The Black Man's Economic Crisis
- Nd® COMMUNITY
- 20 hours ago
- 2 min read
Published August 26, 2026 at 5:00 AM EDT
Finding gainful employment is the most pressing issue facing black men in America.
WASHINGTON, DC —A new national report is drawing attention to persistent economic and educational disparities affecting Black men and boys, with findings showing major gaps in college enrollment, employment and earnings.
The report, The Economic State of Black Men and Boys in the United States, was produced by the John Mercer Langston Institute for African American Political Leadership at Virginia State University and authored by Dr. Wes Bellamy. It is intended to serve as an annual benchmark measuring education, employment, earnings, wealth and economic mobility.
Among its findings, Black men now make up only 26% of enrollment at historically Black colleges and universities, continue to experience some of the highest unemployment rates among major racial and ethnic groups, and earn roughly 77 cents for every dollar earned by White men.
Black men gained greater access to America’s industrial economy just as that economy began disappearing. The employment gains produced by the civil-rights era coincided with a historic restructuring of the American workforce, as factories closed, manufacturing moved overseas and many of the unionized industrial jobs that had provided Black men without college degrees a path into the middle class vanished. The graph illustrates the consequences: across recessions and recoveries alike, Black male unemployment has remained substantially higher than White male unemployment for more than five decades.
Economic downturns widened the divide dramatically, with Black male unemployment reaching roughly 12% in 1980 and 17% following the Great Recession, while even periods of strong economic growth failed to eliminate the underlying gap. The result is not simply a story of unemployment, but of economic displacement—Black men entered the mainstream labor market in greater numbers at precisely the moment America began dismantling many of the industries that had historically supported working-class families.
Democratic strategist Kevin Harris argues that these disparities receive too little sustained attention in national politics. He says policymakers should focus more directly on Black male college completion, apprenticeships, skilled trades, workforce training, entrepreneurship and wealth building. Harris also warns that political parties risk losing Black male support if their economic concerns continue to be treated as secondary.
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