Why are young black males in the UK and the US more likely to get sent to prison than any other ethnic group?

In the US nearly half of all of prisoners are black, most of them men. Yet black people make up only 12% of the total population.

In the UK the DNA profiles of nearly four in 10 black men are on the police's national database - compared with fewer than one in 10 white men.

But why is this? Are black males more prone to criminality than those from other ethnic groups? Do you fear young black men where you live? And, as some argue, is hip hop culture promoting attitudes and a lifestyle that easily leads to crime? Or is this simply a case of one group of people being let down by their communities and then targeted by the police and a media dominated by white people?

(taken from the BBC) Thought this would stir up some debate.