ABSTRACT
A quiet, almost invisible tragedy is unfolding in contemporary America and only rarely is it discussed outside the black community, black studies courses, black publications, and the like. The attempt to alter black male decimation and black family deterioration must be a black men’s community effort. Black males must develop a functional message for black male youth and other black males and black females—a message that essentially calls for a return to more peaceful and productive relations between black men, and between black men and black women. Certainly there is a relationship between the structural barriers to black men’s advancement and the increasing decimation of black men, especially when black men believe the societal reference group socialization message exhorting them to adopt the Prince Charming ideal with little possibility for enactment.
