Quote Originally Posted by Hax View Post
Yeah, why don't you tell me what exactly constitutes an Arab. Because I'm sure you know exactly what you're talking about.
Nitpicking over the particulars doesn't really take away anything from the general point. OK, Arab nationalists love to argue over who is the 'purest' Arabs, and maybe some people living in what is generally considered the Arab-world are in fact from other minorites. Yeah, maybe a tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea which has been politically and culturally removed from the rest of that world for centuries might offer a conundrum, but there's no need to get bogged down in atypical cases.

*****

As for the main thread topic, racial differences are simply an extension of the principle behind family differences. They are not only possible - they are a necessary consequence of the way we reproduce.

However, the War on Drugs has had a crippling effect on black communities, and does a lot more to explain their problems than racial differences themselves. I think people underestimate the extent of the problems people have in staying out of trouble when they are brought up in an environment of gangs, drugs, violence and a sense of opposition to anything seen as being part of the 'establishment'. Combine that with a poor/troubled upbringing and no hope of achieving anything through education, then what are they supposed to do? They're human so they are going to start dealing drugs or doing what they can to improve their lives and keep a tough/respected image in what is a very violent environment. I've seen this in the UK in white communities, from what I've seen in documentaries or read online its much the same in the USA, it just happens to be that most poor people there are black.

At the same time, while the War of Drugs does affect black communities more than white ones, as MRD points out, their vulnerability in this respect is at least largely due to their socioeconomic rather than ethnic status. Poor communities suffer disproportionate legal and social costs as a result of it - black communities tend to be poor so they are more likely to be affected. But don't forget there is a white underclass too. It would be more helpful to talk about the problems in social rather than racial terms.