The Candor of Cynthia Tucker

Cynthia Tucker, editorialist at the Atlanta Journal Constitution demonstrates some startling candor in her ew opinion column, "Idle black men, tragically, aren't just a stereotype":

My younger sister, an architect, appointed her Mexican-born father-in-law, an experienced carpenter (and American citizen), the new general contractor. I was to find men willing to help him paint, lift, scrape, fill, dig. The pay was hardly exorbitant — $6 an hour. But it seemed reasonable for unskilled labor. So I looked among unemployed high school classmates, members of my mother's church and men standing on nearby street corners.

The experience brought me face to face with every unappealing behavior that I'd heard attributed to idle black men but dismissed as stereotype. One man worked a couple of days and never came back. One young man worked 30 minutes before he deserted. Others promised to come to work but never did.

This story is hardly an academic overview. The evidence is anecdotal. But it jibes with the treatises I've read that portray a permanent underclass of black men with criminal records and low educational attainment, with multiple children and little cash.

It is admirable that she would confront these stereotypes head on and honestly report them. I suspect this piece might invite some small tremors in some liberal circles who saw none of what she did but will try try to dispute everything she observed. Those who don't question her observational skills will explain away with soft science claptrap. Some will reach back and make slavery and lynchings the culprit.

Anyhow, Ms. Tucker, thank you for the frank words. I hope you follow up with some honest examination.