per 100,000 and the national homicide rate for whites was 2.97 per 100,000.
* For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 79 percent of victims (5,032 out of 6,369) were shot and killed with guns. Of these, 80 percent (4,047 victims) were killed with handguns. There were 698 victims killed with knives or other cutting instruments, 316 victims killed by bodily force, and 212 victims killed by a blunt object.
* In the top 10 states combined, for homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 84 percent of victims (2,407 out of 2,874) were shot and killed with guns.
* For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 74 percent of victims (2,360 out of 3,194) were murdered by someone they knew. Eight hundred and thirty-four victims were killed by strangers.
* For homicides in which the circumstances could be identified, 70 percent (2,769 out of 3,977) were not related to the commission of any other felony. Of these, 60 percent (1,661 homicides) involved arguments between the victim and the offender. Twelve percent (344 homicides) were reported to be gang-related. The bulk of these (224 homicides) were in California, which may be in part due to more comprehensive reporting. (source: Violence Policy Center)
Emphasis should also be made on the media’s focus on violent crime. USA Today’s Thursday front page included an article highlighting the U.S.’s revitalizing cities’ slowed successes due to violent crime. All this means to me is that people who want to see their property values multiply should support any peace-keeping initiatives. Since there aren’t many of these, it means to support the entities who “protect and serve.”
Clearly realize that most revitalizing cities have a huge ethnic background (black, hispanic, latino or other). It is this demographic that then becomes the focus–in a skewed fashion, but nonetheless, profiling has always been a reality of life.
Comment by Shawn | January 30, 2007
What is the utility of studying ‘Black on Black crime’ stats as if there’s a novelty to be learned about Black people and crime?
Comment by MIB | January 31, 2007
The same utility used for identifying crimes against Blacks by Whites. It is also just as important as highlighting positive stats regarding the Black community.
This data only becomes useless if folks do nothing to reverse these trends. As with crimes committed against Blacks by Whites, fortunately there are folks out there that putting this info to good use beyond the debate table.
Comment by Duane | January 31, 2007
Is it your suggestion then that ‘Black on Black’ crimes are actually politically motivated? That’s the motive-in-common behind many ‘White on Black’ crimes. Please explain.
What about ‘White on White’ crime? That’s a problem of a much larger magnitude than ‘Black on Black’ crime, ‘White on Black’ crime, or ‘Black on White’ crime. According to the FBI, something like 70% of all criminal arrests are made against persons categorized as ‘White, non-Hispanic’, IIRC. You’ve implied when a White person robs, kills, defrauds, assaults, etc., another they’re motivated differently than a Black person attacking another Black person or a White person attacking a Black person. And in doing so, you also propose the former group’s motivations are somehow less heinous than those of the latter.
Presuming your intent behind posting this data is a legitimate discovery of crime interdiction/enforcement policies, the demographic information you’ve provided has little material value without a comparison to the dominant crime statistic, e.g.; ‘Whites on Whites’ to determine those factors with the highest correlations to criminal activity. Without such context, any other conclusions inferred or suggested are woefully premature at best.
Comment by MIB | February 1, 2007
What is always interesting to me when I hear the term “black on black crime” is that people need to understand that people usually commit crimes against people of there same race, class and geographical location.
Comment by Saudia | February 1, 2007
Wow MIB, you must really enjoy arguing with yourself because all of the assumptions you are making here have NOTHING to do with my comment at all.
My point here is that if we are willing to split hairs when it comes to White crimes against Blacks (or White crimes in general), why not do the same for our stuff? Likewise, just as we clamor for “positive news”, we should also be willing to look at the bad news and hopefully be motivated to DO something about it instead of finding ways to weave the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow every time a Black kid willingly kills one of his own.
As far as your assertion goes that crimes against Blacks by Whites tend to be “politically-motivated”, I did not know that there was such a study to measure something like that (unless that ability to figure that out ties into your apparent mysterious connections with the oil industry that go beyond D.C.
).
People like yourself who make these tired arguments anytime when statistics on Blacks are involved fail to factor in the obvious: While whites do commit most of the crimes in this country, the fact is there are more of them. The ratio between the amount of Blacks that are in this country versus the crimes that we commit is very alarming regardless how you may try to get around that fact. While I am concerned about ALL crimes committed in this country regardless of race, as a Black man, I am especially interested in OUR piece in this problem. I’m not one to measure our progress or failure as a people with whites. In the end, what do the statistics say about US on this issue and what solutions do you have to fix it? Any argument beyond that point and I see it as a waste of time. I have a cousin right now who could be charged with murder and for me to tow the line by blaming the White man while knowing full well of his background (as well as some of my other family members who have been in trouble with the law) and the stupid decisions he made is just plain lunacy. And yes, there are many Black folks out there that will say the same thing–depending on who is asking them.
My purpose of posting this data is for informational purposes only–that’s it! If you feel that the data here is at all incorrect and you have the proof to support it, then by all means include those links via the comments feature and let other readers decide for themselves.
