Among teens ages 15 to 19, the rate for Black homicide victims in 2021 was 27 times the rate for white victims, concludes a new analysis published In JAMA Network Open. The data were compiled by crime experts John Roman of NORC at the University of Chicago and Alex Piquero of the University of Miami after the U.S. recorded its largest one-year rise in homicides since 1960 the year before. The spike accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency measures, the murder of George Floyd, and social protests. As the homicide total increased 28.4%, deaths caused by firearms increased 34.6%.
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that of the 19,384 victims of firearms homicide in 2020, 61% were black, and they experienced firearm homicide at 14 times the rate of white people. This racial disparity does not exist for other types of violence. The largest increases in death by firearm homicide were for Black men aged between 10 and 44, Roman and Piquero said. Among Blacks ages 20 to 24, the rate of homicide victimization in 2021 was over 80 per 100,000 population. The authors said their "findings have implications for prevention and intervention strategies addressing the needs of those persons at highest risk and must consider short- and long-term strategies involving law enforcement, community groups, education, and health care professionals."
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