He was never portrayed as a young black male. Hank is thrown in there to be that black male that the viewers of the show may somehow know and would not dare to offend by calling him a natural criminal. The reason for his high status is because very few people on soap operas have low statuses. This idea of proving to the public that they aren t harboring to stereotypes by putting a black person in a position of prestige is one that would also explain why Hank is a District Attorney. It also confirms the viewer that they are not racists because they are accepting him as the role.
Hank is accepted as a normal guy who just happens to be black physically.
He could very well have been a white character a trait which is quite common in the soap world. This is an exact imitation of the stereotype of the black criminal youth. In fact before the three-hour block of soap operas begins the local news is on reinforcing this stereotype. The makers of soap operas do not want to deviate from this stereotype because we already have the associations with this one. Beau is a middle aged white male who also happens to be a member of one of the richest and most powerful families in town.