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COMMENTARY Chris Honoré: A wider context rarely discussed Comment By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted May. 4, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré Posted May. 4, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News After watching the response to the tragic death of Freddie Gray unfold in Baltimore, specifically the looting of a mall and the burning of a pharmacy, all in the neighborhood in which the looters live, I heard in my head a familiar tape. “Who does this to the mom-and-pop businesses that are locally owned and employ people who live down the street and work at much-needed jobs? This is not a protest, it’s criminal.” The tape goes on. “Wait. Many of the looters are young people, just out of school for the day? And where are the parents? Didn’t anyone tell these kids that it was wrong to steal just because you can?” And so on. It is difficult to stop and examine the wider context. What is really going on? In a recent article in the New York Times, the paper printed a remarkable piece (with editorial follow up) that should give pause. It is revelatory and the implications profoundly important if we are to begin to change what has been a long-trending reality for the black community, more specifically black men, in America. The article I’m referring to, titled “1.5 Million Black Men Missing From Daily Life,” frames the context mentioned above. What does the word “missing” mean? One in every six black men ages 24 to 54 has disappeared from our civic life. Think of it: 1.5 million. Where are they? They have either died prematurely or they are locked away in prison. That means that there are 83 black men living outside of prison for every 100 black women. For white men and women, the numbers are about equal. What is the impact of such a reality? The Times reports: lower marriage rates, more out-of-wedlock births, greater risk of poverty for families and less stable communities, constructing an unrelenting cycle. The data represent the hollowing out of a group of people and define a perfect storm of events that can be traced back to the 1970s (or, more likely, back to slavery and Jim Crow). It began in earnest with the collapse of manufacturing and deindustrialization and the attrition of jobs, followed by tough-on-crime ("three strikes") and war-on-drugs legislation passed by Congress, policies supported by Democrats, resulting in the mass incarceration of black men and driving up the prison population seven-fold. The labor market has continued to shrink, compounded by a deep and unforgiving recession, one that has shut out countless low-skilled workers. Millions of black men are, according to a New York Times editorial, “functionally missing.” The paper quotes sociologist William Julius Wilson, who describes this phenomenon as “the disappearance of work which devastated formerly coherent neighborhoods.” To be a black man in America today is to be stigmatized. Many are viewed through a prism of criminality and violence and suspicion and fear. These stereotypes penetrate deeply into our collective consciousness and are made manifest in encounters with the police, in job interviews, and just general everyday interactions. If a black man has been incarcerated for a nonviolent offense — the possession of a small amount of marijuana — and goes to jail, he is marked forever. And despite all best efforts, his future will be irreparably damaged. Wilson wrote a book, “When Work Disappears,” in which he states that for the first time in the 20th century, joblessness became the norm for many in the poor neighborhoods, resulting in the crippling of millions of lives marked by despair, hopelessness and anger (to include de facto segregation). That is the context. What is the solution? Wilson suggests a massive effort by the government akin to the Works Progress Administration created to help Americans recover during the Depression. Let’s spend a decade rebuilding our infrastructure, including our schools. Put people (black, brown and white) to work at living wages. Train and retrain them. Let’s level the playing field. We have spent trillions on futile, hubristic, cul-de-sac wars dating back to Vietnam. How can we not say that this crisis threatens our national security? We could do this. If we had the will. Chris Honoré lives in Ashland. By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted May. 4, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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