ENDANGERED SPECIES: 2006 EDITION

This NY Times story, "Plight Deepens For Black Men, Studies Warn" is today's most widely emailed article so I'm sure quite a few places are covering. That said, here's the basic recap just in case you've had a lazy Monday:

The news is bad. Very, very, very bad. What these new studies (largely done by Ivy League researchers for whatever that is worth) find is that the outlook for progress for Black men has never been bleaker:

"Especially in the country's inner cities, the studies show, finishing high school is the exception, legal work is scarcer than ever and prison is almost routine, with incarceration rates climbing for blacks even as urban crime rates have declined."

The thing is...this isn't new to a lot of people; the stats have been out there for years. The problem/challenge is figuring out why this is happening and of course, when it comes down to causal explanations, nothing is at all certain. The article summarizes:

"Terrible schools, absent parents, racism, the decline in blue collar jobs and a subculture that glorifies swagger over work have all been cited as causes of the deepening ruin of black youths. Scholars — and the young men themselves — agree that all of these issues must be addressed."

Even then however, you'll have much disagreement over what is at the root cause of those "terrible schools," "absent parents," and the "subculture that glorifies swagger." Sure, start with White Supremacy but from there, it ceases to be that simple (or maybe it is).

One study offers up two leading theories, one of which may not surprise many, the other might:

"First, the high rate of incarceration and attendant flood of former offenders into neighborhoods have become major impediments. Men with criminal records tend to be shunned by employers, and young blacks with clean records suffer by association, studies have found.

The second special factor is related to an otherwise successful policy: the stricter enforcement of child support. Improved collection of money from absent fathers has been a pillar of welfare overhaul. But the system can leave young men feeling overwhelmed with debt and deter them from seeking legal work, since a large share of any earnings could be seized."

What both of these factors illuminate is the circular nature of the problem. Employment discrimination against ex-cons is more likely to lead people back into criminal enterprises. Likewise, if child support costs are also forcing people to hustle outside of the W2 world, it's also setting up the potential where fathers are more likely to be incarcerated and thus, both physically and financially removed from their families.

I have no real analysis here to add: I'm curious what the peanut gallery has to add however.

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Update: Kerry, in the comments, noted that NPR ran a piece dealing with the same studies (and one that he considered a lot better than the Times piece. You can hear it here.

--O.W.