Some of the exploding crisis among young African-American males can be explained by understanding better how economic circumstances help shape family structure. The steady erosion of low entry, high-paying jobs with benefits in manufacturing including the automotive sector, with benefits has had a devastating impact on many African-American households. Beyond the job losses at Ford’s Hazelwood plant, there are as many as three times more jobs in the supplier sector as well as the negative effect of loss of income in retailing and other services.
Many African Americans were able to provide for their families in the past with employment, not only in auto assembly plants, but in other labor-intensive manufacturing jobs that did not require specific educational attainment. The Big Three auto companies are largely to blame for their dire situations, but their deep job cuts will impact the whole way of life of thousands of workers and their families, including many African Americans.
Increasingly, the high-paying jobs of the 21st century will require a good education. We are told that more African Americans are finishing high school and going on to attend college than ever before. However, that progress is found largely among African-American women. Although public schools continue to do a poor job of preparing our children for higher education and the workforce, our young women from these same schools are making progress. Black Enterprise publisher, Earl G. Graves warns, the problem is deeper than that “…We’ve allowed the bitter seeds of low expectation, apathy, and mediocrity to take root in the lives of too many of our black boys. We sadly acknowledge, but rarely take a stand against, the fact that our boys are far more likely than our girls to be ridiculed, ostracized, even physically assaulted for demonstrating enthusiasm for academic achievement. Our boys are far more likely than our girls to be celebrated for almost anything other than educational attainment. The role models typically held up for the black boys, such as entertainers and athletes, rarely associate higher education as critical to success…”
The predictable outcome of this situation is seen in high rates of unemployment, poverty, crime-ridden neighborhoods, and escalating rates of incarceration. We must find a better response to a degraded popular culture that treats women like whores and regards flashy material goods as the ultimate human aspiration, but nevertheless has enormous appeal for young people. We need to intervene boldly at an early age in the lives our young boys with dedicated parenting and greater support for programs and institutions that provide positive role models and experiences. We need to put the welfare of all of our children first, but focus harder on building greater academic expectations among our young men.