A Letter From the Publisher

By Richard B. Thomas

Each week TIME brings readers stories and pictures of major news events, but our editors also strive to present the quieter, more slowly developing trends and realities that affect our world. The plight of young black men in America is one such undercurrent, and in this issue we explore the subject at greater than usual length.

Some of these youths have already fathered a new generation of dependent, disadvantaged children. Most reporting on ghettos and the poverty cycle, noted Chicago Bureau Chief Jack White, has concentrated on teenage mothers and the children they were raising, to the exclusion of the men who were the fathers. White was convinced that the story of these young men needed to be told. To put their plight in context, White spoke with a dozen scholars who have studied the under class and drew on his own firsthand knowledge as well: "Some of the guys I went to high school with are in jail now. Some have been strung out on drugs. Some have been killed. It is all the more depressing because many others have joined the growing class of black professionals who enjoy unprecedented opportunities in America. Every time I see one of the fellows who got left behind, I think that there but for the grace of God go I."

Exploring blighted U.S. neighborhoods, especially in Los Angeles and Chicago, posed both physical and emotional challenges for our correspondents. Notes Los Angeles-based Jon Hull: "For trespassers armed with only pen and paper, the scrutiny of the resident youth gang can be nearly unbearable. I passed through a gauntlet of youths with a pounding heart." His apprehension soon gave way to sadness. "While most Americans make a point of avoiding the bad side of town, those within dream of one day escaping. My depressing conclusion was that few will succeed."

Staff Writer Jacob V. Lamar Jr., who wrote the story and was assisted by Reporter-Researchers David Ellis and Jeannie Park, says the subject had particular significance for him. "I was reminded that I was fortunate to grow up in a two-parent home and have access to a good education," notes Lamar, who joined TIME 3 1/2 years ago after graduating from Harvard with a major in history and literature. Lamar credits one of his professors, Child Psychiatrist and Author Robert Coles, with awakening his interest in social issues. Then he adds, "I don't know a black person who is not concerned about the widening gap between middle-class blacks and those entrenched in the ghettos."