Pubdate: Sun, 24 Dec 2006
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2006 The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper.
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Authors: Thomas E. Noel and Charles M. Christian
Note: Thomas E. Noel is a retired judge of the Circuit Court for 
Baltimore City and former vice chairman of Maryland's Drug Treatment 
Court Commission. Charles M.  Christian is Distinguished Professor at 
Coppin State University and author of "Black Saga: A Chronology of 
the African American Experience."

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.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake