Shocking figure or badge of honor?

Why is this?

"There's something very different happening with young black men, and it's something we can no longer ignore," said Ronald Mincy, professor of social work at Columbia and editor of a new book, "Black Males Left Behind."

This is a stultifying figure:

Even when high school graduates were included, half of black men in their 20s were jobless in 2004, up from 46 percent in 2000.

As is this:

Incarceration rates climbed in the 1990s and reached historic highs in the last few years. In 1995, 16 percent of black men in their 20s who did not attend college were in jail or prison; by 2004, 21 percent were incarcerated. By their mid-30s, 6 in 10 black men who dropped out of school have spent time in prison.

In the inner cities, more than half of all black men do not finish high school.

Which means that in the inner city, at least 30% of black men, by their mid 30s, have been in prison. Is this a shocking figure or a badge of honor?