Young Black Men

ATLANTA - The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. might be pleasantly surprised by many of the changes in the nation's social fabric since his death. The civil rights movement accomplished an astonishing transformation. But Dr. King would no doubt be quite disappointed in one area of black life that has only deteriorated since his assassination: the percentage of black men in prison. In 1954, black inmates accounted for 30 percent of the nation's prison population, according to the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group that advocates alternative sentencing.

ANOTHER Washington think tank is raising alarm about the low number of young black males who hold jobs. Barely more than half of young black men with no more than a high school diploma held a job in 1999, compared with about two-thirds 20 years earlier, according to a report put out this month by the liberal, Washington-based Center for Law and Social Policy. "Boom Times A Bust: Declining Employment Among Less Educated Young Men" shows that the employment rate for young black men was far worse than that for whites and Hispanics with similar minimal education.

THE SECRET'S out now, thanks to the March 3 edition of Newsweek magazine. Black folks tried to keep it on the down-low, but it seems we've been outted by a national periodical, which aired the linen - whether it's dirty or clean depends on your perspective - we've known for some time. You don't hear blacks in the reparations for slavery movement talk about this news. They're too busy trying to portray black Americans as ridden with poverty and oppression. You didn't hear it mentioned during any of the recent marches, rallies and demonstrations for affirmative action either.

WASHINGTON - Pity Beyonce Knowles. Alas, this talented singer, actor and diva-goddess who has no problems in the good looks department has problems finding the right man. "It's so difficult to find someone out there [who] is compatible when you're a successful black woman," she says in the March 3 Newsweek. Fortunately, as she graces the magazine's cover with TV host Star Jones and money manager Mellody Hobson, president of Chicago-based Ariel Capital Management, Ms. Knowles manages to put a good face on her troubles.

ON A PLEASANT morning that fell exactly in the middle of June, the warriors gathered at a catering hall just off Reisterstown Road in Northwest Baltimore. The warriors filled a ballroom of the Forum Caterers before the clock struck 8. Most of the men were dressed in conservative business suits and ties and had Afros neatly coifed. The women also wore business suits. A smattering of white people attended the affair, the Ninth Annual Scholarship and Awards Breakfast of Black Professional Men Inc. BPM members, organized 11 years ago, wage a war daily against the Big Lie. It's the lie that says young black men are good for nothing but criminality and failure.

The young man is tapping the name on the concrete wall of 2510 E. Biddle St., tapping it insistently, emphatically, as he makes his point. This name, spray-painted here and across the street and around the corner, these words, "1 Love Dre 1975-1999," were not left randomly to disrespect property and community. "Don't disrespect this by calling it graffiti," he says. "This is a piece of my heart right here." His name is Troy, and pieces of his heart are all around East Biddle Street and Milton Avenue: "RIP Dre The good die young.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say that I am about as white-bread as you can get: blond hair, blue eyes, Nordic heritage, two kids who play soccer, a van and plenty of liberal guilt. It's that last attribute that makes me acknowledge another truth: While I have black friends and acquaintances, most of the people I know best are pretty much just like me. So it would not surprise me to learn that on occasion, I have unwittingly offended my black friends and acquaintances, just as I have my white friends.

SHERRON "RON G" Rolax was only 16 at the time. Remember that. It's crucial to this tale. Rolax has been in a New Jersey youth correctional facility since 1998 on drug charges. Remember that, too. Rolax is the young black man a grinning New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman frisked on a Camden street corner one May night in 1996. Whitman, a Republican, was on a sweep with state troopers in an attempt to cut down crime. One trooper photographed Whitman frisking Rolax. The picture was released earlier this month, to the consternation of black America's militant, nationalist, liberal-left wing who shouted it was yet another example of how those nasty Republicans treat us poor colored folks.

ALDERMAN Herbert McMillan says his anti-loitering bill in the Annapolis City Council has taken an unfair pounding in the media, including in this column. Mr. McMillan has stood squarely behind his proposal in spite of a Supreme Court ruling this year that banned a similar measure in Chicago; in spite of concerns from African-Americans that it gives police too much power, and in spite of silence by those who supposedly support it. He has amended the bill to limit its reach to areas that want drug-free zones, but opponents feel it would give police carte blanche to arrest innocent young black men along with the bad guys in public housing developments.

IT TOOK SUN "Perspective" editor Mike Adams to point out a glaring error in my column on Willie Lynch, the apocryphal Jamaican slave owner who supposedly made an early 18th century speech about controlling slaves by using "fear, envy and distrust." It was an error of omission, not commission.In the column, I made reference to Adams' February article on the Willie Lynch syndrome. Adams did an excellent job in proving that there is no documented proof that Lynch existed, but, as he made clear, that was not his main point.