Do black people commit most of the crime in the US?

[Twilight Hue]

Never understood a argument to judge people by the color of their skin. A--holes come in all colors. And it's just as easy to find decent folks of different skin tones as well.

Even among the poor you get decent folks and a--holes.

Hell, I had to steal to survive when my parents abandoned me. Always willing to share the food I stole with the other kids.

Me either. When people complain about racism and oppression or something similar, it always seems a misdirection occurs from the real causes that leads to problems like this.

When you ask a person, "Do black people commit most or more crime"?, It seems a lot of reactions are primarily emotional, rather than asking why it is the case when faced with hard statistics?

I live in a mixed middle class pepper and salt neighborhood, privileged to live in a very decent and friendly environment.

 

[suncowiam]

I'm sourcing the popularly used Fact Check here because it seems many people here claim it as being reliable and accurate.

It asked a very tough question.

Do black people commit the most crime in the United States?

FactCheck: do black Americans commit more crime?

In certain parts of Africa, they certainly do.

 

[Enoch07]

All the official statistics say yes. But it is important to note that it is not because of their ethnicity. It is because of poverty. Other ethnicities at the same poverty level have high crime and violent crime rates as well. The problem is poverty, not ethnicity. It just so happens that african american is our largest minority and also one of the poorest. So these 2 factors combined means insanely high crime and homicide rates.

 

[George-ananda]

Well it says blacks commit 52% of the murders, That would barely be considered most but it is most.

Well, 12.5% of the population committing 52% of the murders is something unfortunate to say the least.

Now, the reasons for this are controversial to the max. This thread could get intense quickly if that was the question being directly asked.

 

[Revoltingest]

Certainly among the very rich there's a disproportionate number of A holes, I would think most of the financial/economic crime, robbery, fraud etc is committed by the super rich.

This is based upon personal observation of your acquaintances who are very rich?

Hmmm....black....very rich.....Oprah would be the perfect storm of murderous evil !!!

 

[Twilight Hue]

All the official statistics say yes. But it is important to note that it is not because of their ethnicity. It is because of poverty. Other ethnicities at the same poverty level have high crime and violent crime rates as well. The problem is poverty, not ethnicity. It just so happens that african american is our largest minority and also one of the poorest. So these 2 factors combined means insanely high crime and homicide rates.

I think that's exactly what the problem is. We talked about a lot of it through the decades, but poverty itself almost always seems to be persistently on the back burner when it comes to prioritizing the causes of serious issues.

 

[VioletVortex]

The statistics are based on arrests or crime reports rather than the crimes themselves. Possibly, crimes commited by whites are less likely to be reported.

 

[Twilight Hue]

The statistics are based on arrests or crime reports rather than the crimes themselves. Possibly, crimes commited by whites are less likely to be reported.

That's correct.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Do black people commit the most crime in the United States?

Because of things like this (emphasis mine):

In 2013, the FBI has black criminals carrying out 38 per cent of murders, compared to 31.1 per cent for whites. The offender’s race was “unknown” in 29.1 per cent of cases.

And other issues like unreported crimes and crimes that go without a conviction, we really can't get a very clear picture with what we have. But even if there were no "unknown" categories in crime, as a whole police departments in America aren't transparent enough, don't disclose enough, and we still wouldn't have a fully clear image because of underreporting.

 

[leibowde84]

I'm sourcing the popularly used Fact Check here because it seems many people here claim it as being reliable and accurate.

It asked a very tough question.

Do black people commit the most crime in the United States?

FactCheck: do black Americans commit more crime?

Sure, because a much higher percentage of black people are in poverty. Obviously, poverty breeds crime. It in no way means that black people are more likely to commit any crime, though. That line of thinking would be based on nothing more than faulty logic and racial prejudice.

 

[Revoltingest]

Sure, because a much higher percentage of black people are in poverty. Obviously, poverty breeds crime. It in no way means that black people are more likely to commit any crime, though

Actually, your argument that poverty breeds crime, & that black folk are more
likely to be poor points towards blacks being more likely to commit crime.
I've figured out where you went wrong.....
You should be arguing instead that while blacks commit more crime,
it's not caused by their race, but rather by circumstances. I'd buy that.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Interesting statistics.

Good news is the poverty rate is dropping for ethnic groups. Clearly more work needs to be done though.

U.S. Poverty Statistics

 

[leibowde84]

Actually, your argument that poverty breeds crime, & that black folk are more
likely to be poor points towards blacks being more likely to commit crime.
I've figured out where you went wrong.....
You should be arguing instead that while blacks commit more crime,
it's not caused by their race, but rather by circumstances. I'd buy that.

Fair enough. But, that means that black people aren't more likely to commit crimes. Poor black people and poor white people are more likely to commit crimes than more affluent people, whether they are white or black.

 

[Revoltingest]

Fair enough. But, that means that black people aren't more likely to commit crimes. Poor black people and poor white people are more likely to commit crimes than more affluent people, whether they are white or black.

Now you're changing the perspective, & without empirical reason to back up the new claim.

 

[leibowde84]

Now you're changing the perspective, & without empirical reason to back up the new claim.

From The Poverty-Crime Connection

Crime Follows Poverty Because:
• Low-income and African American communities have a higher percentage of adult males behind bars (and many for drug or lesser crimes than whites). That means fewer fathers, grandfathers and mentors for young men to look up to. Without a stable father figure, young men are more likely to follow the paths of their father.

#• The "war on drugs" has traditionally targeted low-income, minority communities where many street dealers live instead of the often white and well-to-do suppliers.

