Arkady
President
Crime rates for blacks are much higher than whites in this country. Why?
One theory is just that they're more likely to be blamed for crimes, and more likely to be found guilty, due to the racism of the system. Although I wouldn't be surprised if those things factored in to some extent, the gulf in the stats is too much for me to think that they explain the majority of the gulf. I think that even if we had a magical ability to know with perfect reliability who committed which crime, we'd find much higher rates among blacks.
Obviously, a big part is just socioeconomic. Pretty much everywhere and always, there's more crime --at least violent crime-- among the lower economic castes. And since blacks are disproportionately in our lower economic castes, they're going to commit a large portion of crimes. But there's more going on than just that. Every society has relatively disadvantaged people, and not every society produces the same kind of criminality we have in the US. Why is it OUR underclass, rather than that of Germany, Japan, France, the UK, or Canada, that is driving up serious violent crime rates to the highest levels, by far, of any major wealthy nation?
I examined a couple theories in a post a couple days ago:
(1) the theory that we neglect our underclass more than most countries do, because of the racial differences between it and our ruling class (resulting in less sympathy), and that this makes the underclass more permanent and despairing, fueling violence.
(2) the theory that we counter-productively baby our underclass more than most countries do, because of the racial differences between it and our ruling class (resulting in "white guilt" and overcompensation), and that this is what makes the underclass more permanent and despairing, fueling violence.
Of those two, the first theory is more consistent with the stats (which show the US does, in fact, have a stingier approach to its underclass than most developed countries, and that such stinginess is correlated with higher murder rates). But those are obviously not the only theories available. I'm curious what other ideas people may have. The US is an outlier, and identifying, accurately, why that is, has to be the first step to putting in place policies that will start to remedy it.
One theory is just that they're more likely to be blamed for crimes, and more likely to be found guilty, due to the racism of the system. Although I wouldn't be surprised if those things factored in to some extent, the gulf in the stats is too much for me to think that they explain the majority of the gulf. I think that even if we had a magical ability to know with perfect reliability who committed which crime, we'd find much higher rates among blacks.
Obviously, a big part is just socioeconomic. Pretty much everywhere and always, there's more crime --at least violent crime-- among the lower economic castes. And since blacks are disproportionately in our lower economic castes, they're going to commit a large portion of crimes. But there's more going on than just that. Every society has relatively disadvantaged people, and not every society produces the same kind of criminality we have in the US. Why is it OUR underclass, rather than that of Germany, Japan, France, the UK, or Canada, that is driving up serious violent crime rates to the highest levels, by far, of any major wealthy nation?
I examined a couple theories in a post a couple days ago:
(1) the theory that we neglect our underclass more than most countries do, because of the racial differences between it and our ruling class (resulting in less sympathy), and that this makes the underclass more permanent and despairing, fueling violence.
(2) the theory that we counter-productively baby our underclass more than most countries do, because of the racial differences between it and our ruling class (resulting in "white guilt" and overcompensation), and that this is what makes the underclass more permanent and despairing, fueling violence.
Of those two, the first theory is more consistent with the stats (which show the US does, in fact, have a stingier approach to its underclass than most developed countries, and that such stinginess is correlated with higher murder rates). But those are obviously not the only theories available. I'm curious what other ideas people may have. The US is an outlier, and identifying, accurately, why that is, has to be the first step to putting in place policies that will start to remedy it.