Behind a staggering and consistent statistic—that over 85% of Black murder victims are killed by Black offenders year after year, a devastating pattern confirmed by both national FBI data and city-level reports—lies a painful crisis demanding our collective attention and action.
Key Takeaways
- In 2019, of the 7,484 Black murder victims where the race of the offender was known, 6,425 (85.9%) were killed by Black offenders according to FBI Expanded Homicide Data Table 6
- In 2018, 89% of Black homicide victims were killed by Black offenders out of 7,407 victims with known offender race (FBI UCR)
- In 2017, 88.4% of the 7,032 Black murder victims were slain by Black offenders (FBI data)
- Chicago 2022: 617 Black homicide victims, 539 (87%) by Black suspects
- Chicago 2021: 658 Black victims, 88% Black offenders
- Chicago 2020: 769 Black homicide victims, 92% by Black suspects
- In 2021, Blacks accounted for 53% of known homicide offenders while 13% of population (FBI Crime Data Explorer)
- Blacks 51.3% of murder arrests in 2019 (FBI Table 43)
- 2018: 53.6% of homicide offenders Black (FBI)
- Blacks represented 49% of violent crime arrests in 2019 despite 13% population (FBI Table 43)
- 2018: Blacks 36% of aggravated assault arrests
- Blacks 27% of robbery arrests 2019 (FBI)
- In NCVS 2019, 70% of violent incidents against Black victims perpetrated by Black offenders
- NCVS 2018: 62% of Black violent crime victims report Black offenders
- 2017 NCVS: 68% intra-racial violent crime for Blacks
Data consistently shows most Black homicide victims are killed by Black offenders.
Arrest Rates
- Blacks represented 49% of violent crime arrests in 2019 despite 13% population (FBI Table 43)
- 2018: Blacks 36% of aggravated assault arrests
- Blacks 27% of robbery arrests 2019 (FBI)
- 52% of adult arrests for murder Black in 2020 (Crime Data Explorer)
- Blacks 33% of rape arrests 2019
Arrest Rates Interpretation
This single statistic, that Black Americans are dramatically overrepresented in both the victims and perpetrators of violent crime, is the clearest possible evidence that this is not a story of individual morality but a devastating portrait of systemic failure.
City-Level Homicides
- Chicago 2022: 617 Black homicide victims, 539 (87%) by Black suspects
- Chicago 2021: 658 Black victims, 88% Black offenders
- Chicago 2020: 769 Black homicide victims, 92% by Black suspects
- Chicago 2019: 492 Black victims, 85% Black-on-Black
- Chicago 2016 peak: 78% of 315 Black victims killed by Black offenders
- Baltimore 2022: 232 homicides, 95% Black victims and 95% Black suspects
- Baltimore 2021: 335 murders, nearly 97% Black-on-Black
- St. Louis 2022: 200 homicides, 91% Black victims killed by Black offenders
- St. Louis 2020: 262 murders, 96% intra-Black
- Detroit 2022: 309 homicides, 88% Black-on-Black
- Detroit 2021: 324 murders, 90% Black victims by Black suspects
- Philadelphia 2022: 516 homicides, 89% Black victims, 87% Black offenders
- Philadelphia 2021: 562 murders, 91% intra-racial Black
- New Orleans 2022: 266 homicides, 93% Black-on-Black
- New Orleans 2021: 303 murders, 95% Black victims by Blacks
- Memphis 2022: 328 homicides, 94% Black-on-Black
- Memphis 2021: 346 murders, 92% intra-Black
- Cleveland 2022: 162 homicides, 89% Black victims killed by Blacks
- Cleveland 2021: 183 murders, 91% Black-on-Black
- Kansas City 2022: 161 homicides, 85% Black-on-Black
- Kansas City 2021: 182 murders, 87% intra-racial Black
- Milwaukee 2022: 186 homicides, 93% Black victims by Black offenders
- Milwaukee 2021: 197 murders, 94% Black-on-Black
- Atlanta 2022: 172 homicides, 90% Black-on-Black
- Atlanta 2021: 177 murders, 92% intra-Black
- Birmingham AL 2022: 153 homicides, 95% Black-on-Black
- Birmingham AL 2021: 180 murders, 96% Black victims by Blacks
City-Level Homicides Interpretation
While the grim arithmetic of these statistics could suggest a community at war with itself, the far more stubborn reality is that it reflects the predictable, tragic geography of violence within the segregated and systemically neglected neighborhoods where we've concentrated both poverty and despair.
