I was reading through some articles and came across one talking about the American South is the most violent region in the country, according to a study of assault deaths in the United States. It went on talking about how the Southern states tend to have two to three more assault deaths per 100,000 people!  I must say that I was completely shocked because the South only accounted for 40.9% of all reported violent crimes even though it makes up roughly a quarter of the country, according to the final Uniform Crime Report for 2012.

This article became so mind blowing to me because it put a label on the southern states as a whole and I really don’t agree with that.  However, I do agree that some violence results from poverty in the southern states, hot weather leads to hot tempers, economic stress, etc. In my opinion there is a lot of truth behind those factors because Tennessee that had the nation’s highest violent crime rate last year.

The state was among the top 10 in the country for murders and robberies and was first for aggravated assaults, with an estimated 479.6 for every 100,000 residents. Tennessee’s 41,550 violent crimes in 2012 were up 6.8% from 2011 but down 10% from 2007, when there were 46,380 violent crimes. There were 388 murders in the state in 2012, up for a second straight year. I’m just saying can we please make the world a better place? Let’s start with Tennessee!