CHICAGO — Some 45,000 black men in Chicago are "missing," according to a New York Times analysis.
By missing, the authors mean the men have "disappeared from daily life" largely because they died early or because they are in jail.
"African-American men have long been more likely to be locked up and more likely to die young, but the scale of the combined toll is nonetheless jarring," the authors say on the Times' Upshot blog. The resulting imbalance in the male-female ratio across the United States is "leaving many communities without enough men to be fathers and husbands."
Overall in the United States, more than one out of every six black men who today should be between 25 and 54 have ended up disconnected from regular society. There are more African-American men missing nationwide than live in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston, Washington and Boston combined. In total, 1.5 million black men are missing.
The Times said it came up with its numbers using data from the 2010 Census.
The report has generated much discussion.
In comments sent to the Times, some writers suggested legalizing marijuana and better efforts to support marriage and fatherhood might help. One blamed "black male culture making this oppositional behavior acceptable" and another "junk jobs" that don't provide a path to middle class life.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: