# are poor african americans more likely to commit a crime than poor whites? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645 "2001-04-28T15:20:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645/41 "2001-04-30T00:29:05Z")
Hopefully you’ll be more precise in your research next time. Especially with delicate matters like these. There’s no prize for the first reply, **handy**. There really isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645/42 "2001-04-30T03:21:59Z")
We’ve already mentioned income level as one possible contributing factor in crime. How about another: illegitimacy. I don’t think there’s any “crime gene” that blacks are more prone to, but there is a high illegitimacy rate. I’d be curious to see how those numbers shake out, that is, children growing up in unstable homes, etc. I don’t know whether or not that information even exists, though. . . ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645/43 "2001-04-30T03:46:54Z")
Or try the new, controversial report this week in [Newsweek](http://www.msnbc.com/news/562756.asp#BODY). See how abortion caused a drop in the crime rate :eek: ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645/44 "2001-04-30T04:02:20Z")
[[That’s about all I can say after getting an email from JillGat, if you catch my drift.]]handy My email requested that you not post quotes from sources you are not willing to name. - Jill ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645/45 "2001-04-30T04:16:59Z")
I would think the difficulty in connecting poverty, abortion, or fatherless homes (which are not always “unstable”) with crime is proving causation as opposed to just association. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645/46 "2001-04-30T16:53:29Z")
Alrightie. These stats actually caught me by surprise: (Website: [http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/cprace.txt](http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/cprace.txt)) as the number of whites in jail is statistically significantly higher. Bureau of Justice Statistics Number of adults under correctional supervision White Black Other 1986 2,090,100 1,117,200 32,100 1987 2,192,200 1,231,100 36,300 1988 2,348,600 1,325,700 39,800 1989 2,521,200 1,489,000 45,400 1990 2,665,500 1,632,700 49,800 1991 2,742,400 1,743,300 49,900 1992 2,835,900 1,873,200 53,500 1993 2,872,200 2,011,600 60,200 1994 3,058,000 2,018,000 65,300 1995 3,220,900 2,024,000 90,200 1996 3,294,800 2,083,600 104,500 1997 3,429,000 2,149,900 113,600 Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics Correctional Surveys (The National Probation Data Survey, National Prisoner Statistics, Survey of Jails, and The National Parole Data Survey) as presented in Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645/47 "2001-04-30T18:33:52Z")
To make **handy’s** numbers meaningful I think we need to do the following. From the US Census [website](http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/nation/intfile3-1.txt) we find that in 1995 Whites accounted for 83% of the population and blacks accounted for 12.6%. **Handy’s** number’s show that our prisons were 60% white and 38% black in 1995. That’s a 6.5 : 1 white to black ratio in the general population but a (roughly) 3 : 2 ratio in the prison population. In short…blacks are over represented in the prison population as compared to their population in the US as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2001, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645/48 "2001-04-30T18:49:39Z")
yes, **Whack** thanks - and let’s also keep in mind those in prison/jail = those convicted for crimes does not= those who have committed criminal acts. (remembering both \*\*Biggirls \*\* link and all of the stuff linked in the other thread about racial profiling etc.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-poor-african-americans-more-likely-to-commit-a-crime-than-poor-whites/63645.md?page=2)