Just as good as slavery

Joshua DuBois has a cover article in Newsweek about the current state of black men in America. DuBois is a former spiritual advisor to Obama, director of the White House faith-based initiative, and is now CEO of Values Partnerships which does the work he wrote about.

We went from black people being slaves to black people working under "peonage." That's a system in the South in which a black man was convicted of a petty or phony crime, such as "selling cotton after sunset." He was sent to prison and sentenced to work. Which meant savvy employers got his work for free. Just as good as slavery. That lasted until 1948.

When we passed all those civil rights laws in the 1960s we didn't teach black men how to teach their sons how to be upstanding citizens. Then we doubled down on the criminal justice system and lots of black men went to jail -- and when they came out they had criminal records that prevented them from getting many jobs and from voting. That includes a significant chunk of black men in many major cities.

DuBois points out some of the ways the situation is changing. One is the small-gov't crowd that would love to reduce the cost of our prison system. So sentencing reform is getting a receptive hearing. Another way is to recognize that if there is no money in the pocket there is going to be rotten health care and rotten housing choices. So there are now centers to explain economic literacy (and do it with couples) and help start small businesses. Part of that includes making sure role models aren't gang members. Another piece of the puzzle is to combat racism, to teach black men there is nothing wrong with them.

It all boils down to agencies that take the time to know and like their clients. Only then can they overcome the defense mechanisms that have been built up.