Question: Does St. Louis and other major US Cities suffer from Relative Deprivation? Data suggests that St. Louis is among the cities with the highest murders and crime rates. The data also suggest that St. Louis is among the cities with the highest inequalities and disparities.
In fact, St. Louis is the second biggest city in Missouri with a population of 301,578 people, with 20% living below the poverty level. The average household income in the city is $45,782. St. Louis has become synonymous with high crime rates, especially murders. Moreover, St. Louis has been continuously ranked among the most dangerous cities in the U.S. Last year, the city reported 199 murders and was named by Statista and the World Population Reviews data obtained from the FBI Crime Report, as the most dangerous city in the U.S by murder rate per 100,000 people. The city’s violent crime rate is 420% higher than the national average.
The ten cities with the highest violent crime rates (number of incidents per 100,000 people) are:
- Louis, MO (2,082)
- Detroit, MI (2,057)
- Baltimore, MD (2,027)
- Memphis, TN (2,003)
- Little Rock, AR (1,634)
- Milwaukee, WI (1,597)
- Rockford, IL (1,588)
- Cleveland, OH (1,557)
- Stockton, CA (1,415)
- Albuquerque, NM (1,369)
Crime and Violence continues to spiral out of control and the perpetrators are young men 10-25 who constitute the age group with the highest rates of arrest for all offenses and especially violent crimes, murders and robberies. (See https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/ucr.asp?table_in=1)
Recently, 2 persons were killed, and 7 others were injured after a lone gunman. 19-year-old African American, Orlando Harris, went to his former high school CVPA with a long gun. Harris killed 16-year-old Alexandria Bell, who was a beautiful young lady with a promising career in the visual and performing arts. The second, was Jean Kuczka, a 61-year-old physical Ed teacher.
Jean Kuzcka
Alexandria Bell
The question on all our minds after this is, another shooting and why did he do this? Why would a young man with no prior criminal record become so violent that he would be so enraged has to turn his former school into a battleground.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Belkin $15 Off Purchase of $80 or more!! Be Ready For Today | Belkin US with code NOV22
According to reports from eyewitnesses and victims, the gunman shouted just before he started to shoot, “you’re all going to die.” Another student heard him say, “I’m tired of this d…” school and “I hate this d*** school.”
Taniya Gholston, 16, was in the dance class when the shooting started.
“He said like, ‘I’m tired of this damn school,’ and, ‘I’m tired of everybody in this damn school,’” she said.
If those words reveal anything, it is that Harris was frustrated and troubled and seem to blame the school and sought to resolve the problem through what he believe was the only way that resolve his issues. For Harris, the school was the source of his problem and sought to kill everyone except the ballet teacher Raymond Harris. That was inconsistent with his statement that everyone was gonna die at the school, yet he stopped short of killing this particular teacher. This needs further investigation and understanding as to why he changed his mind about this teacher. Nevertheless, he carried out his heinous plan but due to quick response by the police, was taken out before he could continue his rampage.
Orlando Harris
Press conference reports by the local police suggested that there are unconfirmed reports that Harris had a mental illness in the past, but this has not been confirmed and investigators are still exploring motive.
Moreover, the issue of motive goes beyond Orlando Harris, and must be situated within the wider concern that Crime and Violence continues to spiral out of control and the perpetrators are young men like Orlando ages 10-25 who constitute the age group with the highest rates. In retrospect, social movement theory within Marxist materialist school of thought advanced the concept of Relative Deprivation, a very important rationale to dealing with and understanding crime and violence of this nature. Social movement theory asserts that when one begins to see other people, they begin to compare themselves drawing conclusions about themselves relative to that position. Example, we conclude previously that the experience and nature of poverty differs from place to place, so that a person may not “feel” or “think” and therefore may not act “poor” until they find themselves in another context or see other experiences that clashes with theirs. This theory then leads to a conclusion from scientific research and various studies within Social Marxist Materialism of Relative Deprivation, where society of higher income inequality are more prone to higher crime rates than communities that have lower income inequality.
Today, US national data shows that crime has spiked and that much of it is occurs within certain cities and communities. The cities that have experienced rapid increases in violent crimes with a weapon and robberies are among the poorest with higher levels of people of color including St. Louis Missouri where CVPA is located. St. Louis overtook Detroit as the most violent cities in the US with the highest murder rates. While at the same time, St. Louis is among the cities with the highest inequality/disparities with a Gini coefficient of between 0.9 and 1.2 suggesting significant inequality between the richest and poorest household’s wealth/incomes. In fact, the Federal Reserve Bank data reports that from 2014 to 2020, there’s been a steady gain in wealth among white Americans, but people of color have little to no change since the 1990’s. Further, between 2020 to 2022 not only has white Americans net worth increased but it has skyrocketed spiking upward drastically, which explains the almost vertical blue slope in the figure below. This spike occurred during COVID, yet median incomes are falling and poverty rising, and this seems to be correlating to the spike in violent crimes with a weapon. In addition, unemployment in St. Louis area and city are higher than the national average.
Note: News Update on the Shooting:
The 19-year-old gunman who killed a teacher and a 15-year-old girl at a St. Louis high school was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and what appeared to be more than 600 rounds of ammunition, Police Commissioner Michael Sack said Tuesday. Orlando Harris also left behind a hand-written note offering his explanation for the shooting Monday at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. Sack read Harris’ note in which the young man lamented that he had no friends, no family, no girlfriend and a life of isolation. In the note, Harris called it the “perfect storm for a mass shooter.”
Sack said Harris had some ammo strapped to his chest, some in a bag, and other magazines were found dumped in stairwells, (See St. Louis school gunman left note describing lonely life, ‘perfect storm’ for mass shooting (stltoday.com)
The Neoliberal Round Podcast, Season 4, Episode 26 on Spotify
This article was discussed first in The Neoliberal Round Podcast at https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ghyBz64GUaGA8dm4W22VG?si=kckHad1zSGeERhidxeyNDQ on Spotify. You may subscribe to the podcast at: Https://anchor.fm/theneoliberal
Poll Question:
St. Louis & other US Cities with high crime rates are extremely unequal. Does St. Louis & other US cities with high crime/violence suffer from Relative Deprivation? https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ghyBz64GUaGA8dm4W22VG?si=3PP1YFUkRziQR_J9bxFHUQ…
- Yes
- No
- Yes, and No
- I’m not sure/I don’t know
Note: 1 vote·5 days left
Participate at https://twitter.com/RenaldoMcKenzie/status/1585050531206004737?s=20&t=7IvlVsoKh_ubTRWVQl91KA
St. Louis & other US Cities with high crime rates are extremely unequal. Does St. Louis & other US cities with high crime/violence suffer from Relative Deprivation? https://t.co/26x6NEhnQM
— Renaldo C. McKenzie (@RenaldoMcKenzie) October 25, 2022
Renaldo C McKenzie is President of Author of Neoliberalism, Globalization, Income Inequality, Poverty and Resistance, available worldwide in all formats. Renaldo is available for consultation on speaking.
Visit us also at Antz Business Solutions, for Web Design and Development and Search Engine optimization solutions.
Home – Antz Business Solutions
Home – Antz Business Solutions
Visit us also at The Neoliberal at Welcome To The NeoLiberal – The Neoliberal (renaldocmckenzie.com)
Subscribe and Support The Neoliberal Round Podcast at: The NeoLiberal Round • A podcast on Anchor
Error: Contact form not found.