According to the US Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for black teens is six times the national average, and almost 300,000 African American kids are actively seeking low-skill jobs for the upcoming summer and beyond. But many black teens looking for work in California have been caught off guard by a harsh new reality: if you don't speak Spanish, oftentimes you aren't finding minimum-wage employment.

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At right is Eric Delgado, a senior at Bayonne High School and one of 40 finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, the nation’s most prestigious high school science competition. Bayonne High is situated in a city where the median household income is $41,566 and only half its graduates attend college. Indeed, it's not an easy place to become a biology whiz. But, by definition, "prodigies" are as unlikely to be found in tony prep schools as they are in Bayonne High. The New York Times seems to have forgotten that fact. We suppose it's difficult to see the flowers growing in the ghetto from on high the ivory tower.