#• A criminal record reduces one's opportunities for employment; thus, they are more likely to turn to crime again.

#• A neighborhood's goals and values are reflected in the amount of crime that occurs. "Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy" by Robert J. Sampson, Stephen W. Raudenbush and Felton Earls, published in Science magazine in 1997, found that the ability of communities to obtain resources and public services correlates with the signs of disorder. For example, the fewer resources a community has to invest into their homes, the more likely it is to find vacant houses, vandalism and burned-out buildings—conditions that breed crime.

 

[suncowiam]

Certainly among the very rich there's a disproportionate number of A holes, I would think most of the financial/economic crime, robbery, fraud etc is committed by the super rich.

Are you for stereotyping or against stereotyping?

I can't tell...

 

[VioletVortex]

What does it prove, even if blacks do in fact commit more crime statistically? Does the fault lie with black people?

There are blacks who are downright terrible people just as there are whites, I've met many, but if let's say twice (a made up figure I'm using to prove a point) as many blacks than whites commit violent crime. That probably says more about society as a whole.

 

[Nous]

For what it's worth, there are numerous studies that show that race/skin color is more highly correlated with (more predictive of) crime rates than poverty is. This article links to several of these studies. Click on them at your own risk. As far as I know, no study has found that poverty or income level plays no role in crime rates, but there are fairly consistent correlations between crime and skin color.

I highly recommend the 2011 study by Templer and Rushton, not only for the findings of that study but for the eye-opening discussion of the findings of many other studies. The abstract and first paragraph:

In 50 U.S. states, we found a positive manifold across 11 measures including IQ, skin color, birth rate, infant mortality, life expectancy, HIV/AIDS, violent crime, and state income with the first principal component accounting for 33% of the variance (median factor loading= .34). The correlation with a composite of total violent crime was higher with skin color (r= .55), a more biologically influenced variable than with GDP (r=−.17), a more culturally influenced variable. These results corroborate and extend those found at the international level using INTERPOL crime statistics and at the county, provincial, and state levels within countries using local statistics. We interpret the cross-cultural consistency from an evolutionary life history perspective in which hierarchically organized traits culminate in a single, heritable, superfactor. Traits need to be genetically organized to meet the trials of life -- survival, growth, and reproduction. We discuss brain size and the g nexus as central to understand individual and group differences and we highlight melanin and skin color as a potentially important new life history variable.

In this paper, we confirm and extend research on the g nexus of inter-correlated variables found within- and between-nations at aggregate levels. As described by Jensen (1998), the g nexus is a network of variables with general mental ability at the center. It has both horizontal and vertical components. The horizontal component includes real-world variables that co-vary and interact with g, such as educational achievement, wealth, health, longevity, job performance, and law-abidingness. The vertical component includes presumed causes of individual differences in g, with a special focus on biological and neuropsychological variables (i.e., in properties of the human brain), and gene-based evolutionary processes.​

Templer and Rushton go on to explain the evolutionary hypothesis for regional difference in IQ: the further north ancestral populations migrated out of Africa, the more they were confronted with cognitively demanding problems such as gathering and storing food, making clothes and shelter, and providing for children under the harsh conditions of long winters. They note that “the cold winters theory” is supported by “the 0.62 correlation found between cranial capacities and distance from the equator in 20,000 crania representing 122 ethnically distinguishable populations from every continent (Beals, Smith, & Dodd, 1984).”

The 2008 study they cite on differences in behavior of darker individuals vs. lighter individuals among 20 different species of wild vertebrates is also mind-blowing to me.

 

[Stevicus]

I think there may be more to it than just the idea that poverty-stricken areas have more crime (which is true). But I've heard it said that the US is both the best and the worst country in the world to be poor in.

On the one hand, even poor people can still get some semblance of basic sustenance - food stamps, housing, access to public education and healthcare, and other forms of assistance, both public and private, to help those in need. Much more needs to be done, but it's certainly better than what the poor might face in most other areas of the world.

But on the other hand, the poor in this country get to see first-hand just how much they're actually missing when they see others enjoying the good life while they barely have bus fare.

I also remember reading one commentary which suggested that as TVs started becoming more prevalent, particularly in the poor neighborhoods, it might have offered poor people a glimpse into a world they had never seen before. This could have led to greater resentment which may have been a contributing factor in the unrest and crime which dominated the cities.

I also would cite the drug trade and the war on drugs, not to mention the prevalence of addiction and alcoholism in the poor neighborhoods and also in the rural areas too. That also seems a major contributory factor in crime.

There is also a degree of cultural "tolerance" of crime which can sometimes border on glorification, particularly movies, TV, and video games which glorify organized crime and gangsterism. In real life, organized crime did have an impact on the minority communities in whatever city they settled. They don't make drugs or guns in the ghetto, so someone had to ship all that in.

And of course, those who were doing the shipping were fighting each other in an utter bloodbath over the lucrative trade routes to get the drugs to their distribution points. The massacres which took place during those cartel wars were horrific. There was such a wanton and unrestrained disregard for human life. It seemed to escalate, since with every murderous act came the obligatory retaliation which had to "one up" their adversary and do something even worse.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

This is based upon personal observation of your acquaintances who are very rich?

My personal experiences with the rich include me being fascinated and puzzled by them being fascinated and puzzled over common every day low/middle class items you can get for $10 bucks just about anywhere, like electric waffle irons. I wouldn't call them a-holes though. Some of them dumb and lucky to come from money, sure, but some are so very generous. And though you can tell they come from a different world (socio-economically) than someone such as myself, really they are just confused apes like the rest of us. Except they can afford "top" top-shelf alcohol.