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NATIONAL GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH
Shooting Black: African Americans & The Racial Gun Violence Epidemic
Nearly all forms of firearm violence are on a consistent rise in Black communities. Where do our bodies go from here?
The disproportionate impact of gun violence has plagued the Black community for decades. At least 30 Black Americans are killed by guns each day on average. Though gun violence touches every racial demographic in America, its gruesome weight on African American communities has reduced our life expectancy at a significantly higher rate than our counterparts.
On average, African Americans account for more than 12,000 gun-related deaths each year (more than 15,000 in the past year alone), — with the vast majority of deaths ruled as homicides. In fact, 83% of all gun deaths among African Americans are gun homicides; — which rose 61% from 2018 to 2021. Irrespective of the fact that African Americans account for just 13 percent of the total population, they comprise more than half of all gun-violent deaths in America.
Consistent trends in anti-Black racial gun violence provide:
- African Americans experience 10 times the gun-related homicides and 18 times the gun deaths or injuries…
