16. Incentive Program were to concentrate on improving the employability of these young people, the results might prove more encouraging than the efforts to date. 11. Many young black men and a small number of young black women enlisted during the past two decades in the armed forces to acquire more education and training and to explore whether they might make a career in the military. Since the acceleration of fighting in Vietnam, which coincided with the rise in black consciousness, fewer blacks have looked with favor on the military as an environment in which to seek training or long-term employment. However, under a directive from the Secretary of Defense in 1966, the armed services have drafted or enlisted large numbers of black men who formerly would not have passed military screening requirements. Present military planning contemplates the suspension of the draft by no later than July 1, 1973 and a concurrent substantial reduction in force levels; as a consequence, the armed forces are presently acting to reduce the inflow of low-score men, of whom many are black youth. We recommend that the armed forces, as the single largest employer in the country, avoid using their prospective personnel stringency as an excuse to reject black youth who, despite low scores, could perform effectively. We also recommend that when the fighting in Vietnam ceases, Congress consider a special appropriation to the armed forces for men whom they would not otherwise accept, so that these men could receive training that might be equally beneficial to the reserves and to the civilian economy. The armed forces have a unique training capability which, in the absence of active fighting, should be used to the maximum. 12. It has long been recognized that poverty and crime are closely linked. The additional tensions under which minorities live, especially in crowded cities, contribute to crimes against persons. When the New 69-110 O-71-6 17 York State Advisory Committee to the U. S. Civil Rights Commission held hearings in Harlem a few years ago, the dominant request of local witnesses was for more police protection. The merchants complained bitterly that they had to close their shops before dark because of the danger of burglary. Poor neighborhoods need more and better police protection. In many low-income areas, young people recognize that the man with money is often involved in illicit or illegal activities -- numbers, drugs, prostitution, the resale of stolen goods, racketeering. There is scattered evidence that many young men, probably one to two out of five in urban slum areas, realizing that they have little or no prospect of getting a decent job and earning a decent income, drift into illicit and illegal activities. But those who are apprehended, as well as those who are convicted, need rehabilitation, not punishment. We recommend more reliance on probation for first offenders with linkage to training and employment programs, such as the Manhattan Court Project in New York City. In addition, appropriate training for those who are sentenced to jail or prison and better placement services after they are released are essential. To this end special efforts must be made not to divulge the sealed proceedings against juveniles and to eliminate questions from employment applications dealing with arrests that did not lead to conviction. Moreover, community leaders should strive to reduce the arbitrary exclusion of former prisoners from many desirable types of employment. Our present practices with respect to law enforcement are injurious to the community as well as to the delinquent and the criminal. 13. During the 1960's we inaugurated many different experimental and operating programs that impinge on the education, training and development of young people and seek to broaden their options in the transition 18 from adolescence to adulthood. Many young people, both affluent and poor, have broken out of the institutional confines that have held them prisoner for so long. Street academies, college discovery programs, communes, street people, the Peace Corps, Vista and the Teacher Corps suggest the breaking of the mold. But the fact remains that American society lacks the range and variety of developmental opportunities responsive to the unmet needs and changing values of young people during their exploratory years, many of whom remain in school until age twenty-four or even later. Young people need a varying diet of education, training, work, income, leisure and exploration to develop their potential and to help them to find themselves. We have no simple prescription for how these broadened opportunities can best be provided. But we recommend the following lines of action: easier ways to drop out without prejudice and to return to school; more opportunities for young people to enter gainful employment as part of a structured educational and training experience; more governmental and voluntary programs that offer young people opportunities for worthwhile public and community service as part of their educationaltraining-maturational development. Young people from affluent homes enjoy many of these broadened options. It is essential that more poor minority youth have the same opportunities. Black youth will face special hardships even if the American people take action to accomplish urgently needed reforms. They will be frustrated to the point of explosion if the nation fails to fulfill its commitment to provide them with equality of opportunity. |