Almost 35 percent of young black men ages 16–24 in America are unemployed, numbers not seen since the Great Depression, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those rates are three times the rate for the general U.S. population.
This presents a real quagmire for President Barack Obama. His administration is getting strong resistance to spending billions more to stimulate the economy, which critics say would further burden the nation that is already saddled with a $1.4 trillion national deficit. Yet, according to The Washington Post, Obama’s policy advisers warn that more resources need to be appropriated to fight the problems associated with the unemployed and unemployable.
Their concerns are not without merit. Substandard education, exorbitantly high dropout rates and unemployment directly correlate with a substantial rise in violent crimes, especially theft, robbery and murder, pundits say.
Also, the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that young black women ages 16–24 have an unemployment rate of 26.5 percent, compared to the national rate of only 15.4 percent. Together, all young people’s employment rate (regardless of race or ethnicity) in October was 44.9 percent, the lowest level in the 61 years that the Bureau has kept records.
As if that weren’t enough, Princeton sociology professor Devah Pager says racial discrimination continues to exacerbate black men’s occupational chances and financial dilemma.
“Black men were less likely to receive a call back or job offer than equally qualified white men,” Pager told The Washington Post, according to her study of job applicants in Milwaukee and New York. “Black men with a clean record fare no better than white men just released from prison.”
–terry shropshire
