Black people in the United States represent about 13 per cent of the nation’s population but accounted for 51 per cent of all homicide victims as of 2016, a recent study has shown.
The study, released by the Violence Policy Center, nonprofit that researches gun issues, analysed unpublished data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) to rank states according to the number of Black teens and adults murdered there.
The information used for the report is for the year 2016 and is the most recent data available, the nonprofit said.
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According to the FBI SHR data, in 2016, there were 7,756 Black homicide victims in the United States. The homicide rate among black victims in the United States was 20.44 per 100,000. For that year, the overall national homicide rate was 5.10 per 100,000. For Whites, the national homicide rate was 2.96 per 100,000.
Of the 7,756 black homicide victims, 6,748 (87 per cent) were male, 1,003 (13 per cent) were female, and five were of unknown sex (less than one per cent). The homicide rate for black male victims was 37.12 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall rate for male homicide victims was 8.29 per 100,000.
For white male homicide victims, it was 4.39 per 100,000. The homicide rate for female black victims was 5.07 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall rate for female homicide victims was 1.97 per 100,000. For white female homicide victims, it was 1.55 per 100,000, the report said.
In homicides of black people in which the weapon used could be identified, a gun was used 87 per cent of the time, with 66 per cent being handguns.
“The devastating and disproportionate impact homicide, almost always involving a gun, has on Black men, boys, women and girls in America is a national shame,” said Violence Policy Center Executive Director Josh Sugarmann.
“These deaths devastate families, traumatize communities and should provoke an outcry for change. The goal of our research is to help educate the public and policymakers, spur action and aid community leaders already working to end this crisis.”
Below are the top 5 states with the most homicides of Black adults and teens:
