Why do so many blacks commit crime?

Why are so many blacks on welfare?

Why aren't there more black men in the home?

Why can't blacks be successful in business and the professions like the Korean-Americans and other ethnics?

Why aren't black leaders doing something about these problems?

I've been hearing many people in Los Angeles asking these questions, which were borne out of frustration and fear after last year's riots. They were desperately trying to understand why and how such rage could explode in their own back yard. Had the system really failed, or had African-Americans failed within the system?

I could tell many people preferred to think the latter. But then again, why wouldn't they?

They are fed a constant diet of crime-gangs-drugs-family breakdown stories about African-Americans by much of the media. It's easy for many to believe that African-American communities are hopelessly mired in economic and social decay, and that there is no one to lead them out of it.

The truth is far different: Let's dispel some myths.

* Most black youths are high school drop-outs.

They aren't. The National Urban League's 1992 State of Black America report found that more than 75% of African-Americans graduated from high school, and nearly 35% went on to college. A study by the National Assessment of Educational Progress reported a dramatic rise in the SAT scores for black students in California schools in 1990. Watts residents, each year, take great pride in the award-winning academic decathlon teams at predominantly black and Latino Markham Junior High School.

* Most young blacks belong to gangs or deal drugs.

They don't. Nationwide, 75% of young black men have not been arrested, have not served time in prison and are not on parole or probation, according to the 1992 Sentencing Project.

* Most black children live in single-parent households.

They don't. The 1990 census shows that 43% of black children were in single-parent households. But even this high figure is skewed because many sociologists erroneously compare poor black families with white middle-class families. Virtually no statistical difference between divorce rates, or father absenteeism was found when black middle-class families were compared with middle-class white families.

* Most blacks are unemployed.

They aren't. According to the 1990 census, more than 70% of black workers were employed. Nearly 15% were in professional or managerial positions, nearly double the total in 1980.