WASHINGTON — A College Board report highlighting the “overwhelming barriers” U.S. minority males confront in becoming educated and productive citizens recommends national strategies aimed at erasing “the disparities in educational attainment” and demonstrating “new ways of reaching the increasingly diverse U.S. student population.”
During a program co-hosted by the Congressional Tri Caucus at the U.S. Capitol, College Board officials on Tuesday released “The Educational Crisis Facing Young Men of Color,” a 42-page report that was produced by the board’s Advocacy and Policy Center. The report’s summaries, data and recommendations resulted from a series of meetings, known as “Dialogue Days,” that were convened in 2008 to explore secondary and postsecondary achievement among African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American and Pacific Islander, and Native American males.
“The report we’re unveiling today and the speakers you will hear in a moment will detail the plight of these young men. They will paint a portrait of young men who are so far removed from our opportunity culture that they almost have no hope of contributing to our social and our economic growth,” said Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board. “As a result, they live in despair, hopelessness and too often violence and incarceration. We can continue to ignore the plight of these young men, but we do so at our own peril.”
Data in the report outlines a detailed picture of lagging educational attainment by minority males in comparison with minority women and Whites. Statistics featured in the report touches briefly on incarceration rates and violence while largely revealing minority male lags in educational attainment. The report mentioned that “African-American males are almost half the inmate population and Hispanics constitute 20 percent” of that population. In addition, the report says young Black men are five times more likely to be murdered as Whites. Among Asian-Americans, the data trends were disaggregated to report that the most vulnerable population are the males of Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander descent in comparison with those of Northeast Asian descent.