Saudia,
Very true. Anybody who is willing to look at the Federal data on this will see that.
Comment by Duane | February 1, 2007
I asked some legitimate questions, Duane, about the data you presented here for I suspected you were recycling a very shopworn fallacy about African-Americans being less than diligent about policing crime — with the exception of so-called ‘hate’ crimes involving White assailants on Black victims. It’s a completely banal indictment which serves no purpose other than to distract attention from addressing those very real factors that correlate highly to criminal activity, race/ethnicity of assailants and victims notwithstanding.
When I first posted to this thread, I thought — as I did on the ‘gas prices’ and ‘affluence and public schools in P.G. County’ posts — that I’d be able to walk you past the elephants in the room to brainstorm on solutions to the crime affecting predominantly Af-Am communities. I presumed, quite incorrectly, that you would take responsibility for the implications behind the factoids you’ve posted.
At the risk of you insulting my intelligence (and that of the remaining audience) with another ill-wrought syllogism, I’ll state the probitive value of the statistics you’ve provided establishes Af-Ams as a class are particularly vulnerable to crime — esp. compared to White, non-Hispanics — and that the component of ‘race’ has a small correlation to one’s risk of being a victim. However, the statistics do not provide insight for identifying those factors that correlate to the commission of crimes.
Comment by MIB | February 1, 2007
I asked some legitimate questions, Duane, about the data you presented here for I suspected you were recycling a very shopworn fallacy about African-Americans being less than diligent about policing crime
Again, you failed to take the post as just that–a post! I added none of my comments nor did I have ANY subtitle points I was trying to make.
When I first posted to this thread, I thought  as I did on the ‘gas prices’ and ‘affluence and public schools in P.G. County’ posts  that I’d be able to walk you past the elephants in the room to brainstorm on solutions to the crime affecting predominantly Af-Am communities. I presumed, quite incorrectly, that you would take responsibility for the implications behind the factoids you’ve posted.
Man, puhleez! I asked you to back your claim regarding oil companies artificially holding back supply to increase price..
you didn’t
I countered your claim that somehow racism and poverty were factors behind the education gap in PG county by stating that I knew of counties of predominately White folk where similar trends can be seen (Northern CA is a good example). The question here was quite obvious: Does racism and poverty also play a role in this case? I also included an article that talked about a program that attempted to saturate the school system in PG with a curriculum rooted deeply in Black self-esteem.
Still I have yet to hear a response to that comment.
For whatever reason, you did not
I’m still all ears on both posts.
Again, I just point back to the ratio of crime in our community versus the ratio of the White community (since we are comparing ourselves to Whites here). There is just far too few of us in this country to have so much crime in our own communities. As far as determining the factors to the crimes committed by us, I am completely all for that. My greatest concern here is that from what I have seen, while many in our community tend to quickly bottom line the factors behind “White” crimes against us, we tend to break out the kid gloves when dealing when dealing with our own by placing 90 or so percent of the blame on Whites. This is not the type of atmosphere where a fair assessment of our people can be made if we hope to see ourselves as true Americans.
Solutions
As far as solutions go, the greatest need that I have seen in my years working with youth in the non-profit sector are men who are willing to take the time with these kids. Don’t get me wrong here, I have come across many men who are doing their part to correct this problem. But these men are too few and far between when looking at the ratio of kids versus available men. I have taken a hiatus from this type of work and plan to return to it on a limited basis once my family and I move in a few months. Another issue I see is our spending habits and the trouble we are having keeping money within our own communities. This is why I am so interested in both PG and Dekalb counties. I want to know what can replicated and what we can just do away with. For the tools, systems that can be replicated, it is my hope that the Black blogosphere would work as a bridge that will connect resources to these systems that work.
In the meantime, I have AT LEAST 10 browsers open as I type this in my quest for a reasonably-priced digital SLR camera.
Sorry, too much info
Comment by Duane | February 1, 2007
“… you failed to take the post as just that — a post…”
Even if one is to accept you’re merely providing information here, that shouldn’t preclude readers from asking you fair questions to gain clarity on your point.
Regarding the oil industry thread, there’s plenty of historical evidence in the public sphere suggesting price gouging is SOP. Didn’t you hear about those oil embargoes in the 70s? Besides, I even linked you back to the FTC report cited in the news article you quoted, where it noted the industry’s behavior. Your response to my point in the education thread was a non sequitur — what happens in one county does not explain what happens in the other. But, I’ll return to the topic at issue here.
I won’t bother arguing to your value judgement on what constitutes ‘too much crime’ in predominantly Af-Am communities for it begs the question ‘how much [crime] is OK?’. Similarly, to predicate your class-wide indictment of negligence on ratios is a rank fallacy because the data provided here provides no insight into law enforcement patterns, arrests-to-convictions, jury composition, etc.. The most reasonable inferences one can draw here is (a) Af-Ams are at special risk to be victimized by crime and, (b) factors that cause crime or have the high correlations to criminal behavior transcend racial/ethnic lines. On these points I can find agreement as a starting point for crafting solutions.
