Anything less than systemic change will allow the current system to continue to function as it was originally designed—to the detriment of Black men. To that end, the experts identified six key policy areas to systemically address the challenges Black boys and men face:

Criminal justice reform: To truly address the social issues problems affecting Black boys and men, there must be significant reform to the criminal justice system. Black men are drastically overrepresented in the prison population, accounting for 32% of the prison population but only 6% of the overall U.S. population. They are five times more likely to be incarcerated during their lifetime than white men and they are more likely to serve longer sentences than white men (on average, 19% longer). This reality has multiplicative effects on the life chances of Black men.

Improving the education system: As compared to Black women, white men, and white women, Black men have lower levels of educational attainment. Only about 28% of Black men (aged 25-29) have a bachelor’s degree or higher, while about 30% of Black women, over 40% of white men, and nearly 50% of white women do. Comparatively, Black men have fewer opportunities to receive higher education because those with a felony record face limited access to federal student loans.

Improving employment rates and opportunities: On average, Black men experience higher unemployment rates, lower labor force participation rates, and lower earnings than their white male counterparts. These trends are not only indicative of lower economic power, but also lower access to quality healthcare, and fewer social connections.

Place-based policies: In 2017, 26% of Black households lived in high-poverty neighborhoods as compared to just 5% of white households. High-poverty neighborhoods are typically characterized by poorer quality schools, less access to jobs, social networks, and health care, and higher rates of crime, pollution, congestion, and noise.

Mentorship programs: Mentorship programs (such as the Mentoring Alliance led by Dr. Sean Joe) for Black boys and men have been a vital part of strengthening connections within a community. Providing young Black boys with access to a Black male role model has the potential to benefit them across several areas, including academic performance, mental health, social and emotional well-being, and preventing risky behaviors.

Reparations: The final policy area suggested during the panel discussion were reparations to be paid to American descendants of slavery. The racial gaps present in wealth, income, housing value, educational attainment, health status, employment, incarceration rates, and more are all the result of deep racism within the U.S., stemming from the egregious act of slavery. Reparations can be used to correct this injustice and to reduce the disparities that remain pervasive in society.

Read the full article about addressing social problems affecting Black boys and men by Ashleigh Maciolek at Brookings.