FWIW, Blacks are at the bottom of national educational assessments. They are approximately 2 grade levels behind whites and there is extra pressure to graduate them to the next grade level because holding them back would be “racist.” So by the time they graduate high school, too many have failed to earn a high school level of competence. That shakes out in the job market.
There are plenty of individuals and others from other races who are down at the bottom of the scale too - but as an entire cohort, on average, a significant number of blacks are at least 2 grade levels behind whites upon graduation and that can be expected to limit their job fitness. Yes there are brilliant black scholars, but the data indicates that the average of the cohort is lower than the average of white, Asian and Hispanic Cohorts. And I think lower job performance fuels grievance that is used to justify higher crime rates for the cohort. ANd all this attributed to whites actively discriminating against blacks. *sigh*
Yep, and that is something that simply has to be fixed. Bold action is what's needed. Unfortunately, current "fixes" don't involve bold action. They involve some combination of throwing money at the problem, and blaming white society.
Oh, and there will also be a few white folks who will mutter "it's not fixable, because that's just the way black folks are." That's as wrong, and as unhelpful, as simply blaming white society.
I'm a veteran urban school teacher. And I'll tell you this. Urban black kids can succeed, if they are held to high standards. That would take time, but it would work.
The problem is that those high standards would be removed the instant some parent or community activist complains.