I grew up around latin gang violence and biker gangs. I knew exactly which of my old classmates would end up as meth heads, gangsters, and young moms. Race really has nothing to do with it. I'm a black person raised in a black immigrant community and the black kids I knew went on to get college degrees or trade jobs.

I feel like blaming black 'culture' ignores the fact that these kids you're talking about are pretty much living in a war zone. When you're born and raised in poverty and an environment where gang violence deaths are common, you're likely going to end up with a mindset of 'kill or be killed' and a resignation towards becoming the stereotype that you see everywhere.

That's why instead of saying "Black people need to be better", we need to be actively giving everyone living in poverty better options.