A social worker explained on another thread that many, many blacks have trouble with
agency.
In social science, agency is defined as the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. By contrast, structure are those factors of influence (such as social class, religion, gender, ethnicity, ability, customs, etc.) that determine or limit an agent and their decisions.[1] The influences from structure and agency are debated—it is unclear to what extent a person's actions are constrained by social systems.