OLIVE BRANCH COMMUNITY
homeThe Black Male Crisis : A Fact Sheet
Health|Education|Employment and Earnings|Life Chances|Violence, Substance Abuse and AIDS|Arrests and Incarceration
*Life Expectancy at Birth:Black - 65.2
White - 72.0
*Death Rates at Birth (per 1,000):
Black - 20.0
White - 10.0
*Death Rates (per 100,000) by Specified Age Groups:
Black White
Under 1 2,197 938
1 - 4 83 52
5 -14 39 29
15 -24 214 144
25 -34 405 170
Homicide is the leading cause of death for black men between the ages of 15 and 24.
*Death Rates (per 100,000) from Accidents and Violence:
Black White
Motor Vehicle 27.2 28.8
Other Accidents 37.2 24.8
Suicide 11.6 22.1
Homicide 53.3 7.9
*Death Rates from Accidents and Violence by Specified Age Groups:
Black White
15 - 24 147.6 118.8
25 - 34 207.6 102.5
35 - 44 179.9 80.6
45 - 54 148.9 78.9
55 - 64 133.8 82.1
(National Center for Health Statistics)
*Median Years of School Completed by Men 25 Years and Older:
1988 1970
Black 12.4 9.4
White 12.8 12.1
(US Bureau of the Census, 1990)
*Special Education
Eighty-five percent of the black public high school students in special education are boys. Thirty-seven percent are regularly subject to suspension.(Black Issues in Higher Education, 1990)
*High School Completion
From 1975 - 1988, there was a near 10% increase in the proportion of high school graduates among the black men in the 18 - 21 year age group (from 55.0 to 64.8).
*Teaching Careers
In Michigan, only six black men under age 26 were certified to teach kindergarten through 12th grade for the 1987 - 88 school year. Only 11 black men were hired.
(Black issues in Higher Education, 11/23/89)
*Civilian labor force participation rates, 1988:
Black White
All men 71.0 76.9
Ages 16-19 43.8 60.0
*Male Unemployment, 1988:
Black White11.7 4.7
*Teenage Unemployment
In the post-recession period of 1983, black teen unemployment reached 48.5 compared to the white rate of 19.3. By 1988, the black male had declined to 32.4, but this is still 2.5 times that of the white rate (13.1).
In 2001, unemployment for African-American teens increased 400% faster than the national average.
*Earnings
Median annual earnings in 1987 of black men who were year round full-time workers was $19,010, compared to $26,680 for white men.
Young, black, non-Hispanic males experienced the largest declines in real annual earnings, losing on average $3,700 or 28% over the period from 1973-1977.
(Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, Jan.1990).
*Poverty
Black White
All Men 29.7% 9.3%
Under 18 46.6% 15.6%
4. Black Males and Their Life Chances
Less than a 1 in 4,000 chance of receiving a Phd. in mathematics, engineering, or the physical sciences
A 1 in 372 chance of becoming a lawyer, a 1 in 684 chance of becoming a physician, and a 1 in 2,700 chance of becoming a dentist
A 1 in 94 chance of becoming a teacher
A 1 in 45 chance of becoming a cocaine abuser, a 1 in 5 chance of becoming a Mariuana abuser, and a 2 in 5 chance of becoming an alcohol abuser
Aa 1 in 24 chance of being imprisoned while in his 20s
A 1 in 17 chance of being the victim of a violent crime during his teen years
A 1 in 12 chance of graduating from college
A 1 in 4 chance of dropping out of school before high school graduation
A greater than 1 in 3 chance of being unemployed as a teenager; and only a 1 in 1,465 chance of becoming a NFL player, less than a 1 in 8,000 chance of becoming an NBA player, less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of becoming a major league baseball player
5. Black Males : Violence, Substance Abuse and AIDS
The median age of black male central city residents is 24 years compared to the national median age of 32.3. (Census, 1989)
Homicide is the leading cause of death for black males, 15-24. A black male has a 1 in 21 chance for being murdered before age 25. (Health Statistics, 1988; Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 1986)
In 1984, blacks comprised 30% of male drug abuse deaths.(National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIAD), 1986)
In 1984, among persons reporting to emergency rooms for drug abuse, blacks were more than twice as likely (38.6%) as whites (14.9) to be drug dependent.(NIAD,1986)
Although black men are 12% of the male population 13-24, they represent 35% of the AIDS cases for this age group. (CDC, 1989)
Drug Use
43.6% have used illegal drugs during their lifetime.
16.8% have used drugs within the past year.
10.2% have used drugs during the past month.
Death and Drugs
In the top 26 metropolitan areas, black males aged 6-19 comprised more than 40% of 1989 reported deaths with drugs in evidence. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1988)
AIDS and Drugs
Among adult black men, 578,2 per million have AIDS; compared to the 188.9 per million for white adult men.
In 1984, 35% of all 13-24 year-olds AIDS cases were black men. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1986)
Black men with AIDS are more likely to be intravenous drug users; white men with AIDS are more likely to be homosexuals. (Center for Disease Control)
6. Black Males: Arrests and Incarceration
Black juvenile males are more than 4 times as likely to be referred and incarcerated for a violent offence than white male juveniles. (National Center for Juvenile Justice, 1988; National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1987).
In 1987, 39% of youth held in custody were black, a 215% increase since 1985. (Department of Justice, 1988)
In 1984, despite representing only 15% of the U.S. population under 18, young black males represented 45%, 54%, 68%, and 39%, respectively, of the juvenile arrests for murder/non-negligent homicide, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. (FBI,1984)
The lifetime chance of incarceration is six times higher for blacks than it is for whites. (DOJ, 1988)
The lifetime chance of incarceration is 18% or 1 in 5.6 for black men, compared to 1 in 33.3 for whites. Costs to society range from $30-$85 dollars a day for maintenance and $1,000-$40,000 investigative and court costs. (Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, 1990)
Almost one in four (23%) of all black men between the ages of 20 and 29 are in prison, in jail, or probation, or on parole on any given day. For white men of the same age group, one in 16 (6.2%) is under control of the criminal justice system. (The Sentencing Project, 1990)
Black men make up 51.4% of the populations of state prisons. (Dept. of Justice, 1988)
______________________________________________________________________________________
The fact sheet was provided by Dr. Mattie Giles, Retiree of UDC faculty