Today’s NY Times features an article that discusses the growing disconnect between uneducated Black men and mainstream society. Some of the stats discussed:

The share of young black men without jobs has climbed relentlessly, with only a          slight pause during the economic peak of the late 1990’s. In 2000, 65 percent of          black male high school dropouts in their 20’s were jobless — that is, unable to find        work, not seeking it or incarcerated. By 2004, the share had grown to 72 percent,        compared with 34 percent of white and 19 percent of Hispanic dropouts.                    Even when     high school graduates were included, half of black men in their 20’s        were jobless in 2004, up from 46 percent in 2000.

Incarceration rates climbed in the 1990’s and reached historic highs in the past            few   years. In 1995, 16 percent of black men in their 20’s who did not attend             college were in jail or prison; by 2004, 21 percent were incarcerated. By their            mid-30’s, 6 in 10 black men who had dropped out of school had spent time in            prison.

In the inner cities, more than half of all black men do not finish high school.

WOW! Although I’m familiar with all of these stats, there’s something about seeing them that never ceases to make me feel sad and helpless. As an activist and intellectual, I’d like to think that the work that we do helps make the world better. Yet, at moments like this, it seems as if we’re not even keeping it from getting worse.