How to respond to "African Americans commit the majority of violent crimes..."

By Joshua Boyd

"African Americans commit the majority of violent crimes...making them more likely to be killed by police."

More and more frequently I am seeing posts and comments citing that the reason blacks are killed by police at higher rates than whites is because blacks are more likley to be involved in violent crimes and murder.

I did some research and here are my findings (main sources below).

For violent crimes, it is not accurate that blacks are the majority. Blacks have committed 37%, and whites have commited 58%.

In terms of murder, it is true that blacks committed 52% of murders based on 2018 data. Whites committed 43% of the murders.

These numbers are alarming based on the demographic makeup of America being 72.4% white and 12.6% black. Stopping here, it would be easy to draw a conclusion that blacks are inherently more violent. "It's not racist, it's just statistics". What often doesn't get mentioned in these arguments though is that the reasons for blacks committing the majority of the murders is not our race.

Research suggests that the difference in these percentages is due more to inequality and poverty rates. I don't think it's a stretch to conclude that poverty correlates to higher rates of crime, interactions with police, and police brutality, and thus blacks being 2.5 times more likely to be killed by a cop.

What I feel is the most important takeaway here is that race isn't the main factor in these statistics. The main factors are poverty and inequality. America has systems that over the last few hundred years have placed blacks and minorities in poverty, with more systems on top of that which make it harder to escape poverty.

Thus, minorities do commit more violent crimes and murders, but not because we are minorities. It is because minorities are overwhelmingly more likely to live in poverty. Race is not the issue. Inequality, poverty, and lack of opportunity are.

We have to look at the systems, not the symptoms. The systems give blacks and minorities in poverty less access to things like well funded schools, stable economics, good jobs, stable housing, lower interest loans, extracurricular activities, quality healthcare, affordable health insurance, positive role models, proper legal representation, stable families, and many more issues. These are symptoms of poverty, not symptoms of race. So yes, crime rates will be higher in areas and people affected by the systems that make it so hard to break the poverty cycle. Due to the systems, blacks and minorities are more likely to be in poverty, resulting in more crime.

So what are some action steps? Educating ourselves about the systems, breaking them down, and creating systems that do not disproportionately affect minorities.

Murder Statistics: https://www.statista.com/statistics/251877/murder-victims-in-the-us-by-race-ethnicity-and-gender/

https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-black-americans-commit-crime

Violent Crime Statistics:

https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/ucr.asp?table_in=2

Effects of Income Inequality/Poverty:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/income-inequalitys-most-disturbing-side-effect-homicide/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/08/income-inequality-murder-homicide-rates