‘Crisis in Black America’

George Will’s column (Editorial Pages, Jan. 23), “Crisis in Black America,” was indeed disturbing. Not so much for its description of social ills in inner city black communities, but for its failure to address the underlying causes of those problems.

In his litany of statistics on crime, welfare and illegitimacy, Will forgot to include two of the most important statistics: that the unemployment rate of blacks is more than twice that of whites; and that the average black family earns about half as much as its white counterpart. However unintentional, he makes one point clear: poverty and marginality are pretty awful, no matter what color you are.

Will implies that the fundamental causes of the malaise are the proliferation of single-parent families (headed by women) and the irresponsibility of black men as fathers and providers. But these are not causes, they’re symptoms. The real villains are poverty, unemployment and hopelessness--and the economic system that perpetuates them.

I don’t deny that irresponsibility is a contributing factor. Irresponsible people abound in all segments of society, and, indeed, there seems to be less of an incentive to be responsible when opportunities for a better life are so limited. Could it be that Will still believes that all Americans have equal opportunities?

Apart from his simplistic treatment of the subject, I objected to Will’s tone, which bordered on inflammatory. Such generalization as “Young blacks, whose sexual recklessness produces oceans of misery, feel little of the kind of guilt that changes behavior” are uncalled for. Which young blacks is he talking about? All young blacks? I bet I could show him a few who don’t fit this description.

And why all the quotation marks? “Families,” “civil rights,” “civil rights leaders,” “racism”? Is he implying that these are not real, or not important? Though it may not be the optimum situation, mother and children still constitute a “family” and, unfortunately, “racism” is still very real. Irresponsible articles like Will’s will keep it that way.

ANNE GEYER

Panorama City