It seems that reframing American history around racist lies, ignoring actual problems with crime, and defunding police departments might not have been the best ideas.
The US has seen its highest leap in homicide rates in the last 100 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Between 2019 and 2020, the homicide rates in the US rose by 30 per cent, the data – released on Wednesday – show, in what was the largest jump in the murder rate in modern history.
"It is the largest increase in 100 years," Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, told CNN.
"The only larger increase since we've been recording these data occurred between 1904 and 1905, and that increase was most likely, at least partly, the result of better reporting. We had states being added to what we refer to as the death registration areas, so we were counting deaths in more areas over time. We didn't have all states reporting until 1933."
How high exactly is the homicide rate right now?
According to the NCHS, the homicide rate rose from around six per 100,000 people in 2019 to 7.8 per 100,000 in 2020. The rate currently stands at its highest for more than two decades.
Absolutely horrible.
To understand just how horrible, consider that the last time we had a jump in murders like this was during 9/11.
The last time there was a higher homicide rate was in 1995, while the last highest jump of this nature came in in 2001 – as a result of the 9/11 attacks, according to the NCHS.
I have no words.
Okay, maybe a few words.
Like I said at the beginning, following emotionally-charged political lies and stoking hatred and division might have just been a bad idea.
Unfortunately, the same people who sold us the bill of goods about systemic racism, reparations, white fragility, fascism, and police brutality – while telling us to ignore things like the family, fatherlessness, addiction, black-on-black crime, and immigration – will likely blame this all on lawful gun owners in an attempt to grab even more power.
