Social Question

mazingerz88's avatar

Why is the majority of school shooters in the US white?

Asked by mazingerz88 (29144points) 1 month ago from iPhone

81 percent according to this link. If accurate, what would explain that number?

https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/

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30 Answers

Dutchess_III's avatar

I guess for the same reason that most sex offenders are white.

JLeslie's avatar

More white people in the country.

Also, maybe, because more white people live in areas where gun culture is the norm and especially firearms like rifles and AR15’s.

Plus, people tend to copy or see themselves in people similar to themselves, so the more white people who do something, the more likely more white people will do it.

zenvelo's avatar

Because the cops kill black and brown people with guns or with things that they perceive as a gun, like a stick or a cell phone.

flutherother's avatar

Weapons are probably less affordable to the average black family. I also suspect that school shootings in black areas involving black kids are not given so much coverage by the media.

Blackwater_Park's avatar

It’s a lot of reasons. Middle-class white families tend to be gun owners. Middle-class white males tend to be sheltered in youth but practically ignored as adolescents. Lots of testosterone, wounded teenage egos, and more likely to be on the spectrum than others. They have less attention given to their mental health. They’re bullied more and nothing is done about it. They may never have been taught how to stand up for themselves. They’re heavily influenced by the media (which belittles and hates them these days and practically begs them to do it) Their family may have extreme political beliefs or it could even be abuse at home. Perhaps most or all of this coming together at once…

jca2's avatar

As of 2022, 75% of the US population was white.

elbanditoroso's avatar

“white privilege” – a certain class of whites think that they can do anything they want with impunity.

Everything from ‘grabbing women by the pussy’ (to quote Donald Trump), to shooting people on fifth avenue (to quote Donald Trump).

Blackberry's avatar

Since America’s inception, white people were told they can have and do anything they want. Apparently there’s no limit or drawback to uncontrolled ambition and entitlement.

The world is a playground for colonizers.

seawulf575's avatar

Good question. Slightly higher than the percentage of the population that is white, but not truly significantly. With more people, it is somewhat expected that they would commit crimes at a commensurate rate. Why would anyone think it was okay to shoot up a school might be the better question.

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JLeslie's avatar

@seawulf575 You don’t need to be told it, you live it and realize it. I saw this Ted Talk about living as a man or woman. It talked about how the different genders are treated in society. Mem live a different experience compared to women, even though men have trials, even though some men are beaten down psychologically and harassed, even though many woman are also told they can do anything. It’s subtle, but real, there are generalizations to be made and are valid.

You want your difficulties and hard work taken seriously, I get it, you get credit for those things, just like I want understanding regarding being a religious minority even though I’m white, but we can’t dismiss what Black people and other minorities experience as group when they (we) have the same stories over and over again. It’s real.

Here’s the ted talk: https://youtu.be/lrYx7HaUlMY?si=YCVy52cuM2cqFUQT

Dutchess_III's avatar

It can be taken overboard though. I dated a black guy, off and on, for 10 years after my divorce. He was born and raised in Selma Alabama (but didn’t understand the cultural significance of his hometown town…he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he remembers The March.) He believed that when he was given the wrong change (which happens to everyone) it was because he was black.
He also used the N-word a LOT.
But he was handsome and athletic and fun and we had that much in common.
He was also crazy racist in some crazy ways. Not against black people, but against people who weren’t “real Americans,” like Vietnamese immigrants.
I finally asked him what a “Real American” was, and with no hesitation he said “White people.” Oh Jerry Jerry Jerry. He grew up in an environment that I can’t even comprehend.

JLeslie's avatar

@Dutchess_III Agreed, it can be taken too far. Sometimes minorities interpret everything as people are treating then badly because of their race or gender when it isn’t the case, they are just always ready to be on the defense. My husband feels I do this regarding being a woman, I feel like men tell me bullshit because I’m a woman, but my husband says a lot of the time the guy is just stupid and would make up the same bullshit if he was talking to a man.

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raum's avatar

@JLeslie and @seawulf575 About 70% of the population is white. But only about 30% of the population is white and male.

JLeslie's avatar

@raum I was only talking about men, that’s my mistake to say more white people, it should have been more white men. Men commit around 90% of the murders in the country, I don’t remember the exact percentage. Women are barely part of the calculation.

Edit: Also, from what I’ve read, and makes sense to me, is women tend to murder a specific person for a specific reason, not murder random people.

raum's avatar

@JLeslie I think if we are talking just gender, it’s around 50/50 in the US. So not more men, just more men committing murder.

If we narrow it down to white men, the percentage goes down to around thirty percent.

JLeslie's avatar

@raum I would not use the percentage of white men compared to the entire US population.

75% of the US population is white. 60% is white not Hispanic.

Looking at gender, then yeah, 50% of the population is male, and they do 85–90% of the murders, which says something about gender more than race I think. Women are probably more likely to harm themselves than other people.

elbanditoroso's avatar

I made the comment on Fluther, maybe 10 years ago, that women in the US will not be truly equal to men in the US until they do the same sorts of heinous crimes. Until then, women have not reached equality.

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