White on White vs Black on Black Murder Rates

When White on White crime occurs, it’s seldom talked about the way Black on Black occurs, especially on the Fox News channel. In fact, White on White crime and murder is seldom talked, period.

But according to the FBI data, there are more White on White murders committed every year than Black on Black murders, with 84 percent of the white murders committed by whites.

Even so, most White people don’t kill anyone. Yet media pundits, like Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, regularly talk about “Black on Black violence,” despite the fact that most Black people don’t kill anyone, and commit few murders than White people.

			Race of Offender
Race of Victim	Total	White	Black or African American	Other	Unknown
White	3,005	2,509	409	49	38
Black or African American	2,491	189	2,245	20	37
Other race2	159	32	27	96	4
Unknown race	68	25	17	3	23
FBI Homicide Data for 2013

These statistics have not led to a media outcry about the problem of White on White crime or the unique pathology of the White community. Nor has the White community stood up to demand change in their community like the Black community does when trying to tackle instances of Black on Black crime.

Time magazine’s Joe Klein wrote an entire column last August in the aftermath of the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Mo., that focus on the rate of violence and murder in the Black community - calling it a “social disaster.” But there was no mention that more whites are killed by other whites, which was typical of media outlets.

The term ‘black-on-black’ crime is a destructive, 'racialized' colloquialism that perpetuates an idea that blacks are somehow more prone to violence. This is untrue and fully verifiable by FBI, DOJ and census data. Yet the fallacy is so fixed that Black People are prone to violence that even African Americans have come to believe it.

Influential columnists like George Will never examine crime committed by whites, do not use the racialized phrase “white-on-white” crime and give the impression African American citizens ore more dangerous than White citizens and the lives of White citizens are more at risk from of African Americans. It this perception of the dangerous Black man that had at least some bearing on Darren Wilson, white Ferguson, Mo police officer shooting 18-year-old African American Michael Brown Jr., and George Zimmerman fatally shooting 17-year-old African American Trayvon Martin in Florida, Timothy Loehmann, a Cleveland, Ohio, police officer fatally shooting 12-year-old African American Tamir Rice who was holding a toy gun, and so many other fatal shootings.

It this perception of the dangerous Black man that for generations has prompted parents of black boys across the United States to have rehearsed, dreaded and postponed “The Conversation.” But when their boys become teenagers, parents must tell their sons the risk of what it means to be a black man in America. To keep him safe, they may have to tell the child they love that he risks being targeted by the police, simply because of the color of his skin. How should parents impart this information, while maintaining their child’s pride and sense of self? How does one teach a child to face dangerous racism and ask him to emerge unscathed?

Considering Bureau of Justice Statistics, homicidal rates from 1980 to 2008, they show that compared to Blacks, Whites were more likely to kill children, the elderly, family members, and their significant others. Whites commit more sex-related crimes, gang related crimes, and are more likely to kill at their places of employment.

Read more at The Root: It’s Time to Stop Blaming Black-on-Black Crime - The rhetoric around crime is factually wrong and allows some to ignore and pass the blame for systemic misdeeds.

More: A guide to debunking black on black crime and all of its rhetorical cousins