I think culture has a lot to do with it; black urban culture especially is generally not dedicated to education or hard work per se, as would be found in say asian families' homes. Like the arab muslims, a cultural reformation is desperately needed so as to better assimilate blacks into the larger society. This will also require a change in leadership, so that hucksters like Al Sharpton are marginalized and cast aside by the black community, and the black community at large realizes that the liberal pandering and welfare are not helping their communities, but making them dependent on large government programs.