<p>Bureau</a> of Justice Statistics Homicide trends in the U.S.: Trends by race</p>
<p>i think in reality the truth is far worse because blacks make up about 13 percent of the American population but commit more crime than whites who make about 74 percent of the population. i am not going to say anything political about the statistics in fear of being called a "racist" by extreme liberals.</p>
<p>what i want to know is why?</p>
<p>Not the right section, go to Cafe or something.</p>
<p>Socio-economics determine crime levels, not race. Races and nationalities are not prone to violance. It is not as simple as black or white. In all societies, violent crimes will be more pronounced in areas where unemployment is high and where the familial unit has disintegrated.</p>
<p>Blacks, as a population, may serve an disproportionate number of years in jail due to socioeconomic reasons, self-destructive cultural beliefs, and idiotic things like the War on Drugs, but one could easily argue that the most harmful kind of crime, white-collar crime, is largely perpetrated by white people. Not to mention home-grown terrorists (Oklahoma, Waco, that nut who shot that Unitarian church up, KKK) and potential war criminals (Kissinger, Bush, Cheney) are all white.</p>
<p>^^ You think white collar crime is the most harmful kind of crime?</p>
<p>The statistics I could find were from 1995 (don't have too much time to search and this is the first info I ran acrosss). It shows that whites account for about 45% of the poverty stricken in this country with blacks at 28%, latinos at 23% and asians at about 4%. I think that should cause you to think that it's soley economic in nature and more sociological in nature. Being poor doesn't cause you to commit crimes. There are a disproportionate number of black in jail because they commit a disproportionate number of the crimes, typically against other blacks.</p>
<p>High School
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<p>-Today, about 86 percent of African Americans from 25 to 29 years of age have graduated from high school, a rate comparable to that of whites. Of course they don't include the elderly.
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College
[quote]
-Today, about a third of black high school graduates attend college and 13 percent graduate</p>
<p>-Although the gap is narrowing, white students attend college at a higher rate (about 42 percent) than African Americans, and about 23 percent graduate.
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</p>
<p>Income
[quote]
-Black median household income in 1997 was $25,050. That income level placed about 40 percent of black households in the middle class, compared with about 60 percent of white households. This proportion had almost doubled since 1960. The black middle class grew at a faster rate than the white middle class in that period</p>
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<p>Now to be while this does not sound pristine, its honestly not that bad. </p>
<p>I have said before and will say again I live in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx. I was 1 of a very small number of white students in my HS. So I call the socioeconomic argument a bluff. I live in the 3rd poorest country in the country and the poorest Congressional District in the country. My HS had a low graduation rate with a even lower college success rate. I am not Black, but live in the exact same socioeconomic as many blacks in my Congressional District. I live in a area where 62% of people are on or below the poverty line. My family used to be under, but we got above 2 years ago when I was able to get a decent job and contribute some money. </p>
<p>All in all these are the things I am not</p>
<p>-a Criminal
-Uneducated
-a Drop Out
-a Drug user
-a Drug Addict
-a Drug Dealer
-a Alcoholic
-Employed currently
-In a Gang</p>
<p>I simply chose not to be these things.</p>
<p>now What I am</p>
<p>-a HS grad with honors
-a College Grad with a CS degree.
-a Grad Student and soon maybe law student.
-a product of a single parent household.
-Son of a Crack and Heroine addict.
-Friend to 5 childhood friends who have died, and numerous more that are in jail or addicted to drugs or selling them.
-somebody who has seen the poorest of the poor and lived among them as equals.</p>
<p>I still live in the same area and all of this that I have mentioned and done is all by my choice. Nobody forces somebody to</p>
<p>-Do Drugs
-Sell Drugs
-Commit a crime
-Join a gang
-drop out of school and be uneducated
etc, etc...</p>
<p>Have you ever wondered why when you drive through the ghetto it looks like ****? It has nothing to do with being poor. It has everything for people not caring and having respect for there fellow man or themselves. Nobody forces somebody to do graffiti or throw litter on the ground. Its a choice, there are parts of the Bronx that are cleaner than most couldersack's in the suburbs, the difference is that people actually care about there neighbor and neighborhood.</p>
<p>Everything people do is by choice, don't feel sorry for these lazy respectful scumbags. They deserve every bit of it. I understand the white guilt that many feel, but you cant feel that. Its not worth it. All of the men incarcerated are there because they chose to commit a crime, the govt didn't come around in the wagon arresting random minorities. THEY COMMITTED THE CRIME AND THEY DESERVE TO DO THE TIME.</p>
<p>I know I may sound harsh, but you really need to live with these *******s to understand the situation. They don't care about anybody, not even themselves.</p>
<p>pmricomm:</p>
<p>Sorry, but if my kids are hungry I will do what I have to do, and I look up to the poor folks who believe the same thing. </p>
<p>And the more money you have, the easier it is to get off on these things anyway.</p>
<p>Not to mention that most of these black criminals are shoved in prison systems for lengthy sentences for stupid crap like drugs. </p>
<p>Seriously, we have bigger fish to fry than just people using drugs, only harming themselves. </p>
