“If you let your son sit around doing nothing, you are handicapping him for life,” Dominic Carter told the congregation of the Mount of Olives Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Brooklyn during a panel discussion entitled, “Is the Black Male an Endangered Species?”

Carter, NY1 newsman and author of No Mama’s Boy, was accompanied by Coz Carson, recently of WWRL 1600 AM in NYC, currently on Internet radio (USTalknetwork.com); Professor Kenneth Anderson, Director of the Urban Male Leadership academy at the Borough of Manhattan Community College; and Elder Arnold Burton, middle school teacher and spiritual leader at Corona SDA Church in Queens. Orville Hill moderated and young male parishioners guided the discussion with statistical data regarding Black males in employment and the criminal justice system.

Orville Hill said the forum was designed to explore the plight of Black males and address some solutions.

Responding to statistics regarding the large numbers of Black males involved in the criminal justice system, Carson said not all of these men are innocent; however, the Constitution was formed on an apartheid system. The most important thing is “what we do to repair ourselves.”

After telling of his former career as a prosecutor, Anderson said he “had to join a Black church to be around normal Black folk” because at work he was confronted with numerous Black men who were criminal defendants, so much as it began to color how he viewed Black people.

Burton said, “Too many parents are not in touch with their children.” He said when parents come to school to see about their child, and are asked the child’s grade or the name of their teacher, too many parents do not know.

Anderson said a lot of “boys, and some girls, plan to go to jail.” Too many do not see incarceration as a problem; instead, it is viewed as a “rite-of-passage.”

Carson pointed to the decline of the nuclear family, and said Blacks don’t stress education enough. “Real men need to take responsibility.”

Carter asked, “How did we get to the point where education does not matter? The solution: education, education, and some more education. We must say to our young people, ‘No Excuses.’ It does not matter where you start in life – it matters where you are going.”

Anderson decried the decline of the American community. When he was a kid, Anderson said if he did something wrong two blocks from home, he was corrected right there by members of the community. He said, “Education and core values are important. Ask yourself, ‘What would Malcolm do? What would grandma think?’ Being smart is white? How dumb is that?” Kenneth explained code-breaking: certain types of clothing puts a bull’s-eye on your back; a target for getting shot or arrested. While driving south, Kenneth wears a suit.

Marvin, another parishioner, presented dire research on Black male unemployment, guiding the next set of responses from panelists.

“Not getting an education and dropping out of school means young men are not going to get a job,” Burton said. “The problem is how young Black men are raised Many parents spoil their sons, while their daughters are told, ‘You have to be able to take care of yourself.’ The sons have no chores, hang out late and whine.”

Arnold recommends “from a young age, teach young men responsibility. They must learn to earn things.” He said too many parents “give their children things to make up for the time you haven’t spent with them. Teach them a work ethic that will carry them through.”

Carter: “If you take yourself out of the game, it is easy to ignore you. Mothers, if you let your son sit around doing nothing, you are handicapping him for life.”

Anderson: “Prepare yourself by getting the New York Times every week. Read the business section first, then the classified. How can you get a job if you don’t know what jobs are out there?”

Burton: “If it is to be, it is up to me. The greatest power is the power of choice. You don’t know how far you can go if you choose to be successful.”

When the panel was asked how Black men choose the mothers of their children, many times born out of wedlock. Coz said, “It takes great spiritual development. Microwave affairs are the biggest reason for single parents.” Regarding whether racism is an impediment or an excuse, Coz said, “We can either be victims or survivors.”