A convergence of numerous, mostly negative, factors—economic,
historic, and social—have merged in our nation’s history to
produce a significant underclass populated by a disproportionate
number of African Americans. To understand race in America, one
must come to grips with this often harsh and crushing reality.
“With the declining presence of middle-class blacks, inner city
black neighborhoods during the 1980s and 1990s grew increasingly
impoverished and dysfunctional. Role models, civic leaders and
vital job contacts (most jobs are filled through personal
connections) diminished. A black underclass emerged. Crack
cocaine, crime and the code of the street became invasive. Young
black urban males had little incentive to graduate from inferior
public schools into a job market with falling real wages and
little career opportunity. Selling crack for $3.50 to $7.50 an
hour, with a slim chance at bigger money and a 25% chance of
being killed, was still more attractive than the labor market.
Young black women, mean