‘Black-on-black’ violent crime myth exposed
WHITE-ON-WHITE KILLINGS ARE MUCH MORE PREVALENT, MINISTRY OF JUSTICE FIGURES REVEAL
THE myth of ‘black-on-black’ violent crime has been exposed by research from the M.E.N.’s data unit shows.
Statistics reveal that nationally and locally, black people are far more likely to be targeted by police for stop and search and have force used against them such as handcuffs, restraint and Tasers.
The presumed prevalence of violent crimes committed by black people against black people – often termed ‘black-on-black’ – has been used in the past to justify these inequalities.
In fact, white victims of homicide are far more likely to be killed by another white person than black victims are to be killed by a black person, Ministry of Justice data reveals.
Figures on the ethnicity of the suspect are not given on a local level, but national figures show that of the white people killed between 2009/10 and 2017/18, 92 per cent were thought to have been killed by another white person and just 2pc by a black person.
In comparison, of the black people killed during that time, just over half – at 55pc – were killed by another black person, and 33pc by a white person. This reveals that white-onwhite violent crime is much more prevalent than black-onblack violent crime, despite rarely being talked about in the same way.
Between 2009/10 and 2017/18, an estimated 373 homicides, including both murder and manslaughter, were committed in Greater Manchester. Of these, 288 victims were white, and 30 were black.
When these figures are compared to the population, it means black people were nearly three times as likely as white people to be the victim of homicide.
The number of deaths works out as a rate of 35 homicides for every 100,000 black people in Greater Manchester, and 13 for every 100,000 white people. Tyrek Morris, co-organiser of the Black Lives Matter protest at St Peter’s Square on June 7, described the idea of black-on-black crime as ‘ridiculous.’ He said: “It’s just crime, plain and simple. When other races are inciting crime against one another, it’s never seen in the same way as black people killing each other. The conversation of black on black crime always presents itself when black people are speaking about the injustices they faced at the hands of racism.”
The Ministry of Justice figures also show that black people are much more likely than white people to be killed by a stranger. In 35pc of homicides where the victim was black, they were killed by someone they didn’t know, compared to 21pc of white victims. While it is true that black people are disproportionately represented in prisons, campaigners say this is due to inequalities in the justice system.
Rebecca Hilsenrath, chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: “Tackling racism is a vital conversation which we mustn’t derail by misinformation or misunderstandings.
“Racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system is not about who has broken the law. It is rooted in inequality throughout our society. Some ethnic minorities lack trust in the system following years of being at greater risk of use of force, as well as the disproportionate use of stop and search powers.
“The lack of trust may start with the police, but it is felt throughout the system, from plea decisions to behaviour in prisons. We want the government to take urgent action so that ethnic minorities have better outcomes.”