Problem is Bud that in and around cities (where poverty is more rife) it really is more prominent in black communities (i feel like I'm really setting myself up here, especially considering my profession) but as I said earlier, thats not some sweeping generalisation, its born from personal experience.
When The Met's gangs matrix was publicised, black community groups criticised it because it was, IIRC, about 90% black populated but how can you criticise fact? It was also noted how many of the people on it (can't remember the figures but it was disproportionately high)came from fractured or "single parent" families.
This is in no way a criticism of black culture or the way black people live their lives, merely an observation based on experience on my part and data and intelligence on the Met's . As Lancs says, until people are brave enough to have the discussion without the fear of being labelled racist, the cycle will go on.
I agree completely that there needs to be an honest and open discussion without the fear of either racism or unfair labelling of racism when there isn't any.
Unfortunately it's gonna take many years for the police to change the perception (within the black community especially) that they are institutionally racist. I'm damn sure much effort has been made to change the ways of the past but I'm afraid that for far too many years the police DID discriminate against black people. Some would say they still do. But that is debatable, and I'm not here saying that you, or any of your colleagues are racist. ]
My point is that because of the behaviour of your colleagues of old, there needs to be a sustained campaign to redress the balance over the course of two or three generations. Even then there may still be those within the black community who wont trust the police, but then that will probably always be the case. Just as there is a percentage of people who, regardless of the colour of their skin, will never trust the police. However, if it is only a small minority then it isn't a problem. Just so long as most people support you and your colleagues, you'll be in a position to deal with the criminal element effectively.
I have no figures to support this so I know that I might have it wrong but I find it hard to believe that a greater proportion of black kids have no father figure than the proportion of white kids from the underclass who have no father figure. It just seems disproportionate because a much larger proportion of black families overall also form part of the underclass than the proportion of white families overall who are part of the underclass.
This really isn't a black/white issue. It is a poverty issue. As has been pointed out earlier in the thread, knife and razor gangs have existed in this country long before the Windrush signalled an influx of black skinned people coming to live in this country. The thing that connects those white gangs of the past and the black gangs of the present is poverty.
If you really want to break the cycle then it's poverty that needs to be tackled. By continuing to insist that this is predominantly a black issue is to miss the point and, albeit unintentionally, perpetuate the myth that this is a black issue. Not only that but if the argument you give is an argument that the police force offer, it will only serve to reaffirm, in the minds of the black community, that the police are racist. Even if they are wrong about this.