I don't want to be racisit, but...?

Question

why are a lot of the poor people in the cities and a lot of the criminals are black? I watch the local news and it always seems like that all the people shown in the poor, high crime areas are black. Also, when they show the criminals picture, most of them are black. Why?

Answer 1

Simply put there is no way of directing this issue without being at least a tad "racist". We can only go by what statistics say. in reality people usually conform to the stereotypes that are placed on them and since the beginning we have been labeling the black population as criminals. This is not because they are criminals in root ,but in the essence that they were once second class citizens and once before that time they were not considered citizens at all. It merely a society norm to be label in such a way. Kind of like the way we visualize men as more rough and generally stronger than females.I can garauntee you that no man was born with his tendencies to strong or rugged. This is a conditioning brought on by society. So in short people fall into the catagories that are expected of them.

Answer 2

In reality, there are more white people (in number) incarcerated than African Americans. The disparity that exists is black people make up a percentage of the prison population that far exceeds the 12% to 13% of the general population of the US. The same holds true for poverty and welfare stastics..

As for the cause, sociologists are still working on it. My theory is the concentration of black people in the inner cities is a result of urban renewal attempted during the early part of the 20th century. The government took homes from many familes and built housing projects. Later after WWII a phenomenon know as "white flight" occured where white families moved out of the cities. The US government had a policy through HUD that valued properties in all white neighborhoods higher than those in mixed or minority areas. This served to isolate certain minority groups and offer fewer opportunities.

Most immigrant groups suffered from higher crime rates when their communities were insulated and offered few opportunities. The Irish, Chinese, Germans, etc., all had similar issues. They were able to intergrate into American society after a few generations. Some argue it was due to the reduction of the number of immigrants through various laws. With fewer new immigrants the groups were able to increase their internal wealth.

The restriction of opportunity for blacks existed for over 100 years beyond the end of slavery. It would stand to reason that it might take a bit to recover. I think a great deal of progress has been made but there are obvious concerns that need to be addressed. A primary issue would be the condition of schools in many urban areas. Education is a major factor in reversing the current trends. With schools in deplorable conditions and some offering little educational value. Are the results unexpected?

Answer 3

Because much like you siad it makes good tv. The poorer people will have more crimes that's just how it is unfortunatley but not all poor people are black or white or hispanic...etc. It's a one sided view that's all. No one wants to talk about that MIddle class "white" boy who sells X and parents pay this way out. Or that one "black" child that came from the inner city and is now a doctor. All one sided.

Answer 4

That is because all the white people moved out to the suburbs
and all the blacks moved in and that is why your bigger cities have high crime rates and almost bankrupt. But some of the cities are now trying to entice the whites to move back into the cities.

Answer 5

One thing that "black men "are fond of is,,,their mama.
So the cycle started like this: A young black mother with several small children trying to make ends meet.A young black male becoming the man of the house cause daddy done run off or got sent to prison for something he didn't do.
That young black boy maybe 9-10 years old but,he just can't take hearing his mama cry through the paper thin walls while trying to figure out how she's gonna feed her babies.And he can't take seeing his little brother and his little sister doing without the thing's that other people call "necessary".After so long of no help coming from anywhere,,,this young man can only take so much so,Hey,I stole a loaf of bread to feed my hungry brother and sister.And guess what?Mama whopped my butt,for stealing.
But mama can never understand How her little man of the house feels knowing that he feels it is his place to FEED them.It is his place TO HELP His mama.
You see he started out a man and all he ever asked for was a break but,,all he ever got was the Blame!!

Answer 6

This is, in part, a result of the welfare state which has destroyed the black nuclear family. There is also an attitude among many that they can't get ahead any other way, so crime is a good alternative. Anther attitude is that of condemning any black who doesn't act "black" enough, that is, anyone who wants to study hard in school and get ahead that way. I'm sure there are other possibilities.

Answer 7

That's the way it is.... It's been that way for a long time.... It infuriates me when white people are labeled as racist because they move out of a neighborhood that is growing in black population... It is a statistical fact that high african-american populated areas have high crime rates... Why do you think white people want to get out of the neighborhood...It's common sense... And it makes it worse when you see ignorant people trying tp blame somebody else because it's like this... And usually it's "the white man"...WTF????.... wake up people... We don't need to make excuses for an ethnicity that, I am sad to say, gives itself a bad name...

Answer 8

What news are you watching?? Yes many poor people steal or even kill to survive, but what about Timothy McVeigh, Scott Peterson, Robert Blake, etc. If you notice, most of the serial killers, child killers, wife killers on the news are white! But I guess you were too busy noticing the black criminals to notice the white ones.

Answer 9

Crimes are committed by desperate people, most desperate people are poor. A majority of very poor people in America are not white, it's just the way things are.

Answer 10

Re: Stockoslayer;

Blacks are genetically predisposed to criminal behavior

That's like saying that Whites are genetically predisposed to write moronic answers to question on Yahoo !

Anyhow, in answer to your question, I think you need only to read some of your other answers ( the ones written by intelligent people, believe me you can tell the difference ) and one of the best ones was the one about the area you live in or are observing. Different areas, different populations, different kinds of criminals.