Crime rates and skin color

Perhaps, and like you said in an earlier post, it's culture (or class). If you live in a culture where it's acceptable, then the idea of prison won't be a huge deterrent - everyone goes there.

There was a study in England that said 4.6% of families accounted for 48% of crime, that's almost half of all crime! I can't remember the particulars (It was a couple of years ago that I studied this) but there is that idea of crime 'running in the family'. I think it is probably the idea that if you grow up thinking something is 'normal' you're gonna be more likely to do it.

The Home Office,s Crime and Justice Survey states that in the Uk 10% of the prison population are Afro Caribean.
Young White and mixed raced males were far more likely to have commited an offence (28%)compared to between 12% and 19% for all other races.
Of 2 million arrested, 16% were black last year, 7% Asian.
Black people are 3 times more likely to be arrested and 6 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police even if they have not committed a crime.

They are less likely to be given bail or let off with a caution and they are more likely to recieve higher sentences.

Young black males especially are under represented by the police.

These stastistics show that racism is highly prevalant in the British justice system and must be stamped out.

People seem to miss many of the positve influences many Black people have bought to our country.

There are too numerous an ammount of successful black people to list but they have a strong influence in British music, sport and parliament.

Sir Trevor Macdonald, Shirley bassey (the most successful British female artist of all time), Lenny Henry, Frank Bruno, Lennox lewis, Lewis Hamilton, Kelly Holmes are just the tip of the iceberg!

I agree mostly with what you have said but there was no need to get silly.

It doesn't tell you that almost half the black population is in jail or prison though, now does it?

Hell no. It's mostly equal crime rates. Sure people see blacks as bigger and more dangerous, so we don't usually suspect the whites. It's really crazy and strange...

I don't understand, do you really believe that half of the total black population in the United States is in jail or prison? I read that the US black population in 2008 was 37.6 million, are you saying that half (18.8 million) of those people are in jail or prison?

American prison and jails held 2,304,115 inmates in 2008. The racial break down for 2008 is as follows: 33.44% White (non-Hispanic), 40.21% African American (non-Hispanic), 20.29% Hispanic, and 6.06% Other. That means there was an approx. 926,485 total African American population in jail or prison. That is only 2.46% of the total African American population in jail or prison. That's not even close to half.

Where are you getting your information from?

Did you know that recent DNA research is showing everybody is mixed race (If you go back more than 800 years or so).

Here's why--

Most Europeans have some African DNA (even Northern Europeans, most of whom have some Berber blood from North Africa).

Most North Africans have European DNA

Most sub-Saharan Africans have some ASIAN DNA and many also have some European DNA

And on and on... we are ALL mixed race...

Say hello to your cousins, they are all around you.

Oh no, does that mean that I married my cousin??? No, I know what you mean, I was just joking.

I think that there are much more important reasons for disliking a person over their skin color (lol). I think that it is normal for people to focus on the differences between things and people. I'm not saying that it is right, I'm saying that it's just how we are as people. It's the judgement of other people based on those differences that defeats us.

I guess that it is possible for organizations to skew statistics to benefits them I'm just not sure how they can change hard core numbers, such as the statistics from the FBI. I would imagine if some organization consistently published invalid information that eventually somebody would call them on it and all their data would then always be questionable.

I'm not pro any race. As you pointed out we are all from similar source DNA so let's focus on our similarities and not our differences. As big as our planet might seem at times, its too small for us all to not get along.

However, It would be interesting knowing if there was a correlation between race (skin color) and crime but I think that there would be a stronger correlation between poverty level, which affects all races, and crime.

Where do you get yours from?!

He's obviously right.

Half the black population in prison? What the hell? Have you ever met a black person?

Their black, and not in prison though! They have worked hard and earnt their money

Please don't get me wrong and I wasn't trying to insult you. We are all entitled to our opinions but I think some times we get caught up in generalizations and stereotypes. I, too, used to make the assumption that the vast majority of people in jail or prison were blacks or other minorities until I did a little research.

Here is where I got my information:

First I looked up U.S. population data at the U.S. Census Bureau from the following web site:

US Census Bureau - 2008 Total Population by Race

Then I got the correctional population information from this Bureau of Justice Statistics web site:

Bureau of Justice Statistics
(I only used the jail and prison numbers)

And then compared them to this Bureau of Justice Statistics 2008 prison inmate statistical table:

BJS 2008 Prison Inmate Statistical Tables

That's where I got my info from

I remember reading similar stories. One report suggest, because of their poverty status, ethnic minorities were underrepresented (no lawyer, appointed a public defender, etc.) during court proceedings. Therefore, they were given harsher sentencing than their white counterparts. So, that might mean money could prove your innocence; an inexperienced lawyer would not charge as much as an experienced one.

I guess that kind of makes sense.

Or is it that people only NOTICE when a Black person is in the media having allegedly committed a crime but totally dismiss it when race is not mentioned or a White person has committed a far worse crime?

In fact having looked at the top 50 worst criminals in American history, only a small minority are Black!
Are people dismissing the disgusting crimes of the white magority there?

Nah. It's not even remotely true babe.