SmokinM said:
Poor upbringing, lack of quality role models and to much free time are huge contributors. A culture that encourages a thug lifestyle probably doesn't help. Not having to earn what you have so you dont respect what others have earned. That's just a start. The list is pages long and race isn't anywhere on them.
I think you're right that race has nothing to do with what makes someone a criminal. So when we have more people of one race committing and being convicted of certain crimes, what should we conclude?
I'll argue that access to employment and income are the biggest determining factors in whether someone commits crime. You don't see people with good jobs selling drugs on the corner, breaking into cars, or shooting up the neighborhood. That applies to all races. People want to blame it on "culture", or the family unit, or whatever, but those are symptoms of poverty, not causes.
Many got caught up in a cycle of poverty generations ago, when it was still legal and normal. Got a big work order for the prison chain gang and need a few more bodies? Just pick up a few black men, charge them with loitering or any made up thing, and problem solved. Of course, now your "loiterers" are generating income for the state, and not their families, so Mom has to go to work, and the kids are fending for themselves. No problem, they get into trouble, more bodies for the chain gang.
When they get out of prison, their odds of finding a job are slim to none. Checking the box that says you've been to prison gets your application tossed immediately from most places. When you can't make money legally, what do you do? Make it illegally. Get caught and go back to prison, leave another generation of fatherless kids, and repeat the cycle. Some get out, and that's great, but they're exceptional, and shouldn't be used as an example that everyone could do it if they just tried.
This cycle isn't unique to black people. There are people of all races caught up in it. But we can't deny that black families were disproportionately forced into that system in the past, and there are still people trying to maintain it today. What was intentionally broken cannot be passively or easily fixed, nor should the victim be expected to make up the difference.