January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
We need to open more doors to young black males
Along with eliminating racism we need to provide practical help with education and career choices
The study was published late last year. But there's no excuse to delay: Most of them are common sense actions that won't cost a lot to implement.
The Columbia University professor verifies the obvious: Young black men are more likely to be under-employed, under-educated than their white and female peers, paid less and imprisoned more often.
But he provides logical explanations of why this is happening, and some concrete things we can try to do to make improvements.
The total elimination of racial discrimination would clearly be useful. But Prof. Mincy has the good sense to focus on some short-term, attainable goals.
A key goal must be to persuade young black men to break with a powerful tradition of leaving office and managerial work to their sisters and to white people.
That's where the money is. "Working with your hands" is honourable, but it is not the only work, and in modern Bermuda it is certainly not the best-paying work for most young black men.
Our long history of racism and segregation lies behind this phenomenon.
But it has become self-perpetuating. Children follow the example of their parents. Parents, consciously or sub-consciously, nudge their children in directions they are familiar with.
Boys too quickly dismiss office work as boring. Boys themselves are too quickly dismissed as "not academically inclined."
Office work becomes perceived as women's work.
Prof. Mincy argues convincingly that the education and exposure of young black men to modern workforce needs to begin much earlier, and be much more effective.
It needs hard work by effective teams of guidance counsellors at schools. Indeed, the report is a long list of reminders that guidance counsellors are not on the periphery of the education system, but one of its most important elements.
I expect it also requires a long-term public relations campaign aimed not just at students but at parents and the whole community. Changing times and changing economic needs require a major change in public attitude.
Prof. Mincy describes a related problem: Young black men who want to further their education but are uncertain how to go about it.
Parents offer encouragement. But they are often unable to offer much concrete guidance in applying for college, obtaining scholarships, meeting deadlines and overcoming other obstacles.
"Few parents went to college overseas and have first-hand knowledge of the complexities involved in the application process," he notes.
Schools are supportive, Prof. Mincy says, but the guidance they provide is often too little and too late. He relates interviews with young men who want to further their education but seem clueless about picking the right school or even obtaining the correct qualifications.
These kinds of problems can be fixed, quickly and cheaply.
Prof. Mincy also suggests that young black men in Bermuda might have the same kind of "soft skills deficit" that has been identified among young Black American males. They are likely to be "less punctual, exhibit poorer workplace attitudes, are less able to work as members of a team, and more likely to violate (written and unwritten) rules than their same age peers."
It is another case, Prof. Mincy says, where young men need to gain knowledge about workplace requirements much earlier in their school careers, and need greater guidance and training in the modern office environment.
Better guidance on today's workforce and career realities should also be valuable in tackling a high dropout rate.
Prof. Mincy recommends Bermuda should look at successful U.S. programmes aimed at preventing dropouts. And government and business should work together to do a better job serving youth who have left school.
Prof. Mincy places a big responsibility on young black men themselves, and on those who guide them. But he also places a burden on the rest of us - especially the white-dominated business community.
If we are going to persuade young black men that they should aspire to higher things, then we must make sure they are treated fairly when they knock on the door. Or the whole effort - as Prof. Mincy finds many young black men believe today - will be in vain.
Ronald Mincy's 2009 report on young black males
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