Actor Denzel Washington stressed the prison system was not to blame for crime in black communities, stressing the importance of properly raising children at home, during his tour promoting his new movie at an advanced screening last week.

“It starts in the home,” the two-time Oscar-winner told The Grio. “If the father is not in the home, the boy will find a father in the streets. I saw it in my generation and every generation before me, and every one since.”

“If the streets raise you, then the judge becomes your mother and prison becomes your home,” 62-year-old Washington added.

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Elaborating on what he meant to The New York Daily News, Washington said that positive changes for the black community begins with how children are raised.

“It starts with how you raise your children. If a young man doesn’t have a father figure, he’ll go find a father figure,” the actor said.

“So you know I can’t blame the system,” he continued. “It’s unfortunate that we make such easy work for them.”