I would be remiss if I did not specifically applaud MSNBC.com for publishing this information. While I am critical of the operatives on their cable broadcast arm - knowing that this information is not going to be analyzed on the "Rachel Maddow Show" with focus on the decades long policy failures that have lead us to this point in these cities - I am comfortable in admitting that MSNBC.com is my favorite web based news portal of all of the major broadcast and cable new outlets.
| City | Table Cell | Table Cell | Table Cell |
| 1) Flint MI | Population: 109,245 Violent crime per 1,000: 22 | Median income: $27,049 (46.1 percent below national average) Unemployment rate: 11.8 percent (2.8 percent above national average) | 2010 murders: 53 |
| 2) Detroit MI | Population: 899,447 Violent crime per 1,000: 18.9 | Median income: $26,098 (48 percent below national average) Unemployment rate: 12.7 percent (3.7 percent above national average) | 2010 murders: 310 |
| 3) St Louis MO | Population: 355,151 Violent crime per 1,000: 17.5 | Median income: $34,801 (30.7 percent below national average) Unemployment rate: 9.3 percent (0.3 percent above national average) | 2010 murders: 144 |
| 4) New Haven CT | Population: 124,856 Violent crime per 1,000: 15.8 | Median income: $38,279 (23.8 percent below national average) Unemployment rate: 9.6 percent (0.6 percent above national average) | 2010 murders: 22 |
| 5) Memphis TN | Population: 673,650 Violent crime per 1,000:15.4 | Median income: $34,203 (31.8 percent below national average) Unemployment rate: 9.9 percent (0.9 percent above national average) | 2010 murders: 89 |
| 6) Oakland CA | Population: 409,723 Violent crime per 1,000: 15.3 | Median income: $51,473 (2.4 percent above national average) Unemployment rate: 11 percent (2 percent above national average) | 2010 murders: 90 |
| 7) Little Rock AR | Population: 192,922 Violent crime per 1,000: 15.2 | Median income: $38,992 (22.3 percent below national average) Unemployment rate: 6.8 percent (2.2 percent below national average) | 2010 murders: 25 |
| 8) Baltimore MD | Population: 639,929 Violent crime per 1,000: 14.6 | Median income: $38,772 (22.7 percent below national average) Unemployment rate: 7.4 percent (1.6 percent below national average) | 2010 murders: 223 |
| 9) Rockford IL | Population: 156,180 Violent crime per 1,000: 14.5 | Median income: $36,990 (26 percent below national average) Unemployment rate: 13.3 percent (4.3 percent above national average) | 2010 murders: 20 |
| 10) Stockton CA | Population: 292,047 Violent crime per 1,000: 13.8 | Median income: $45,730 (8.9 percent below national average) Unemployment rate: 18.4 percent (9.4 percent above national average) | 2010 murders: 49 |
These numbers are misleading.
As a resident of Metro Atlanta - one of the most violent metros around the nation I know that since a good portion of the killings take place outside of "Atlanta proper" this stack ranking of "Dangerous Cities" does not completely give a representative picture. Street Pirates don't give a damn if they assault you inside of the city limits or wait to execute their crime of opportunity until you get outside of the city limits so the central city does not look so bad per the statistics.
Why Aren't These Homicide Cities Of Today Dealt With As The Racist South Was Dealt With?
The sad truth is that the 144 people murdered in St Louis Missouri in 2010 are not seen as victims in the same way as was the case when RACISM ruled the day in this nation's past. Since the vast majority of these murders listed above were intra-racial crimes the will to promote the incident as having a message as important as the status of "race relations" unfortunately means that such crime are seen as inferior to these others. This despite the fact that a corpse has been produced just the same.
The unfortunate residue of this bifurcation in value is that the community has to accept that absent such staunch repudiation and active refusal to accept it as something beyond their control - they have made the choice to live with a certain higher than average murder rate. In the world of "Racism Chasing" where theatrics and resolve have a particular unifying effect upon the masses that would otherwise be detached. In the world where the community sees the dead body and then looks at the likely assailant and figures that he is of the same kind - the natural outrage which says "THEY can't do this to US" is stripped away.
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