, Columnist
Homicide Is Pandemic’s Biggest Killer of Young Black Men
While Covid-19 drove up death rates for all Americans, the steep rise in murder was a much more dangerous plague for this group.
Black families suffer most when murder rates rise.
Photographer: Chicago Tribune/Tribune News ServiceThis article is for subscribers only.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a big increase in murder and manslaughter (aka homicide) in the U.S. By the accounting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the homicide rate went from 5.8 per 100,000 Americans in 2019 to 7.5 in 2020.1It appears to have continued to rise, albeit at a much slower rate, in 2021.
Who suffers when the homicide rate goes up like that? Black Americans, mainly.