Academic Journal
The legacy of slavery and Black-White disparities in homicide by county-United States, 2000-2020.
| Τίτλος: | The legacy of slavery and Black-White disparities in homicide by county-United States, 2000-2020. |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | Siegel M; Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: mike.siegel@tufts.edu., Mellen E; Department of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. |
| Πηγή: | Public health [Public Health] 2026 Jul; Vol. 256, pp. 106304. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Apr 28. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Historical Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0376507 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1476-5616 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00333506 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: 2003- : Amsterdam : Elsevier Original Publication: London ; New York : Academic Press |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Black or African American*/statistics & numerical data , Enslavement*/statistics & numerical data , Homicide*/statistics & numerical data , Homicide*/ethnology , Homicide*/history , White*/statistics & numerical data, United States/epidemiology ; Humans ; Cross-Sectional Studies |
| Περίληψη: | Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the legacy of slavery and contemporary racial disparities in homicide rates at the county level in the United States. Study Design: Cross-sectional, multilevel, spatial dependence regression analysis. Methods: County-level crude homicide rates and racial homicide disparities during the period 2000-2020 were obtained for the overall, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White populations. We explored the relationship between the percentage of enslaved persons in each county in 1860 and contemporary racial disparities in homicide using a multilevel, spatial dependence model. Results: Controlling for a range of county- and state-level factors, counties in the South had a White homicide rate that was 16.3% higher than in the non-South, a Black homicide rate that was 21.3% lower, and a Black-White homicide rate ratio that was 32.4% lower. Higher White homicide rates and lower Black homicide rates in the South were only observed for firearm-related homicide. Within the South, the percentage of enslaved persons in 1860 was not associated with homicide rates in adjusted analyses. Conclusion: Even after controlling for a range of homicide-related factors, counties in the South had higher White firearm homicide rates, lower Black firearm homicide rates, and lower Black-White racial disparities in homicide. These results suggest that while the White population in the South gained socioeconomic advantage due to slavery, this came at the expense of increased levels of violence resulting in higher White homicide rates. (Copyright © 2026 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest There are no competing interests. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Homicide; Inequalities; Racial disparities; Slavery; Structural racism |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260429 Date Completed: 20260607 Latest Revision: 20260609 |
| Update Code: | 20260609 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.puhe.2026.106304 |
| PMID: | 42054720 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1476-5616 |
|---|---|
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.puhe.2026.106304 |