The highest homicide rate in Minnesota's history was in 1995. The media attributes it to a "Crack War."
Minnesota was 2.2% Black in 1990 and 3.5% Black in 2000.
The following data is from the 1995 MN Department of Public Safety report.
1995 homicide victims:
Black: 47.8%
White: 42.2%
Indian: 6.1%
Asian: 3.9%
1995 known homicide offenders:
Black: 49.7%
White: 36.9%
Indian: 6.0%
Asian: 7.4%
1995 arrested homicide suspects:
Black: 49.1%
White: 33.8%
Indian: 7.4%
Asian: 9.7%
sub-classified as Hispanic/Latino: 8.3%
Blacks made up roughly 3% of the population of Minnesota, but committed nearly half of the murders in 1995. Other small minorities, including Hmong, Indians, and Latinos also committed disproportionately large amounts of homicides. Minnesota was considered close to 95% White at this time.
The overall homicide rate for 1995 is 4.0 per 100k. However, the Black Minnesota homicide rate in 1995 was roughly 64.8 per 100k. The non-Black Minnesota homicide rate was roughly 2.1 per 100k. The White homicide rate would be even lower than that.
In 2009, Minnesota had it's lowest homicide rate since 1965.
2009 data from Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
2009 homicide victims:
Black: 37.7%
White: 49.3%
Indian: 5.8%
Asian: 7.2%
2009 known offenders:
Black: 50.7%
White: 31.5%
Indian: 6.8%
Asian: 11.0%
2009 arrested homicide suspects:
Black: 46.4%
White: 37.3%
Indian: 8.1%
Asian: 8.1%
sub-classified as Hispanic/Latino: 8.1%
The census placed Blacks at 5.2% of Minnesota in 2010. If we treat 5.5% of the population as Black, the Black homicide rate is roughly 13.0 per 100k. The non-Black homicide rate would be approximately .7 per 100k. The White homicide rate would be even much lower.
In 2021, Minnesota had it's third highest homicide rate.
2021 data from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Blacks are listed as 7.4% of Minnesota in the census.
2021 homicide victims:
Black: 65.4%
White: 29.8%
Indian: 2.1%
Asian: 2.7%
2021 known homicide offenders:
Black: 76%
White: 18.5%
Indian: 3.3%
Asian: 2.2%
Hispanic/Latino are counted as "White." In 1981, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety provided a racial breakdown of arrests that included a sub-classification for Hispanic/Latino. This would have placed them among the very first in the nation to do so. This practice was stopped in 2015. Now Minnesota only uses Hispanic/Latino as a victim category for "bias crimes."
If we assume that Blacks account for 8% of the population (to account for people listed as "mixed race" in the census), the Black homicide rate for 2021 is roughly 33.5 per 100k. The non-Black homicide rate is roughly 0.9 per 100k. The White homicide rate would be even much lower. The homicide rate for Whites and Latinos combines would be roughly .8 per 100k.
Note: Minnesota's Asian homicide rate has historically been high because they are Hmong. This specific group tends to commit violent crime at far higher rates than other East Asians. Indian means American Indian.
