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569 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. 8 (2000)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0569 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE A recent publication on the African American male has documented nearly a thousand annotated bibliographical references covering a wide range of subjects: education, health, arts and entertainment, civil rights, crime and violence, family, leadership, literature, media, religion, sports, economic development, and so on (Gordon 1999). The book also includes an impressive list of doctoral dissertations and other published works on the African Ameri- can male. It reflects the current understanding of the treatment of the Afri- can American male in the American academy. No longer can scholars and practitioners ignore this considerably large body of literature. This volume of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science is another step in the right direction. This direction appears to be at least two- fold: (1) African American male studies as a legitimate field of academic inquiry and (2) viewing the African American male experience within the context of American life and history. Thus the original essays included in this volume have been designed to examine specific aspects of the African Ameri- can male in American life. According to the United States Census Bureau population estimate for August 1999, the total African American population is nearly 35.0 million, or 12.8 percent of the U.S. population. Of this number, 16.6 million are males, representing about 6 percent of the U.S. population. This figure does not include several million foreign-born African American males. In preparing this volume, we were guided by a simple academic principle, namely, to present a balanced perspective of the African American male. The images of the African American male portrayed through the American media have been distorted, to say the least. Jewelle Taylor Gibbs once noted how African American males have been labelled by the media as dropouts, delin- quents, dope addicts, street-smart dudes, and welfare pimps (Gibbs 1988, 22). Some of the men refer to themselves as home boys, bloods, and soul brothers. These labels hold powerful clues to the ways in which black males are perceived and valued in American society. The neglected part of the story is that black males in America are also products of their rich African heritage. They are sons of African kings and queens who have made enormous and valuable contributions to Western civilization, particularly to American life and thought. Capitalism, as scholar Eric Williams puts it, could not have thrived without the sweat and tears of the slaves who were predominantly black men (Williams 1944). African American men not only are pioneers in sports but have proven themselves in practically all walks of life, including the sciences, medicine, law, engineering, and the American armed forces. Obviously, this volume cannot cover all areas of the contributions made by the black male. Thus some neglected areas have been selected for this volume. 8

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