Monday, March 30, 2009

Stat of the Day: Racial Violence?

Ever hear people talk about how it's really black people who are so racist because they are so much more likely to commit violent crimes against white people then the other way around? Conservatives often use this argument to paint a picture of white America under attack from blacks. This is an image in which blacks are some great threat to the white community.

Well, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, withes are about 5 times more likely to be attacked by another white person than by a black person.

So, maybe instead of [some] white people being so afraid of blacks, instead of conservatives use this to argue that white racism isn't really that prevalent and "reverse racism" is the real problem, and instead of people trying to justify the over representation of blacks in America's prisons and jails, people should look a t the actual facts.

Source: United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2004, Statistical Tables, (U.S. Department of Justice, 2006)
*** Based on analysis of tables 40 and 42; originally found here; Justice Department tables here

4 comments:

Denis Navratil said...

"Ever hear people talk about how it's really black people who are so racist because they are so much more likely to commit violent crimes against white people then the other way around?"

The stats you offer on white on white crime, while perhaps interesting, is not relevant to your question.

The relevant stats would be the incidence of black on white and white on black crime.

Kevin Lockett said...

The point was that it is unwise for whites to concern themselves so heavily with black-on-white crime, because white-on-white crime is a serious threat.

Certainly, my stat doesn't prove that blacks don't attack whites. I would never seek to prove that, because I know that is does happen. I'm just trying to show that it's not just blacks or people of color who attack whites.

How would white-on-black crime come into the picture? I'm not making a point on how much whites attack blacks, but rather on to what degree whites should fear black violence.

Denis Navratil said...

Kevin, white on black crime stats relate directly to your initial question. Do blacks commit more crimes against whites or is it the other way around? In order to answer that question we need to know the stats.

Additionally, the stats you did provide are somewhat misleading. We live largely segregated lives in this country, unfortunately. As such, we are far more likely to come into regular contact with people of the same race. Consequently, we are also most likely exposed more often to criminals of the same race. Thus, all things being equal, we are more likely to be victimized by members of our own race.

My guess is that crime statistics might find that people are more likely to be victimized by family members than by other groups of people. Is this a function of dysfunction of families or quantity of time spent with families vs others?

Kevin Lockett said...

Do blacks commit more crimes against whites or is it the other way around?
This is not the question I'm asking. I'm only looking address the issue of to what degree blacks represent a violent threat to whites. Often, I've heard the argument that blacks represent a real threat, and that this makes it reasonable for whites to be particularly cautions around blacks. I'm looking to bring this idea into question. Is it true? How does this stat contribute to that discussion? That's what I'm asking. I'm not trying to prove anything, that would take more data and a much longer exposition. I'm just trying to challenge prevailing notions.