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Slavery is no excuse for criminality. Issues that are happening now like lack of choices, relative poverty, poor education, living in a negative/poor area contributes to crimes and gang culture. This is seen in all Uk cities black, Asian and white youths going around causing problems in the neighborhood. I for one is not into gang culture and I don't feel directly or indirectly troubled by the Atlantic slavery trade that had been abolished in the west indian islands/ United States over a century ago. Black youths have the power (most of the time) to not participate in gang violence its some what up to yourself, good upbringing (which I have) and a good mindset. I see people my age smoking weed, wearing jeans low it doesn't make me what to join a gang?!
The OP has the similar thread on the Australian NZ forum. Where is he by the way?
Probably thinking up ideas for more threads about typical eye colour or nose shape in countries he's never been to and then answering his own question in the OP.
Whatever, tell that to the black population of New Orleans, Detroit, St Louis, Baltimore or the Latinos of Oakland etc.
Uh, the President of the United States
Racism exists everywhere. I think most countries are moving in the right direction but we have not yet moved past it completely. The UK is not the "least racist countries on earth", it has its issues like anywhere else.
There has always been violence in Britain, we had gangs in London in the 40'/50's teddy boys with knives but when caught they were dealt with unlike today. Glasgow was rough even then.There weren't a lot of black people around then.
Whatever, tell that to the black population of New Orleans, Detroit, St Louis, Baltimore or the Latinos of Oakland etc.
And?
Does the fact that there are ghettos somehow negate all the middle-class blacks that exist? Your choosing to list the very WORST places does not paint a truthful picture.
Have you been to Atlanta for instance? Dallas? Etc ...
When you are part of a visible ethnic minority group (visible by the colour of skin), it is difficult for an individual not to be superficially associated with the negative (or positive) stereotypes associated with that particular minority group, and hence more difficult to progress away from a disadvantaged background or detremental culture. Established UK society has particularly negative attitudes to black youths, and whether a black individual associates with a negative urban culture or not, the individual will encounter superficial prejudism, based on how they have been visibly categorised. It makes it doubly hard for an individual who does not partake in the negative aspects of a culture associated with their ethnicity to fully integrate into established society. Hence my dismay when I read posts attaching a predilection to criminal activity purely to the colour of skin, rather than the true root of the problem, which is culture. And to understand a present day culture, you need to understand its history. Slavery is no excuse for anti-social behaviour, but until a group of people feel they can truly break the bonds of the past, feel like fully fledged British citizens, rather than second class citizens, branded by their skin colour, and allow them to gain self-esteem in a society that values them rather than fears them, then the negative urban youth culture will continue to be propogated. I think the UK is probably the most tolerant of Western nations, something I'm very proud of, but we are fooling ourselves if we think racism no longer exists. It does in much more subtle forms, less overt than for example in Australia or France, but that's because until the economic downturn we have been reticent as a nation to acknowledge and debate the downsides of having pursued a policy of multiculturalism for decades rather than a policy of true integration. Hence subjects such as race and immigration have generally been discussed in safe circles and hushed tones in the UK, so that we could carry on patting ourselves on the back and say what a great society we were, and that racism had been eradicated. Infact in many regards I respect the openness and honesty of the overt Ozzies when it comes to such debates, rather than the traditional self censorship of us Brits, which just leads to pent up resentments. However, these debates are becoming more common, and all the better, i really think the UK is, and can become even more so, the leading example of tolerance with diversity in the World, a true reflection of globalisation, whilst retaining what makes and has always made Britain a great country. Might as well learn to love this increasingly rainbow nation, its the future baby!
"A breakdown of the statistics, which were compiled into league tables by the Conservatives, revealed that violent crime in the UK had increased from 652,974 offences in 1998 to more than 1.15 million crimes in 2007.
It means there are over 2,000 crimes recorded per 100,000 population in the UK, making it the most violent place in Europe.
Austria is second, with a rate of 1,677 per 100,000 people, followed by Sweden, Belgium, Finland and Holland.
