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Black Men Murdered

  • Writer: TG
    TG
  • Aug 31, 2020
  • 3 min read

One of the great tragedies facing modern society is the number of Black men murdered. Although the numbers would obviously be much larger in the African continent because of the much larger population, the social tragedy and racial conflict is highlighted in looking at the murders of African-American men in the USA.

The topic can be divided into two sections.

  1. Police killings 

  2. Criminal homicide.

Let’s look at some statistics.

(I am not a statistician, and cannot verify these figures absolutely. These come from similar reports that I saw from a cursory reading of articles in Wikipedia, New York Times, Washington Times, Al Jazeera, FBI website, etc.)

In the 5 years from 2013 to 2019, 4984 people were killed in the USA by police, approximately 1000 a year at a relatively steady rate. Here is the breakdown by race:

  1. 2,528 – White

  2. 1,318 – Black

  3. 920 – Hispanic

  4. 218 – other

Another compilation of statistics shows almost the exact same figures:

For the three and a half years from 2017 to half of 2020

  1. 457, 399, 370, 215 = 1441 White

  2. 223, 209, 235 111 = 778 Black

  3. 179, 148, 158, 71 = 556 Hispanic

  4. 44, 36, 39, 15 = 134 Other

These numbers should be looked at from two angles:

  1. total number 

  2. relative percentage by population.

Both sets of data show about twice the number of Whites killed by police in the USA than Blacks. 

However, the White population in the USA is much higher than the Afro-American. There are 197 million Whites in the USA, 42 million Blacks and 39 million Hispanic. Therefore, by percentage there are approximately two and a half times as many Blacks killed by police than Whites.

So, the overall picture in the USA over the past decade has been:

  1. Almost twice as many Whites killed by police than Blacks

  2. More than twice the percentage of Blacks killed by police than Whites.

The next issue is the number of people killed in homicides (criminal murders). For the year 2018 (one year), FBI statistics show:

3,315 Whites were murdered in crimes (as compared to 399 killed by police)

  1. 2,677 by other Whites

  2. 514 by Blacks

2,925 Blacks were murdered in crimes (as compared to 209 killed by police)

  1. 234 by Whites

  2. 2,600 by other Blacks

By taking into account the same population figures of 197 million Whites and 42 million Blacks, the percentage of Black homicide figures rises much higher, proportionately and tragically. 

There is 13.9 times more probability of a Black man being murdered in homicide than killed by police.

There is 12.4 times more probability of a Black being murdered by another Black in the US than killed by police. Or to summarize the plight of Black murders per year (2018):

  1. 209 killed by police (4.9 per million)

  2. 234 murdered by Whites

  3. 2600 murdered by other Blacks (61.9 per million)

  4. 3043 total.

There is a danger for Black men to be killed by police. However, the danger for Black men to be murdered by criminals is 1,390 percent greater. That picture is quite different than what is portrayed on most of the news media.

It seems that the problem must be dealt with on both sides of the issue. That is, purging of police brutality toward Blacks; and at the same time, strengthening police presence to fight criminal violence, both Black and White.

However, these high numbers point to the fact that there is a deeper issue, more profound than politics or police. It is a moral and spiritual issue, infecting the very fabric of society. What is happening in the USA is symptomatic of almost every nation, including Israel. 

In Israel this week, there was a terrorist stabbing, a gang rape, anti-government demonstrations, police clashing with demonstrators, anarchist propaganda, Corona problems, economic problems, and a political division that feels on the verge of civil war.

There is a need for real repentance and revival. That is the only way to cure the root of the problem. It is only the sacrificial love of Yeshua, that transcends race and religion, which can change the hearts of men and women, from hatred to love. 

The large number of African American men murdered every year is tragic. Our hearts are torn in pain together with them. Black lives really do matter … to all of us. Let us pray for healing for all racial groups, for righteous government, and for true spiritual revival.

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