Murders Commited By Black, Mixed Race Rising In Brazil - Bernama

November 30, 2012 17:03 PM

Murders Commited By Black, Mixed Race Rising In Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 30 (BERNAMA-NNN-XINHUA) - Murders committed by black and mixed-race citizens kept rising in Brazil from 2002 to 2010 while those by white people fell significantly, a study showed on Thursday.

According to the Violence Map study compiled by sociologist Julio Jacobo Waiselfisz and released by the Presidential Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality Policies, murders committed by black and mixed-race Brazilians from 2002 to 2010 soared 29.8 percent to 34,900, while those by white citizens fell 25.5 percent to 14,000.

The gap was even larger for youngsters. The murder rate of white youngsters in the same period fell by 33 percent while that of black and brown youngsters rose by 23.4 percent.

Waiselfisz warned that the situation is likely to worsen if no immediate actions are taken.

The higher murder rate among black and mixed-race people reflected the social and economic inequality throughout the country, he said, calling for adopting more public measures, especially education policies, to protect youngsters.

Waiselfisz also warned of the culture of violence rooted in the minds of some Brazilians who see violence as a convenient way to handle disputes.

The government has recently launched a campaign called "Count to Ten" to reduce the number of "impulsive murders," which account for a major part of killings in Brazil's largest city Sao Paulo.

It advises people to "count to ten" and think twice before committing an act of violence in anger.

-- BERNAMA-NNN-XINHUA

We provide (subscription-based) 
news coverage in our Newswire service.