It is oft cited that the disparity between races in terms of violence is largely due to economic factors, but how well do the numbers align with this assertion? In the glorious age of information, there’s no need to speculate, we can work through this right now with publicly available information. Let’s take a look at homicide in the state of Georgia. Unfortunately the CDC’s data for the year of 2010 isn’t very granular, so both hispanics and non-hispanics are lumped into a single “white” category. Even so, perhaps we can glean something useful from what’s available.
The breakdown of homicide suspect by race looks something like this:
Race
|
Homicide Suspects
|
Homicide Suspects (%)
|
|---|---|---|
White or Hispanic
|
33
|
18.33%
|
Black
|
142
|
78.89%
|
[1]
The disparity is immediately apparent: in 2010, blacks accounted for 78.89% of homicide suspects in Georgia. Looking at a breakdown of Georgia’s population by race, the numbers become even more shocking. In 2010 the population was 9,687,653, with 59.7% (5,783,529) white or hispanic and 30.5% (2,954,734) black. [2] That’s right, blacks make up 30.5% of the people in Georgia, yet account for 78.89% of homicide suspects. Can poverty be faulted for these substantial differences?
According to the 2010 census, an estimated 660,851 blacks were below the poverty line in Georgia, compared to 859,169 whites and hispanics. [3][4][5] How could it possibly be that poverty is to blame for Georgie’s black homicide problem when in fact almost 200,000 more whites and hispanics are living below the poverty line?
According to the 2010 census, an estimated 660,851 blacks were below the poverty line in Georgia, compared to 859,169 whites and hispanics. [3][4][5] How could it possibly be that poverty is to blame for Georgie’s black homicide problem when in fact almost 200,000 more whites and hispanics are living below the poverty line?
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