thats fuked up but it is true. i know here in england its the same not only with the black community but with my own turkish community. it seems to me that they envy gangsta life, and its sad to say but the glorified gangsta lives rappers or whoever portray really have an effect on these kids. u may say it sounds stupid but we are talking about fragile young minds which are easily manipulated. i always found it sad that when i went to school whenever i said i had studied for an exam i was deemed uncool. i also blame the families for not giving enough attention to their children, these days parents dont care what their kids get up to. i witness this around my block, the parents dont want their kids in the house so they tell them to go outside and not come back until the evening.

but i gotta agree with what whitey said, at the end of the day it depends on yourself. i grew up and still live in a shitty area, but now i go to one of the top universities in england, i have a very good career planned out for me. i just decided that this is wat i wanted to do and done it. its as simple as that.