Why do blacks commit over 50% of the crime while being only 13% of the population?

Question

Statistics are according to charts and records kept on crimes committed nationally. The figures quoted are accurate and can be viewed on the FBI web site.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/pov95/povest1.html (This report shows that more Whites live in poverty. Poverty cannot explain the crime disparity.)

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/soo.pdf (Report on Sex Crime Statistics)

http://www.amren.com/color.pdf (Report entitled "The Color of Crime" by the New Century Foundation)

http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/blog/stix/2005/10/color-of-crime.html (New Century Foundation/Nicholas Stix)

Answer 1

As an African-American, I can shed some insight to this problem. This is a problem that goes to the root of the problem. It is instability of our culture, living in violent inner-cities, and no good role models. You may not want to hear it but this goes back to slavery when black families were separated with no concern at all. There are actually two classes of black people. After slavery, a lot of blacks were allowed to get an education, vote and even hold public office. When the Jim Crow laws were enacted many of these black people left the south and moved up north. The Jim Crow laws were designed to take away the liberties that the Republican party gave to blacks. Those blacks who got away from them live a peaceful life and value education. Those blacks that stayed in the south were subjected to Jim Crow laws were denied the tools to succeed in our culture. They were herded into all black communities and were given minimal education and social skills. After the depression, a lot of blacks moved up north but they did not have the skills to get good paying jobs so they were placed in Ghettos. They were out of sight and out of mind. They have continued to live in Ghettos where there are no good role models. The men would leave their families because the stress of trying to provide for their families would overwhelm them. This left the mother to provide support for the children. She could not be at home and did not have the time to raise the children and monitor their value system. She was more worried about trying to pay the rent and put food on the table. There is also the problem that when black people do succeed they want to get away from the areas that they grew up in because the memories are too painful. So there are not a lot of good role models in the black community because we view living around white people as safer. When you work hard and get nice amenities, you cherish them more and don't want to have them taken from you. When you grow up in violence and that is all you see, then that is how you think all problems are solved. Now for those facts and figures; beware. Although there is a high crime rate for blacks, this can be misleading. Most crimes committed by black people are against other black people. Black people who do crimes usually do them in their own living area. There is a big misconception that blacks target white people as a whole. Sure there is black on white crime but it is a very small percentage. Except for the killing of the children in Atlanta in the 80's and the serial shooters on the I-95 highway a few years ago black people do not committ large scale murders. Also the epidemic of crack in societies has caused a large upswing in violence. This is fast money but it is also a violent drug and causes a lot of problems. However we are seeing a rise in white crime with the invention of meth drugs and the white culture using crack as their preference of drugs. There is also the fact that because black people make less money they do not have the ability to afford good lawyers to defend them. Left to public defenders who juggle many cases they are subjected to substandard legal defenses. This is why some states have put a moratorium on the death penalty because too many innocent people have died. One of the best solutions is to become involved in inner-city projects and let people know that you care. In Chicago, they have torn down the Cabrini Greens projects, which were considered some of the worst in the United States, and are devolping the area into mixed communities. There is a mix of cultures. White people are paying in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for townhouses and their neighbors could be a black family who lived in the projects. The families from the projects are screened vigioriously but it is the white people who are stepping up to the plate and saying **** that we care. There is over a 90% satisfaction rate among the white people who have moved there. They encourage sleep-overs and interaction with their black neighbors. Crime is so low that some of these people who paid more thatn $600,000 for their townhouses are seeing the value of their home in the upper $900,000. Most of all the black children are being exposed to young white children who value their education and are following in their footsteps. Black adults are living in a nice home without crime and are exposed to the value of keeping up their houses which is one of the main reasons the property value has gone up. The black neighbors can buy their houses but very few of them can afford them. However, because they are exposed to affluent white people they are being groomed for jobs in the workforce that will allow them to one day own their homes. This is a big plus because it is understood that networking is the key to getting a good job. This project has been so successful that it is being copied throughout the country as we speak. I live in Springfield, Ohio and it is being implemented here. However, there are major obstacles in our way. The rise of violent video games which glorify inner-city living such as Grand Theft Auto; the violent culture of rap music which emphasizes making money from selling drugs instead of going to school and getting a job; and the degradation of the standing of women in our society are putting us all in jeopardy. White kids are now the fuel that drives rap music; black people do not have the economic power. Rappers are gearing their music to attract suburban adolescents who have the money to buy their records. They do not care about the black kids because they can't be sustained by the economic power of black adolescents. In turn, you see white kids displaying characteristics of inner-city kids. This is a major problem and it is causing higher crime rates for young white kids. So this is a problem we all must work together to defeat. So that black kids can continue to climb the ladder of success and white kids to not fall down the ladder. Together we all can make a difference. God Bless

