Here's a test for all you white folks. Have you ever passed a young black father with his kid(s) and given him a respectful smile and nod? I sure have, and I'll be damned if someone wants to tell me that's racist. Not too subconsciously, I think I want to affirm my support for their apparent choice of engagement in their childrens' lives versus the other path chosen by so many of their cohort.

We all have a stake in black fatherhood. Taxpayers would spend a lot less on prisons and social programs if about 70 percent of black children weren't born out of wedlock.

Now, baby-as-lifestyle-accessory urban elites like to imagine fathers are merely an option, but of course, not so - not remotely. Several researchers at top Ivy League universities have issued recent studies about the problems of young black men in the U.S., and their work gets front page treatment in the New York Times this morning.

Focusing more closely than ever on the life patterns of young black men, the new studies, by experts at Columbia, Princeton, Harvard and other institutions, show that the huge pool of poorly educated black men are becoming ever more disconnected from the mainstream society, and to a far greater degree than comparable white or Hispanic men. Especially in the country's inner cities, the studies show, finishing high school is the exception, legal work is scarcer than ever and prison is almost routine, with incarceration rates climbing for blacks even as urban crime rates have declined.

Despite the obligatory tips of the hat to "racism" and bias, the Times piece today doesn't skitter around the primary responsibility of families, and fathers, to raise young black men right.

Joseph T. Jones, director of the (Fathers, Families and Workforce Development Center in Baltimore), puts the breakdown of families at the core. "Many of these men grew up fatherless, and they never had good role models," said Mr. Jones, who overcame addiction and prison time. "No one around them knows how to navigate the mainstream society."

All the negative trends are associated with poor schooling, studies have shown, and progress has been slight in recent years. Federal data tend to understate dropout rates among the poor, in part because imprisoned youths are not counted.

...(one group of researchers cite) two factors that have curbed black employment in particular. First, the high rate of incarceration and attendant flood of former offenders into neighborhoods have become major impediments. Men with criminal records tend to be shunned by employers, and young blacks with clean records suffer by association, studies have found.

...The second special factor is related to an otherwise successful policy: the stricter enforcement of child support. Improved collection of money from absent fathers has been a pillar of welfare overhaul. But the system can leave young men feeling overwhelmed with debt and deter them from seeking legal work, since a large share of any earnings could be seized.

Of course the child support payments would not be an issue if the "players" would get and stay married to the mother of their first children - but the lure of serial paternity and "freedom" is often too great. If there is one place in the United States where the patholgies of young black men abandoned by their fathers is most excruciatingly evident, it might just be North Richmond, California. Here's the latest, from today's San Francisco Chronicle. At the same time, a glimmer of hope in San Francisco: minority students who are force-fed mutliculturalism at Mission High School in San Francisco have started The Dante Club. They've been reading "Inferno."

(Teacher and club organizer Callen Taylor) said they've especially seized on the idea of fate, which plays prominently in Dante's work. "They like that idea -- is it fate or do we have control in our life?" Taylor said. "For kids in poverty, it seems like a lot of their life is up to someone else." The students now largely seem to feel in control of their fate and said they're all headed for college. Among them are an aspiring architect, poet, soccer player, doctor, music teacher, muralist -- and even an FBI agent. Several of them said Dante has changed their lives in another way. Now, they think twice before committing one of the seven deadly sins outlined in his work. "It makes me think," said Wilson Jimenez, 18. "I think, 'If do this, what circle of hell will I go to?' Now I'm very careful in my decisions. I do believe in hell because I'm Catholic."

The decline of unskilled jobs, one other factor cited in today's NYT story as contributing to the challenges facing young black men, means students and parents must focus on preparation for skilled, specialized work. And that starts with mastery of core academic subjects. Obviously, a strong sense of self-determination and morality don't hurt either. (Cue the parents - plural).

TECHNORATI TAGS: BLACK MEN, ABSENT FATHERS, DISPROPORTIONALITY, CRIME, EDUCATION, INCOME, EMPLOYMENT, NORTH RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, MISSION HIGH SCHOOL, DANTE CLUB, GLOBAL ECONOMY