Comment by MIB | February 6, 2007
Besides, I even linked you back to the FTC report cited in the news article you quoted, where it noted the industry’s behavior.
But again, never did it mention ANY of the claims you mentioned throughout that thread REGARDING THE TIME PERIOD OF THAT DISCUSSION. You linked a few historical coincidences together and made it a current fact. After all of this, you still have not provided that information. I’m done with that thread.
Your response to my point in the education thread was a non sequitur  what happens in one county does not explain what happens in the other.
The “non sequitur” here is the fact that from jump you linked both poverty and racism (mind you, in a county comprised of mostly Blacks) as probable causes for the education gap. You quick assertions already made these people victims without showing a willingness to look at all the other factors (self inflicted in many cases) involved. This same trend can be seen in counties throughout the US: parents that actually care about their child’s education are involved in the process of reform vs. parents who make it a low priority. Making this issue any deeper than that will lead us down a very popular but fruitless path.
I won’t bother arguing to your value judgement on what constitutes ‘too much crime’ in predominantly Af-Am communities for it begs the question ‘how much [crime] is OK?’
If you want to continue to measure Black success /failure to what Whites do then be my guest. In my book, one crime committed by us is too much. While I can agree that the criminal justice system in this country has a proven historical bias against Blacks/Hispanics, I also believe that most folks in prison are not innocent of criminal behavior or driven to commit crime because they were hungry.
The most reasonable inferences one can draw here is (a) Af-Ams are at special risk to be victimized by crime
By whom??
Comment by Duane | February 6, 2007
“… never did it mention ANY [emphasis yours] of the claims you mentioned throughout that thread REGARDING THE TIME PERIOD OF THAT DISCUSSION [emphasis yours].”
From the EIA blurb I initially linked to in the ‘gas prices’ thread:
“Events in crude oil markets were a major factor in all but one of the five run-ups in gasoline prices between 1992 and 1997, according to the National Petroleum Council’s study, U.S. Petroleum Supply - Inventory Dynamics. About 47 barrels of gasoline are produced from every 100 barrels of crude oil processed at U. S. refineries, with other refined products making up the remainder.
Crude oil prices are determined by worldwide supply and demand, with significant influence by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Since it was organized in 1960, OPEC has tried to keep world oil prices at its target level by setting an upper production limit on its members. OPEC has the potential to influence oil prices worldwide because its members possess such a great portion of the world’s oil supply, accounting for about 40 percent of the world’s production of crude oil and holding more than two-thirds of the world’s estimated crude oil reserves. Additionally, increased demand for gasoline and other refined products in the United States and the rest of the world is also exerting upward pressure on crude oil prices.”
Rapid gasoline price increases have occurred in response to crude oil shortages caused by, for example, the Arab oil embargo in 1973, the Iranian revolution in 1978, the Iran/Iraq war in 1980, and the Persian Gulf conflict in 1990. Gasoline price increases in recent years have been due in part to OPEC crude oil production cuts, turmoil in key oil producing countries, and problems with petroleum infrastructure (e.g., refineries and pipelines) within the United States.”
The full report from the EIA — which I also discussed later in the thread — makes the same note.
You were saying????
“If you want to continue to measure Black success/failure to what Whites do then be my guest.’
You’re the same person who wanted everyone to focus on ratios to begin with.
“I also believe that most folks in prison are not innocent of criminal behavior or driven to commit crime because they were hungry.”
Wow… another point volunteered by you to counter an argument that’s not been made.
“By whom??”
‘Whom’ is not as important as ‘why’.
Comment by MIB | February 6, 2007
Let’s go back to what you initially said:
“The oil industry’s practice of artificially restraining supply  even through emergencies like Hurricane Katrina  is evidence of their exploiting American consumers.”
My question to you here was “what is your proof that the oil industry had artificially cut supply during Katrina resulting in higher gas prices?” Yes OPEC has a history of doing so in the past, but where is your evidence regarding the post-Katrina trend (read my comments on that post if you care to do so)?
You’re the same person who wanted everyone to focus on ratios to begin with.
That’s right! This was in response to your attempt to make the issue in discussion (homicide rate in the Black community) realtive to Whites. You first brought up the comparison:
What about ‘White on White’ crime? That’s a problem of a much larger magnitude than ‘Black on Black’ crime, ‘White on Black’ crime, or ‘Black on White’ crime.
‘Whom’ is not as important as ‘why’.
LOL! At this point this thread resembles a silly argument with the little sister I never had. While you expressed earlier that you wanted “clarity”, the truth here is that you are willing to cloud up negative facts regarding Black folks with your assertions of racism and poverty while quickly dismissing similar trends in mostly White counties.
I am moving on from this discussion.
Comment by Duane | February 6, 2007