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average, while white college graduates earned $43,400. The comparable figure for
Hispanics was $37,600.15
Likewise, studies have shown that blacks with undergraduate degrees have an employment
rate that is roughly similar to that of their white counterparts. In 2004, black college
graduates aged 25–34 had an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent, slightly above the 2.3
percent rate for whites.16 At the same time, while black college graduation rates have
increased substantially, they still lag significantly behind rates for whites. The percentage
of blacks aged 25–29 who were university graduates stood at its highest level of 18.0
percent in 2002, a threefold rise from a figure of 6.7 percent in 1971. At the same time,
the 2002 figure for whites in the same age cohort stood at 35.9 percent, about double
the figure for blacks.17
As these statistics suggest, the clearest path to racial equality in America is through the
schoolhouse door. Those who argue that the educational playing field is uneven point to
the disproportionate representation of African Americans in community colleges and
second-tier state universities, and to the small percentages of blacks in science, computer
technology, business administration, and other cutting-edge disciplines. Again, however,
the data show that the very act of enrolling in college and completing an undergraduate
curriculum greatly enhances opportunities for blacks to attain a standard of living
comparable to that of the rest of America.

While the promise of equality has become real for black college graduates, positive data
can obscure the plight of inner-city blacks, especially the current generation of young men.
The predicament of a substantial group of young men is not captured by higher education
or unemployment statistics, since they have dropped out of high school and the workforce,
or are serving time in prison.

Here some of the more positive statistical findings can be deceptive. While the overall
school dropout rate for blacks nationally is not high by historical standards, in many inner
cities it remains high for males, in some cases extraordinarily high. The outlook for these
dropouts is bleak. Sixty-five percent of black high school dropouts in their twenties were
not involved in the legal economy in 2000. By the time they reach their thirties, about 60
percent of black male dropouts have spent some time in jail. In 1995, 16 percent of black
men in their twenties who were not enrolled in college were incarcerated. By 2004, the
percentage for the same cohort was 21 percent. According to some research, on any given
day there is a higher proportion of black men in their late twenties in jail (34 percent) than
are employed (30 percent). Although they are only 13 percent of the overall population,
blacks account for 41 percent of prison inmates serving sentences of more than one
year.18
The relationship between black men and crime has for many years been a sensitive subject
in the United States. In part, this is due to the unfortunate historical experience of African
Americans. Prior to the civil rights revolution, the personnel of the criminal justice system
were overwhelmingly—and in many parts of the South, entirely—white. Today, however,
this is no longer the case. Blacks comprise a substantial proportion of police, judges, and
prosecutors in large cities. Court decisions have established that it is illegal to exclude
blacks from juries on racial grounds. In most large cities, police have undertaken special
training in managing racial and ethnic differences.

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