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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
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Romare Bearden
The Family (1948)
Watercolor and gouache on paper
The Evans-Tibbs Collection, Washington, D.C.
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J ust five decades ago, most black
Americans could not work, live, shop, eat, seek entertainment, or travel
where they chose. Even a quarter century ago-100 years after the Emanci-
pation Proclamation of 1863-most blacks were effectively denied the right
to vote. A large majority of blacks lived in poverty, and very few black
children had the opportunity to receive a basic education; indeed, black
children were still forced to attend inferior and separate schools in jurisdic-
tions that had not accepted the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court declar-
ing segregated schools unconstitutional.
Today the situation is very different. In education, many blacks have
received college degrees from universities that formerly excluded them. In
the workplace, blacks frequently hold professional and managerial jobs in
desegregated settings. In politics, most blacks now participate in elections,
and blacks have been elected to all but the highest political offices. Overall,
many blacks have achieved middle-class status.
Yet the great gulf that existed between black and white Americans in 1939
has only been narrowed; it has not closed. One of three blacks still live in
households with incomes below the poverty line. Even more blacks live in
areas where ineffective schools, high rates of dependence on public assis-
tance, severe problems of crime and drug use, and low and declining em-
ployment prevail. Race relations, as they affect the lives of inhabitants of
these areas, differ considerably from black-white relations involving middle-
class blacks. Lower status blacks have less access to desegregated schools,
neighborhoods, and other institutions and public facilities. Their interactions
with whites frequently emphasize their subordinate status-as low-skilled
employees, public agency clients, and marginally performing pupils.
.
3
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A COMMO N DESTI N Y: B LACKS AN D AME R I CA N SOC I ETY
The status of black Americans today can be characterized as a glass that is
half full-if measured by progress since 1939-or as a glass that is half empty-
if measured by the persisting disparities between black and white Americans
since the early 1970s. Any assessment of the quality of life for blacks is also
complicated by the contrast between blacks who have achieved middle-class
status and those who have not.
The progress occurred because sustained struggles by blacks and their allies
changed American law and politics, moving all governments and most pri-
vate institutions from support c)f principles of racial inequality to support of
principles of racial equality. Gradually, and often with much resistance, the
behaviors and attitudes of individual whites moved in the same direction.
Over the 50-year span covered by this study, the social status of American
blacks has on mvera,ge improved dramatically, both in absolute terms and
relative to whites. The growth of the economy and public policies promoting
racial equality led to an erosion of segregation and discrimination, making it
possible for a substantial fraction of blacks to enter the mainstream of Arner-
ican life.
The reasons for the continuing distress of large numbers of black Ameri-
cans are complex. Racial discrimination continues despite the victories of the
civil rights movement. Yet, the problems faced today by blacks who are
isolated from economic and social progress are less directly open to political
amelioration than were the problems of legal segregation and the widely
practiced overt discrimination of a few decades past. Slow overall growth of
the economy during the 1970s and 1980s has been an important impedi-
ment to black progress; in the three previous decades economic prosperity
and rapid growth had been a great help to most blacks. Educational institu-
tions and government policies have not successfully responded to underlying
changes in the society. Opportunities for upward mobility have been reduced
for all lower status Americans, but especially for those who are black. If all
racial discrimination were abolished today, the life prospects facing many
poor blacks would still constitute major challenges for public policy.
SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS
This report summarizes and interprets a large body of data and research
analyses concerning the position of blacks in American society since the eve
of World War II. We write at a time 20 years after the Kerner Commission,
following the summer riots of 1967, warned that ours was becoming a
racially divided and unequal nation. We write 45 years after Gunnar Myrdal
in An American Dilemma challenged Americans to bring their racial practices
into line with their ideals. Despite clear evidence of progress against each
problem, Americans face an unfinished agenda: many black Americans re-
main separated from the mainstream of national life under conditions of
great inequality. The American dilemma has not been resolved.
The new "American dilemma" that has emerged after the civil rights era
4
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
of the 1960s results from two aspirations of black Americans: equal oppor-
tunity-the removal of barriers to employment, housing, education, and
political activities-and the actual attainment of equality in Participation in
these sectors of life.
--1 ~; -- rim ~-r~~~~~
Central to the realization of these aspirations are national policies promot-
ing equality of opportunity for the most disadvantaged blacks (especially in
areas such as employment and education) and the preservation among black
people of attitudes and behaviors toward self-help and individual sacrifice
that have enabled them to benefit from such opportunities. Black-white
relations are important in determining the degree to which equal opportu-
nity exists for black Americans. Whites desire equality of treatment in social
institutions and in governmental policy; however, many whites are less likely
to espouse or practice equality of treatment for blacks in their personal
behavior. Thus, at the core of black-white relations is a dynamic tension
between many whites' expectations of ArrAerican institutions and their expec-
tations of themselves. This state of relations is a significant improvement
from 45 years ago when majorities of white people supported discrimination
against blacks in many areas of life. But the divergence between social prin-
ciple and individual practice frequently leads to white avoidance of blacks ire
those institutions in which equal treatment is most needed. The result is
that American institutions do not provide the full equality of opportunity
that An~AericarAs desire.
Foremost among the reasons for the present state of black-white relations
are two continuing consequences of the nation's long and recent history of
racial ineaualitv C)ne its the negative. ~ttit11~PC hold tr``x~orH hl~lrc earl the
-1 ~ ~ ~ e~ ~ ^~ v ^~ ~ v^~_~v CHAT BAAS
other is the actual disadvantaged conditions under which many black ArrAer-
icans live. These two consequences reinforce each other. Thus, a legacy of
discrimination and segregation continues to affect black-white relations.
In the context of American history, this continuing legacy is not surprising.
