Let me explain. 

It seems that about once a year someone at some organization sends out a press release to the effect that X percent of white male teenagers can't find jobs. But that the corresponding figure for black young men is substantially higher. Two times. Or even three times. The release then goes on to conclude that these data “prove” that racism is alive and well in the American job market for young people. 

Could this be true? Sure. But not across the board as these folks would have you believe. 

Let me give you a for instance. 

A few days ago I witnessed a young black man trying to communicate something to the clerk of a self-service gasoline station. As much as I tried I couldn't understand what he was trying to say. And neither could the clerk. The boy's English was virtually unintelligible. 

Which got me thinking about something George Bernard Shaw observed through the mouth of Henry Higgins in his play Pygmalion. That it was Liza Doolittle's abominable English more than anything else that would keep her in the gutter for the rest of her days. Not her low birth. Not her lack of education. Not her lack of capital. And as far as I could see, it was going to be the same for this boy as well. The way he spoke was going to keep him in the gutter for the rest of his days also. 

I was saddened by the experience. You see, his unemployability is something he's doing to himself. But the prevailing “wisdom” is that his unemployability is someone else's fault. 

Now, if he were your kid, and you wanted to show him compassion, which would you rather have him believe? 

Think about it.