Literacy or illiteracy has little to do with one's moral compass - one's sense of right and wrong. There are well educated people who are monsters and illiterate people who are saints. Fundamentally, we are what we 'believe'.
When you grow up on streets where gangs rule; when you have only 1 parent and she is the blind leading the blind, she lacks wisdom or ability to protect her children from the streets. When your culture teaches and believes that whitey is the cause of all your problems - what will your children believe, how will they act?
Being poor or illierate is not the problem. Being Godless is.
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." - Proverbs 9:10
“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” - Proverbs 23:7?