The New "Lost Generation" of Black America

The "Lost Generation", used to refer to the 1970's. Beginning in the 1990's the term now belongs to young African-American males. A poverty rate of 31percent is allowing many blacks to become a part of the growing black middle class. But there still remains a large number of young black men who still find themselves alienated from society. Lack of employment as well as the absence of a good education are just a few of the problems that keep the young black male on the run from any kind of societal stability.

Isolation

The national unemployment rate is 6.9 percent. For black men it's 15 percent. Eighteen percent of black males drop out of high school. Single black women head 2.6 million households. The leading cause of death among black men is murder. Black men have a one in twenty-one chance of becoming a murder victim. These are just some of the statistics that our young black men have to live with. This further serves to isolate them from society. Young black men are very aware at an early age that they have to watch their backs in a way most others do not.

There also exists an underlying self-isolation among black men as well. Many youths these days take the easy road. Young black men aren't exempt from this. In place of perseverance the youth of the 1990's takes it upon themselves to partake in the other side of the line. Thus involvement in drugs, crime and the like are inevitable behavior for a lot of these young men. Since this behavior is especially prevalent within the black communities the isolation is only worsened.

Education

If the education system in the US is falling apart for the country as a whole, what does that say for young black males? It says this: eighteen percent of black males drop out of high school. As much as 50 percent in larger cities. Only 20 percent of black high school seniors go on to college. The number of black teachers trained at traditional black colleges is declining fast. Statistics such as these coupled with inequality of the education system between blacks and whites create, in effect, a sector of the population that ends up uneducated and thus unemployed, thus poverty stricken.

One of the most depressing problems facing young blacks is the expectation of failure. There seems to be a shared belief among educators that black children simply can't learn like other children. In the days of slavery it was against the law to teach blacks to read and write. It was even widely believed that they were incapable of learning. When the education system was forced to take on the responsibility of educating blacks, some 200 years after the system was developed for whites, the racist assumptions about intelligence and ability remained. Sadly enough those assumptions still hold fast in many parts of the country today.

Economics

Since the slaves were officially freed during the Emancipation period the black community has struggled with poverty. Given the problems in education to begin with of course unemployment is a major factor. Common sense dictates that if there is no proper education there is no employability. There is no job there is no money. As many as 2.1 million blacks live below the poverty level. With 73% of these families headed by single parents, mostly female, it is easy to see the problems that arise. First the cost of baby-sitting far out weighs the salary of a minimum wage job. Most have no route but to go into the public assistance arena. With the rules of the welfare system single mothers are than forced to stay below the poverty level. There were times when families pulled together but this too is becoming a thing of the past. Tougher times and the growing lower class are also contributing to the breakdown of the black family.

The Past

Many young blacks are unaware of the struggles that faced their ancestors. They do however, live with the realization that they are not a part of what the American dream was initially intended to be. Ignorance of the past and as to the reasons as to why they are not a part of that dream is another contributing factor to the troubles young black men face. Searching within the acceptable boundaries of their peers, who are apt to be just as lost, has created even more confusion. The wearing of the African colors and the symbolic X are often misunderstood by those who wear them as well as by those who see them worn. The absence of black history classes on the high school level has enraged many black representative groups for years. The educational system teaches of pilgrims, colonies and slavery. Students are taught that white forebearers were heroes and black forebearers were slaves. The general consensus of black history is that slavery existed. For many years black children were not made aware of an ancestry to be proud of or the real reason their ancestors were brought to America. The older generations expect the younger generations to take pride in their ancestry. However, the tools needed to teach "Black Pride" have been misplaced in "Americanizing" the black race.