What am I Missing?

After thinking, and rethinking about these posits I have realized I need help. Of course I have my own opinion about them and of course I can find millions of factoids that will support my own little biased point of view but I am after something bigger...

I want to put everything together as a whole..I really want to see the ENTIRE picture. I don't to just see it from a couple of different points of view but I want to be able to stand outside the issue and observed its every angle. Help me to figure out:

What am I missing?

What is it that I don't see?

How can I COMPLETELY understand this issue?

I'm Only Human...

I hate to admit it sometimes but I am only human. My perspective is simply an amalgamation of my experiences, teachings, and natural instinct. I do have biases, especially on the topics I am now investigating. My father has been incarcerated since I was 4 years old (I am now 18) for his irresponsible decisions during adolescence. I feel that the legal system often has a tendency to oversimplify individual circumstances and is too quick to label someone as a "criminal." A term which can handicap a person in their quest to better his-self. I tend to be judgmental at times, and I also have a hard time seeing my own wrongs. All I can offer to someone is my own interpretation of the truth; the way I see it through my clouded vision. I am by far no kind of authority or expert, only a mere student striving to learn all I can and share it with others.

My Investigations

What,if any, is the direct causal relationship between young African American males and their statistical tendency to be incarcerated?

What, if any, is the direct causal relationship between popular culture and the ambitions of young, African American males?

What, if any, is the direct causal relationship between the institution of slavery and the current state of African Americans as a whole?