Across much of the United States, more than 1.5 million black men between the ages of 25 and 54 have effectively gone missing from daily life, the result of incarceration and early death resulting from a multitude of factors,
the New York Times reports.
Close to 120,000 of these black men have disappeared in New York, 45,000 in Chicago, and more than 30,000 in Philadelphia. In small- and medium-size Midwestern and Sun Belt locations ranging from Ferguson, Missouri, and North Charleston, South Carolina, to scores of small towns scattered through Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, hundreds of thousands more have vanished.
No similar trend exists within the white population. For every 100 white women ages 25 to 54 who are not in prison, there are 99 white men in that position. But for every 100 non-incarcerated black women, there are just 83 black men who are free.
In other words, more than one of every six black men in this age group has disappeared from everyday American life.
Using data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Times concluded that approximately 625,000 black men in this age group were imprisoned nationwide, compared with 45,000 black women.
The rate for prime-age black men between 25 and 54 is 8.2 percent, compared with 1.6 percent for non-black men.
Among black women, just 0.5 percent are behind bars, while only 0.2 percent of white women are incarcerated, the Times reports.
And what is the American city with at least 10,000 black residents with the single largest proportion of missing black men? It is
Ferguson, Missouri, where a fatal police shooting last summer led to months of intermittent rioting and property destruction.
In Ferguson, there are 60 men for every 100 black women ages 25 to 54.
Writing in Forbes, economist Stephen Bronars attributes many of the problems faced by black males in Ferguson to "a combination of problems including incarceration, criminal behavior, homelessness and substance abuse."
Census Bureau data show that 60 percent of households with children in that St. Louis suburb are headed by women, and that almost half of those female-headed households are below the poverty line.
"It will be difficult for Ferguson to prosper economically as long as half of young black men are absent from the community," Bronars writes.
As Ferguson attempts to create a racially diverse police force, a major challenge will be finding young black males who are willing and able to serve in the police department. But some of the same problems that have caused these black men to be absent from Ferguson – which include having a criminal record and going to prison – will make it difficult if not impossible for many of them to pursue a career in law enforcement.