Since 1976, when the Supreme Court declared the modern death penalty regime, 84 people have been executed in Florida. But not a single person was sentenced to the death penalty for killing an African American.
In fact, in the state of Florida “no white person has ever been executed for killing an African American,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
But Florida isn’t the only racist state. 6 percent of murders in Alabama involve African American defendants and white victims, however, 60 percent of the inmates on death row were found guilty of killing a white person. A death sentence is 97 more likely in Louisiana if the murder victim was white.
Let’s look at the numbers from a national standpoint. Since 1976, only 20 white people have been executed for killing an African American person, but 269 black people have been executed for killing a white person. “There were 39 people on death row who were executed in 2013. And even in death, racial divides were clear”.