CFK Reports From: Paths to Success: A Forum on Young African-American Men
Event: Forum
Organized By: Kaiser Family Foundation , The Washington Post and Harvard University
Where/When: Barbara Jordan Conference Center; July 18, 2006

Report by: Martha Pitts

Comedian Bill Cosby, armed with sunglasses and a tell-it-like-it is approach, joined a 16-member panel made up of politicians, educators, activists, and young men to discuss the issues and challenges facing young black men, and the strategies to help overcome the obstacles.

The forum addressed results of the national survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, The Washington Post, and Harvard University. The survey looked at how African-American men view their lives in the United States, and included the views and experiences of men on marriage and family, education, careers and health. Complementing the survey was the Washington Post’s year-long commitment “Being a Black Man” series, which includes articles, online videos, and photo galleries.

Some key findings of the survey include the following from the subgroup of 400 young African-American men (ages 18-29):

• 80% of young black men feel mostly optimistic about their future
• 63% of young black men think that it is a good time to be a black man in America.
• 93% of young black men had a friend of a different race.
• 31% of young black men visited or lived in a foreign country
• 51% of young black men have been unfairly stopped by police.
• 28% of young black men have been denied a job they were qualified for
• 64% of young black say the problems facing black men are more of a result of what black men have failed to do themselves.

“I’m not sure that’s the general picture Americans have in their heads,” said Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation CEO, referring to the optimistic outlook of the black men surveyed.

Altman said that the men surveyed believed that staying in school and having hope for the future were the strongest predictors of doing well in life.

Cosby, who has been outspoken about blacks being responsible for themselves and has crusaded for stronger father figures in the black community, had a different take on the survey results.

“I’m not interested in statistics...telling me that things are not as bad as they seem,” Cosby said. “They’re horrible.”

For the last few years, Cosby’s statements have been amplified by the media, often portraying him as shaking his finger at poor, black people.

Ronald Dellums, mayor-elect of Oakland, California, said every institution was failing young black men.

“We’re grinding them up like glass,” he said. “We’re not hearing them, and ignoring their plight.”

Dr. Alvin Poussaint, a Harvard Medical School child psychiatrist and director of the Media Center of the Judge Baker Children's Center, said he wanted to know why many African-American kids are being expelled from preschool. He cited a study conducted by Yale University’s Edward Zigler Center for Child Development and Social Policy, which found that among 3- and 4-year-old children in preschool programs, African-American children were twice as likely to be expelled as white or Latino children, and five times as likely to be expelled as Asian American children. Poussaint said that of the expelled African American kids, four out of five were male and they were being expelled for being aggressive and violent, and using inappropriate language.

Poussaint said there’s a high level of child abuse and neglect in poor black communities and the overuse of beating.

“[Parents are] beating the devil out of these kids,” he said. “The more they beat them, the angrier the kids get.”

Many of the panel members agreed that good parenting skills were missing in poor black communities.

Jachin Leatherman, valedictorian of Ballou Senior High School, an all-black inner city school in Southeast Washington, DC, attributed his successes to his dad, a single father.

“If it wasn’t for my dad, I wouldn’t be the person that I am today,” he said.

View the webcast [1]