Ain't Easy Being a Gangsta

Black men in the United States face a far more dire situation than is portrayed by common employment and education statistics

The NY Times article paints a pretty depressing scene, where

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

By their mid-30's, 6 in 10 black men who had dropped out of school had spent time in prison

Among black dropouts in their late 20's, more are in prison on a given day — 34 percent — than are working — 30 percent

The article hits on probably the biggest factor in all this:

With the shift from factory jobs, unskilled workers of all races have lost ground, but none more so than blacks

The only hint that displacement by Latino immigrants might be an issue is this off-hand comment:

Dropout rates for Hispanic youths are as bad or worse but are not associated with nearly as much unemployment or crime, the data show.

Alas, the proposed solutions represent the usual litany of ineffective programs: job training, early childhood education, skills training for prisoners, and the grand-prize winner:

In a society where higher education is vital to economic success, Mr. Mincy of Columbia said, programs to help more men enter and succeed in college may hold promise.

Hello, Mr. Mincy - have you got a frickin' clue?