By comparison, America has an estimated rate of 466 violent crimes per 100,000 population."
A Gallop poll shows how citizens perceive their own safety:
I wouldn't take any notice of these statistics. The gun lobby and crackpot gun-toting sympathisers have been pumping these hysterical statistics out in the wake of the Piers Morgan controversy but if anyone seriously suggests that the UK with only 59 gun-related homicides in 2011 has a bigger violent crime problem than the US with over 8,500 gun related murders then you really have to ask yourself how such statistics can be treated with any shred of credibility.
This is where alot of these misleading comparisons have stemmed from recently. Even away from gun related homicides the murder rate of the US dwarfs that of the UK when all other types of homicide are taken into consideration.
There is a clear disparity between the murder rate which is higher even in the safer American cities than the most dangerous UK cities. If you seriously want to suspend your belief long enough to take these statistics seriously what you have to ask yourself is how can this be?
The answer is simple the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports defines a “violent crime” as one of four specific offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
The British Home Office, by contrast, has a substantially different definition of violent crime. The British definition includes all “crimes against the person,” including simple assaults, all robberies, and all “sexual offenses,” as opposed to the FBI, which only counts aggravated assaults and “forcible rapes.”
When you look at how this changes the meaning of “violent crime,” it becomes clear how misleading it is to compare rates of violent crime in the US and the UK.
In 2010, the US had an average murder rate of 4.8 murders per 100,000 people–4 times higher than the UK’s rate of 1.2 per 100,000, and, coincidentally, the exact opposite of the impression that some pro-gun lobbyists have been giving about the violent crime 'epidemic' in the UK of late.
If you still want to believe the UK is a more violent place then you are free to do so but it really isn't a myth that is borne out by close scrutiny of the facts.
I wouldn't take any notice of these statistics. The gun lobby and crackpot gun-toting sympathisers have been pumping these hysterical statistics out in the wake of the Piers Morgan controversy but if anyone seriously suggests that the UK with only 59 gun-related homicides in 2011 has a bigger violent crime problem than the US with over 8,500 gun related murders then you really have to ask yourself how such statistics can be treated with any shred of credibility.
This is where alot of these misleading comparisons have stemmed from recently. Even away from gun related homicides the murder rate of the US dwarfs that of the UK when all other types of homicide are taken into consideration.
There is a clear disparity between the murder rate which is higher even in the safer American cities than the most dangerous UK cities. If you seriously want to suspend your belief long enough to take these statistics seriously what you have to ask yourself is how can this be?
The answer is simple the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports defines a “violent crime” as one of four specific offenses: murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.
The British Home Office, by contrast, has a substantially different definition of violent crime. The British definition includes all “crimes against the person,” including simple assaults, all robberies, and all “sexual offenses,” as opposed to the FBI, which only counts aggravated assaults and “forcible rapes.”
When you look at how this changes the meaning of “violent crime,” it becomes clear how misleading it is to compare rates of violent crime in the US and the UK.
In 2010, the US had an average murder rate of 4.8 murders per 100,000 people–4 times higher than the UK’s rate of 1.2 per 100,000, and, coincidentally, the exact opposite of the impression that some pro-gun lobbyists have been giving about the violent crime 'epidemic' in the UK of late.
If you still want to believe the UK is a more violent place then you are free to do so but it really isn't a myth that is borne out by close scrutiny of the facts.
I agree with your post, and you do have to take stats with a pinch of salt. However, having lived in London, Windsor, Reading, South Wales, Exeter, Guildford in the UK and Chicago, and Las Vegas in the US I have to say (and this may come as a huge surprise) that I feel a lot safer here than in any of the UK towns I have lived. There are certainly more gun murders in Chicago than Windsor but I have never ever seen a fight or got into any confrontation with anyone on the street or in a bar in the US cities I have lived whereas street fights were common in the UK towns - even in Windsor. The amount of stabbings and acts of violence with bottles in South Wales and Exeter were almost unbelievable when I think back.
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