Answer 2

Black people have not evolved differently from other races. We are all the same. Black people don't commit crimes any more than any other nationality but they do get more attention for the crimes. When a Black person robs a store or shots someone it gets more attention than when a White person does the same exact thing. It doesn't mean that they are commiting the crimes any more than the next race, it just means that Black crimes are shown on the media before a crime commited by someone else.

Answer 3

That is not true. It is most black cannot afford a good attorney to get them off. Blacks and other minorities are also more likely to do more time because they cannot again afford their defense.

Example: OJ had plenty of money to get away with murder. It worked. Had he been broke he would be in jail today doing life.

Watch the new shows out today. Power, privilege and justice and others like it. Most of the people they profile are white and rich. And they are killing for the almighty dollar and lots of them.

Lets bash the media. When the media reports a crime if the person committing the crime is white the story goes as: Today a store was held up at gun point.

If the person is black the story goes as: Today a store was held up at gun point by a black man 6' tall about 150 pounds. This type of reporting has a big effect on how people view crime and who is committing them.

Answer 4

That's the second time in a couple of days that I've seen the statistic on Yahoo answers saying that blacks are 13% of our population....that doesn't seem right at all....but who knows. And I'm with the majority here....people who make less money get arrested more. Cuz what it comes down to is that we all get into trouble at one point or another; just not all of us can pay our way out. And I think cops do, generally, look for crime in black neighborhoods. If they kept an eye on whites like that, they'd probably find a lot more. Other than that....maybe it's b/c they think that's the only way to get ahead. I dunno.

Answer 5

Crime rate is usually associated with poverty. So in Canada, it is our Natives who make up the minority in the population and the majority in jail. The same probably holds true for every country - the poorest get arrested more. Of course, the legal system was made for rich, white men, by rich white men. That could be a factor. Also, rich people can afford good lawyers.

Answer 6

I posed this question to a black African who was born in Africa once.
He was studying for his doctorate in physics when I met him and so struck was I with his candor and absolute positive demeanor that I asked him to venture a guess as to why his cousins here in the States were so vastly different.

Without skipping a beat, he stated that the answer was quite simple. To begin with, he explained, only the undesirables were sold to the slave traders. The criminals, the derelicts the feeble minded and the lazy . Then they were bred with little respect for intelligence, thwarting the natural selection process. As a result, he surmised that since being freed they continue to serve their masters by being sold a false bill of goods("Always keepin a black man down") and thereby giving away their valuable votes to a party that could care less as to their plight.

Answer 7

More live in poverty and feel they have a less chance to make it in a white man's USA as they perceive. This debate will go on forever.

A higher percentage have less father guidance in their life. I hope it gets better. I know and am friends with many outstanding African Americans.

Answer 8

I am so sick of people generalizing black people-generalizing people at all! What is wrong with some people? Why do we have to generalize and become statistics? People are people. Why does it have to be "blacks commit more crime"? People commit crimes, it shouldn't be a black or white thing.
And no, not all blacks want to be "thugs" or "gangsta" because white kids do it to, so whoever made that comment is an asshole and needs a serious reality check.

Answer 9

I'm not a criminal. I have been working the last 27 years.
Some jobs at minimum wage.
To answer your question,if you keep a race down by denying
them good jobs and an education the race will resort to what ever
they can do to survive.

Answer 10

I suppose you are presumably refering to America? I think minorities rather than black might be a better way of stating the argument. Regardless of race or skin tone, the haves will commit less crime while the have nots commit more. The haves will always need to create have nots to sharpen the difference of what they have. Watch Dr. Seuss "The Sneetches".

Answer 11

Skip the color. Break down crimes into categories. Site statistics about people, not color. Crime is committed all over the world & humans commit crimes for all kinds of reasons. Let's not generalize.

A victim is a victim, regardless of color. One perp. may murder thousands financially —ENRON. All kinds of crimes.