The Real American Dream

…By 2004, the share (of jobless blacks in their 20s) had grown to 72 percent, compared with 34 percent of white and 19 percent of Hispanic dropouts.

…In 1995, 16 percent of black men in their 20's who did not attend college were in jail or prison; by 2004, 21 percent were incarcerated. By their mid-30's, 6 in 10 black men who had dropped out of school had spent time in prison.

In the inner cities, more than half of all black men do not finish high school.

Erik Eckholm, “Plight Deepens for Black Men, Studies Warn,” New York Times, 3/20/06.