Is the homicide rate among Black people in Washington disproportionately high?
By Claire Zimmerman
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YES
Compared to the rest of the country the homicide rate for Black residents of Washington, D.C., is disproportionately high. About half the city's population is Black. According to the district's police chief, 92% of the city's 166 homicide victims in 2019 were Black, meaning that one in 2,121 Black people were murdered. Looking at data for the previous year, the comparable nationwide rate would be one in 5,903.
Murders in 2019 in Washington reached a 10-year high, the chief said. Statistics for some other major cities show a similar skew. In 2019 in St. Louis, a city with a population that is 45% Black, 90% of homicide victims were Black. In Charlotte, where 35% of the population is Black, 80% of murder victims were Black.
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