YOUNG BLACK MEN NEED HELP

Young black men in our communities are falling into a deep hole - a
hole filled with crime, unemployment and despair. They are falling so
far, and so fast, that extricating many of them might well be impossible.

And yet, for their sakes and ours, we must try.

Our personal lives and our many years spent as a Circuit Court judge
and college professor, respectively, have caused us to question the
destiny of the black community - particularly that of the black
male. In December 2004 we independently published articles in a book
titled The State of Black Baltimore. While one of our articles
focused on the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and its continuing
efforts to combat the nightmare of illegal drugs, the other focused
on the job market and the overwhelming unemployment and
underemployment in many black neighborhoods.

While not yet raising the flag of surrender, we are raising the flag
of distress, urging everyone to examine the fate of young black men.
If current trends continue, what will be the survival rate of young
black males in the next decade? How angry and destructive will they
become? Will they be nomadic, loosely attached gangs moving in and
around selected neighborhoods, intimidating residents - as some are
doing now? Will the stereotype of this urbanized person become worse
and adversely affect all black males and the black population in general?

Or, 10 years from now, will they be better prepared to compete in the
work environment than they are now, in a nation with less then 4
percent unemployment? What will be the predicament of those who have
worked hard to escape the harsh, demeaning and destructive conditions
of the "poverty areas" of urban America? Will they have really escaped?

Many problems in the black community can be traced to racism,
industrial transformation and other macro-dynamics. But myriad other
problems can be traced back to basic values in our community. As
children and young adults in the black community of the 1940s and
1950s, we were taught values that were not determined by one's level
of education or by a family's economic standing within the community.
There was something we all had in common: the same sense of right and
wrong.

That is no longer the case. Within the black community, education has
become a major determinant of conduct. For example, those who
graduate from high school are less likely to be involved in violent
crime. Lack of education, coupled with other urban influences
including social isolation and unemployment, frequently translates
into a particular code of behavior for our young black males. Once
our basic values are lost, the sense of responsibility follows.

Recent years have seen an increase in violent and unpredictable
aggressive behavior. Many young people have no appreciation for the
consequences of their violent ways and, even worse, for the value of
a human life. We have seen murder trials that involved provocations
that defied logic: an argument over a leather jacket, tennis shoes,
cheap jewelry or someone using the "N-word."

Crime, unemployment and even community rejection produce a web of
circumstances that leads many young black males to more crime and
eventually the life of a career criminal. The gratuitous violence
that often passes for "entertainment" does nothing to deter this
trend. The conditions creating the "new" poor black male are
proceeding at an accelerated pace. The vast distinctions between the
educated and noneducated within the black community are woefully
apparent, and these disparate groups are growing further apart.

A large proportion of young black males have dropped out of school,
have not developed any marketable skills and have limited exposure
beyond their immediate surroundings. Many have already produced at
least one child and possibly more by more than one female. What can
a person like this ever hope to offer to his children, his family,
his community or himself?

Further complicating our efforts to save young black men is that many
have become persistently dependent - that is, supported by mothers,
grandmothers, aunts or girlfriends. Also, many of these women in
their lives acquiesce in their conduct.

We have buried our heads in the sand too long. The "walls" separating
the haves and have-nots in black America are more evident than ever,
and young black men are becoming more concentrated among the latter.
However, we cannot give up. There is far too much at stake.

Parents, teachers and community residents are the first line of
responsibility. We were there several decades ago. We can be there
again. But local, state and federal governments, along with the
private sector must also wipe the sand from their eyes if we are to
be successful in reclaiming our communities and millions of young
black men.

If we want things to change, we must face these issues head-on.
Desperate measures are required. Remember, it took more than 20 years
before we acknowledged that the "war on drugs" was a dismal failure.
Drug treatment concepts did not really flourish until that reality
had been faced.

We should be open to exploring new ways to provide positive,
nurturing environments for our children. School leaders, and
teachers, for example, must accept a partial role in teaching the
responsibilities of being parents - and they must be compensated for
this role. So much more could be achieved if parental duties were
postponed beyond age 21. When parenting is done responsibly, it
succeeds against violent entertainment and other destructive cultural
forces.

Keeping children in school must become a primary objective of each
family. The link between education and material fulfillment must be
more fully and frequently discussed.

But educational success will mean little if there are not enough
jobs. Very few cities or metropolitan areas can easily survive the
loss of tens of thousands of blue-collar jobs over 2 1/2 decades.
Many urban areas, including Baltimore, have experienced such losses.
We need new entry-level jobs that offer the chance for growth and
advancement, be it through empowerment zones, tax incentives or in
other ways. The government should step in with job-creating programs,
as it has done in the past when warranted. With employment, hope is
restored. And hope is what we need most.