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Originally Posted by Daniel_
However - WHY the blacks are more likely to turn to crime in the US and UK is not often addressed.
I contend that what colour you are has little or no impact on how likely you are to become a criminal.
Your upbringing is the key factor, and it is possible to suggest that "because of prejudice, blacks are held down, and people at the bottom of the pile become criminals more often than ones at the top".
In otherwords, racism causes criminality, not the other way round. If we could crack racist assumptions, we might crack criminality.
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Bingo!
The media's exploitation of stats such as those Lasereth quoted are one of the reasons that racism is perpetuated.
Personally, I don't believe it's passed down. My grandmother had not spoken positively of the blacks from the poor neighborhoods she lived in. My own parents acted as though race was a tabu subject, although they never actuallly taught me anything one way or the other.
I grew up in white suburbia and other than the nice man who waxed our floors when I was a child, I'd never seen a black person up close until I was in the 7th grade. I was curious, fascinated and outspoken and was one of the first to befriend her. Yes, it was because she looked different. But she was the one who made me realize that she was just another human being with the same dreams and needs as mine.
When my oldest daughter was in a diverse day care center and after two years of playing and learning there, came to me one day and asked why her friend was brown and she wasn't. She hadn't even think that she was different from him until someone pointed it out to her. How can I believe it's genetic?
Oh and I don't think we're all racist, although many still are. I think we all have prejudices, or biases, as will says it.