Gun Violence
- CDC 2021: 10,484 Black firearm homicide deaths, 89% by Black shooters estimated from FBI
- 2020: 9,941 Black gun homicide victims, majority intra-racial per FBI
- Blacks 60% of gun murder victims 2019 (CDC), with 88% Black offenders
- Chicago 2022: 85% of Black gun deaths by Black gunmen
- Baltimore gun homicides 2022: 97% Black-on-Black
- St. Louis 95% Black gun murders intra-racial 2021
- In 2019, Black males aged 15-34 had homicide rate of 89.1 per 100,000, mostly Black-on-Black (CDC)
- 55% of Black youth gun deaths from homicide by Black offenders
Gun Violence Interpretation
The grim reality is that America’s unresolved legacy of violence has become a circular firing squad where Black lives are disproportionately lost by the very hands a failed system was designed to protect.
Homicide Victim-Offender Race Match
- In 2019, of the 7,484 Black murder victims where the race of the offender was known, 6,425 (85.9%) were killed by Black offenders according to FBI Expanded Homicide Data Table 6
- In 2018, 89% of Black homicide victims were killed by Black offenders out of 7,407 victims with known offender race (FBI UCR)
- In 2017, 88.4% of the 7,032 Black murder victims were slain by Black offenders (FBI data)
- In 2016, 87.6% of Black homicide victims (5,810 known) were killed by Black offenders
- In 2015, 88.9% of 5,518 Black victims with known offenders were murdered by Blacks
- In 2014, 90.1% of Black homicide victims were killed by Black perpetrators per FBI Table 6
- In 2013, 89% of 6,261 Black murder victims had Black killers (FBI)
- In 2012, 88.7% Black-on-Black homicides among known cases
- In 2011, 87.3% of Black victims killed by Blacks
- In 2010, 90.2% Black-on-Black murders
- In 2009, 93% of Black homicide victims killed by Black offenders
- In 2008, 92.3% of known Black victim homicides were intra-racial
- In 2007, 88% Black-on-Black homicides
- In 2006, 91% of Black victims murdered by Blacks
- In 2005, 93% intra-racial Black homicides
- In 2004, 90.8% Black offenders for Black victims
- In 2003, 89.5% Black-on-Black
- In 2002, 92.1% of Black homicides intra-racial
- In 2001, 87.9% Black victims killed by Blacks
- In 2000, 91.2% Black-on-Black murders
- In 1999, 89% intra-racial Black homicides
- In 1998, 92% Black offenders for Black victims
- In 1995, 94% of Black homicides were Black-on-Black
- In 1990, 84% Black-on-Black homicides per FBI
- In 1985, approximately 87% of Black murder victims killed by Blacks (BJS historical)
Homicide Victim-Offender Race Match Interpretation
The bleak, stubborn math of violence reveals a tragic truth: the greatest threat to Black lives, year after relentless year, is not some external force, but a homegrown crisis fueled by the same systemic failures that disproportionately cage Black bodies and confine Black futures to the same neglected neighborhoods.
National Offender Rates
- In 2021, Blacks accounted for 53% of known homicide offenders while 13% of population (FBI Crime Data Explorer)
- Blacks 51.3% of murder arrests in 2019 (FBI Table 43)
- 2018: 53.6% of homicide offenders Black (FBI)
- Blacks 55% of non-negligent manslaughter arrests 2017
- 52.5% Black murder offenders 2016
- 2015: 51.1% of homicide arrests Black
- Blacks 52% of known murder offenders 2014
- 53.4% Black homicide arrests 2013
- 2012: 54.9% Black for murder
- Blacks 51.7% murder offenders 2011
- 52.8% Black homicide arrests 2010
- 2009: 52% Black for murders
- Blacks 51.2% homicide offenders 2008
- 53% Black murder arrests 2007
- 2006: 52.5% Black for homicide
- Blacks 51.9% murder arrests 2005
- 52.7% Black homicide offenders 2004
- 2003: 51.4% Black for murders
- Blacks 53.1% homicide arrests 2002
- 52.3% Black murder offenders 2001
- 2000: 51.8% Black for homicide
National Offender Rates Interpretation
The grim, unyielding math of these statistics reveals a national tragedy where, for over two decades, a community comprising one-eighth of the population has shouldered the burden of half the nation's homicides.
Victimization Surveys
- In NCVS 2019, 70% of violent incidents against Black victims perpetrated by Black offenders
- NCVS 2018: 62% of Black violent crime victims report Black offenders
- 2017 NCVS: 68% intra-racial violent crime for Blacks
- Blacks experienced 1.5 million violent victimizations in 2019, 65% by Black offenders (NCVS)
- NCVS 2021: Simple assault against Blacks, 72% by Black perpetrators
- 2015 NCVS: 69% of Black robbery victims victimized by Blacks
- NCVS 2008-2021 trend: Consistent 65-75% Black violent victimizations by Blacks
Victimization Surveys Interpretation
While the data paints a stark portrait of communities tragically turned inward, it speaks far less about race and far more about the inescapable arithmetic of proximity, segregated poverty, and systemic neglect.
Sources & References
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