State Of Black Males in Chicago

State of Black Males in Chicago

In Chicago Public Schools:

African-American boys comprise 85 percent of special education placements and 46 percent of students who are expelled.

Between 1995 and 2005, only 38 percent of school age black males in Chicago graduated from high school.

Only 6 out of 100 African-American graduates go on to graduate from college in six years. Only 2 of the 6 are African-American males. (Source: University of Chicago)

In post-secondary education:

In 2001, there were nearly 20,000 more Black males in the Illinois state prison system than enrolled in undergraduate degree programs in the state’s public universities;

In 2002, Black men comprised only 4.3 percent of all students enrolled at institutions of higher education, the same as in 1976;

Between 1977 and 2003, Black male degree attainment increased by an average of 0.2 percentage points, most significantly on the associate’s degree level. Only 147 more doctorates were awarded to Black men in 2003 than in 1977.

In employment:


53 percent of black men ages 25 to34 are either unemployed or do not earn enough to support a family of four.

At comparable educational levels, black men earn 67 percent of what white men earn.

45 percent of African-American men between ages 20 and 24 are unemployed.

In Illinois/Chicago:


Illinois’ population is 13 percent black but 64 percent of its inmates are African American.

82.7 percent of households in the Grand Boulevard community are headed by single females.

(Sources: 2000 Census, National Urban League 2007 State of Black America report)