<p>White collar crime most certainly affects more people. </p>
<p>
[quote]
I still live in the same area and all of this that I have mentioned and done is all by my choice. Nobody forces somebody to</p>
<p>-Do Drugs
-Sell Drugs
-Commit a crime
-Join a gang
-drop out of school and be uneducated
etc, etc...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's just your neighborhood then. When I lived in SC L.A. I was beaten for saying no to joining a gang. And crime is often what you gotta do to provide for your family in situations like that. Minimum wage doesn't feed mouths, neither do high unemployment rates. </p>
<p>
[quote]
All of the men incarcerated are there because they chose to commit a crime, the govt didn't come around in the wagon arresting random minorities. THEY COMMITTED THE CRIME AND THEY DESERVE TO DO THE TIME.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Once again, for someone who claims to live in the Bronx, your ignorance is so evident. </p>
<p>1) Not all of the PEOPLE (not just men) incarcerated actually did anything. A lot of them are falsely shoved into the prison system because of some false claims by a "witness." Maybe if you actually knew what was going on in your neighborhood instead of just criticizing you'd know that.<br>
2) Police don't go into the ghettoes and harass minorities!?! You don't know anything. Besides, how could you know that? You're white.</p>
<p>Excellent synopsis dr.horse. Thank you for making the point I failed so glaringly to do! </p>
<p>ASC, you're comment above is plain ignorant. So it's ok to steal because you are too lazy to get 1, 2 or 3 jobs? We didn't get anything handed to us. There are years, as recently as 3 or 4 years ago, where our family of 5 barely broke 30k (wife and I working full-time). I have worked full-time, delivered pizzas at night and performed odd jobs on the weekend to get by. We are still drowning in debt but never once have I been tempted to take something that wasn't mine. Your attitude is what is wrong with this country.</p>
<p>Yeah, jobs are anywhere and everywhere in the ghetto.</p>
<p>Yeah, I wish someone would invent a system for those without cars to go someplace. Maybe a big vehicle with lots of seats. We should call it a BUS or maybe even something that runs on tracks with multiple cars. We could call that a train or a subway. I drive through the local ghetto every once in while on business. I've never seen so many able bodied individuals standing on a street corner doing nothing. 5 blocks north or 5 blocks south there are plenty of fast food restaurants, retail or industrial businesses. Do they all have open jobs, maybe not but how many of those people standing around would work one anyhow? If you need to work to provide for your family you can find something. No pity parties here.</p>
<p>pmrlcomm, you are under the mistaken impression that everybody who wants jobs can get them. It's not always that easy.</p>
<p>You are also under the mistaken impression that everybody has public transportation. </p>
<p>I have never seen a bus in my county.</p>
<p>AND, you are disillusioned in thinking that a single mom making $5 an hour can afford to feed her kids with wages like that. Uhhhh NO---THIS is [only part of] the reason why drug dealing, stealing, and prostitution exist. There is NO other way without a good education to make that kind of money. </p>
<p>Oh yeah, and employers don't care about your physical appearance or anything--it's cool if you're homeless or if you don't have decent clothes to work in--they'll hire you anyway! NOT!</p>
<p>Get a clue....</p>
<p>edit: and as romanigypsyeyes was saying, it's even worse if you live in rural areas (Applalachia, many places down south) and you're stuck in these circumstances. And besides, you've still got to come up with the $1-5 to ride the bus anyway!!! It ain't free!</p>
<p>It's not mistaken. Obviously there are always exceptions. I am speaking in generalities and what I know (the local areas). Our local inner-city area has excellent access to the bus system. I do see any number of folks down there getting on and off the bus in their various work uniforms on any given day. It can be done. As in your instance, with no public transportation, there are exceptions. Please tell me that I am wrong that is ok to commit a crime because you can't find a job?</p>
<p>First off I never referenced the homeless. That is a whole other ball of wax. There are issues going on there beyond poverty. If you wish to restrict this conversation to the homeless then we will have to change some things up.</p>
<p>Yup, minimum wage sucks. It is $6.55 per hour (no $5 an hour jobs) right now and it is not a liveable wage. I guarantee you that if you get a job at minimum wage, show up every day and bust your butt you won't be making minimum wage for long. </p>
<p>It's tough out there right now. I used to hire people in at $12 an hour. Now we are offering $10 because we can get better quality of people cheaper and our customers aren't willing to pay more right now.</p>
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[quote]
There is NO other way without a good education to make that kind of money.
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</p>
<p>Out of curiosity what is a "good education" and how much is "that kind of money"?</p>
<p>You're right, legally it's not okay.</p>
<p>Oh. So it is morally ok?</p>
<p>$6.55; sorry, I forgot about the wage increase. </p>
<p>The ONLY time I referenced the homeless in my statement was in the instance of clothes. All of the other instances, INCLUDING clothes, can apply to any broke person. </p>
<p>Hmmm, and what do you suppose that mom is shelling out per hour to her babysitter???? Try--$7 an hour, and that's assuming that she doesn't get stuck paying even more for a daycare center!</p>
<p>"Sorry, but if my kids are hungry I will do what I have to do, and I look up to the poor folks who believe the same thing. "</p>
<p>Remember me saying that up above???? ^^^</p>