Stephen A. Smith gives out shocking stats while talking about the Black community as an endangered species - "You see what I meant"

Following the recent mass shooting in Baltimore, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith took the opportunity to address the issue of gun violence in America. In particular, Smith shared some concerning stats surrounding the prevalence of gun violence in Black communities across the United States:

“In the immediate aftermath of the shootings in Baltimore, I thought that I would remind everybody of what’s going on,” Smith said on his podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show.

“In the year 2022, one in every 67 Black men ages 18 to 24 in Philadelphia were killed or injured in gun homicides or shootings. Black Americans die from gun violence at nearly 2.4 times the rate of White Americans. … On average, more than 12,400 Black people die from gun violence each year with 15,548 such deaths in 2021 alone, the highest number on record. Oh, by the way, firearm homicides among Black Americans rose 61% from 2018 to 2021. 83% of all gun deaths among Black Americans are gun homicides.”

Smith then turned his attention to the alarming statistics specifically relating to boys and men in Black communities. Despite making up a small percentage of the U.S. population, he highlighted that they account for more than half of all gun homicides.

“Despite the fact that Black boys and men account for just 6% of the total U.S. population, they comprise more than half of all gun homicides,” Smith said.

“Black men and boys make up 6% of the entire American population. Yet, we comprise more than half of all gun homicides in the United States of America. You see what I meant when I talked about us being an endangered species?”

However, Smith also added that gun violence isn’t just a problem among Black people, but rather a problem for the world as a whole:

“That is what’s going on,” Smith said.

“Those numbers are what’s taking place pertaining strictly to the Black community. But no community is immune to what’s going on in this world.”

Stephen A. Smith's discussion starts at the 17:08 mark below:

Stephen A. Smith on the reason gun violence is so prominent in America

ESPN NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith

Later in his podcast, Stephen A. Smith spoke about the root cause of gun violence in America. Smith said that it comes down to people not uplifting each other as much as they should be:

“See, when I sit here and talk to you about what’s going on and I talk to you about America only being as strong as its weakest link, what’s happening is the degradation of our society is taking place before our very eyes,” Smith said.

“People are not being uplifted, they’re being dragged down. They’re being dragged down by the weakest links in our society. All of a sudden, all of the things that permeated just minority communities throughout this country are touching everywhere now. It’s getting uglier and uglier.”

Smith then called on his listeners to do their part in helping solve the issue:

“It’ll catch you eventually,” Smith said.

“What are you gonna do about it?”