The number of Black men on college campuses and in the labor force is declining, according to a new report.
"Our goal is simple: Better data leads to better policy," says Wes Bellamy. He's executive director of the John Mercer Langston Institute at Virginia State University, which has a new report that shows Black men are the only group in America whose employment rate actually went down this year.
"This isn't just a report about Black men and boys; it's a report about how we build a stronger Virginia. And you cannot solve a problem you refuse to measure. You can't invest in lives or invest in people you choose not to see."
In the last decade, the report notes, Black male postsecondary enrollment fell by 22%. And in the workforce, Black men make about 77 cents on the dollar.
"There's a strong problem," Bellamy says. "There's a correlation there with the lack of economic advancement, and it shows that we need dedicated strategies to be able to address these issues."
Those strategies involve mentorship, “high-dosage tutoring” and data collection at colleges and universities closely tracking Black male enrollment.
"We just found that there were far too many instances in which Black men and boys felt as if they weren't being heard, weren't being seen, and we truly wanted to tell the full story about where they are," says Bellamy.
He says the full story will be part of a new report out later this month: The Economic State of Black Men and Boys in the Commonwealth.
