Missouri ranked #1 state in the U.S. for Black homicide victims, yet again

If asked to guess which area in the U.S ranked number one for the most homicides against the Black community, many would guess places like New York, Baltimore or maybe even Chicago. And they would be wrong.

Aug 13, 2019
A man protects a boy as police move in and spray mace for a mass arrest downtown during a protest of the acquittal of former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley on September 17, 2017 in St. Louis, Missouri. This is the third day of protests in the city following the acquittal of Stockley, who had been charged with first-degree murder last year following the 2011 on-duty shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

If asked to guess which area in the U.S ranked number one for the most homicides against the Black community, many would guess places like New York, Baltimore or maybe even Chicago. And they would be wrong.

According to the Kansas City Star, a study conducted by the Violence Policy Center has concluded that Missouri is actually the state with the highest rate of Black homicide victims in the nation, and not more obvious choices like New York, California or even Florida.

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And what makes this distinction even harder to ignore is the fact that the state has held this dubious honor for the greater part of the last decade.

“If you want to hunt an animal in Missouri, you must attend a hunter’s safety education course and obtain a license,” Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith wrote in a blog post. “But recent state legislation has removed any requirements on carrying or using a gun around people.”

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“Now anyone 19 or older can legally carry a concealed weapon with no training in Missouri. Doesn’t it make sense for those who want to carry guns around people to do so with proper training?” he concluded.

This week alone, Kansas City police investigated eight homicides and 13 nonfatal shootings. And during this calendar year, over 80 percent of the city’s 90 homicide victims were Black residents.

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“It shows for us, we almost have a genocide of the black community right now,” said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who recently took office on August 1st. “I think it is something far more important than streetcars, airports and any other things we are talking about.

“We need to talk about how we can get our hands around our violent crime problem.”

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