Racial and ethnic differences have had crucial effects on the course of Amer-
ican history. In particular, black Americans' central role in several constitu-
tional crises-their past status as slaves and the debates over slavery during
the Constitutional Convention of 1787; the fighting of the Civil War; the
denial of blacks' basic citizenship until the civil rights movement of the
1950s and 1960s-has frequently focused international attention on black-
white relations in the United States. In view of this history, race is likely to
retain much of its saliency as a feature of American society for some time.
Indeed, as the twenty-first century nears, demographic conditions will
increase Americans' awareness that theirs is a multiracial society. The Bureau
of the Census projects that the black population will increase from 11.7
percent of the U.S. total in 1980 to 15 percent in 2020; blacks will be nearly
1 of 5 children of school age and 1 of 6 adults of prime working age (25-
54~. Rising numbers of blacks will be represented both in influential occu-
pations and positions, and among the poor, the least educated, and the
jobless. At the same time, immigration trends are also increasing the num-
bers and proportions of Asian-Americans and Hispanics in the U.S. popula
5
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
tion. Thus, the importance of racial and ethnic minorities in general to the
nation's well-being is growing.
We can summarize our main findings on the status of blacks in America in
the late 1980s succinctly: ~
· By almost all aggregate statistical measures-incomes and living stan-
dards; health and life expectancy; educational, occupational, and residential
opportunities; political and social participation-the well-being of both blacks
and whites has advanced greatly over the past five decades.
· By almost all the same indicators, blacks remain substantially behind
whites.
Beyond this brief picture lies a more complex set of changes that affect the
relative status of black Americans:
· The greatest economic gains for blacks occurred in the 1940s and 1960s.
Since the early 1970s, the economic status of blacks relative to whites has,
on average, stagnated or deteriorated.
· The political, educational, health, and cultural statuses of blacks showed
important gains from the 1940s through the 1960s. In addition, some
important indicators continued to improve after the early 1970s.
· Among blacks, the experiences of various groups have differed, and
status differences among those groups have increased. Some blacks have
attained high-status occupations, income, education, and political positions,
but a substantial minority remain in disadvantaged circumstances.
These patterns of change have been largely determined by three factors:
· Political and social activism among black Americans and their white allies
led to changes in governmental policies; particularly important were sweep-
ing improvements in the legal status of blacks.
· Resistance to social change in race relations continues in American
society.
· Broad changes in overall economic conditions, especially the post-1973
slowdown in the nation's economic growth, have significantly affected social
and economic opportunities for all Americans.
The rest of this section explicates these main findings and their causes. The
next section presents a summary of the committee's detailed findings for the
various areas we studied. The final section presents the committee's conclu-
sions and some projections for the future.
BLACKS AN D WH ITES I N A CHANGI NG SOCI ETY
Two general developments in the status of black Americans stand out;
each is reflective of a near-identical development in the population at large.
6
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
First, for the period 1940-1973, real earnings of Americans improved stead-
ily, but they stagnated and declined after 1973. Similarly, over these same
periods, there was a clear record of improving average material status of
blacks relative to whites followed by stagnation and decline. Second, during
the post-1973 period, inequality increased among Americans as the lowest
income and least skilled people were hurt most by changes in the overall
economy. Similarly, there were increasing differences in material well-being
and opportunities among blacks, and they have been extremely pronounced.
These developments may be understood as consequences of four interde-
pendent events that have altered the status of blacks, relative black-white
status, and race relations in the United States. These events were the urban-
ization and northern movement of the black population from 1940 to 1970;
the civil rights movement that forced the nation to open its major institu-
tions to black participation during the same three decades; the unprece-
dented high and sustained rate of national economic growth for roughly the
same period; and the significant slowdown in the U.S. economy since the
early 1970s.
The civil rights movement, blacks' more proximate location near centers
of industrial activity, and high economic growth enabled those blacks best
prepared to take advantage of new opportunities to respond with initiative
and success. Increases in educational opportunities were seized by many
blacks who were then able to translate better educations into higher status
occupations than most blacks had ever enjoyed. Black incomes and earnings
rose generally, with many individuals and families reaching middle-class and
even upper middle income status (Chapter 6~. The new black middle class
moved into better housing, frequently in the suburbs, and sometimes in
desegregated neighborhoods. Despite much confrontation between whites
and blacks as blacks abandoned traditional approaches to black-white rela-
tions, race relations eventually advanced closer to equal treatment.
At the same time, many blacks were not able to take advantage of the new
conditions that developed: some were still located in areas relatively un-
touched by the changes; some lacked the family support networks to provide
assistance; for some, better opportunities simply did not arise. Those who
were left behind during the 1960s and 1970s faced and still face very different
situations than poor blacks immediately before that period.
A major reason is the performance of the economy. Real weekly earnings
(in constant 1984 dollars) of all American men, on average, fell from $488
in 1969 to $414 in 1984; real weekly earnings of women fell from $266 in
1969 to $230 in 1984. For the first time since the Great Depression of the
1930s, American men born in one year (e.g., 1960) may face lower lifetime
real earnings than men born 10 years earlier (Chapter 1~. Among the myriad
and complex responses to these economic conditions have been rising em-
ployment rates among women, but falling rates among men, while the
unemployment rates of both men and women have been on an upward
trend for three decades (Chapter 6~.
A generation ago, a low-skilled man had relatively abundant opportunity
7
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
to obtain a blue-collar job with a wage adequate to support a family at a
lower middle class level or better. Today the jobs available to such men-
and women-are often below or just barely above the official poverty line for
a family of four. For example, black males aged 25-34, with some high
school but no diploma, earned on average $268 weekly in 1986; in 1969,
black male dropouts of that age had averaged $334 weekly (in constant 1984
dollars). For white men of the same age and education, work conditions
have been better, but changes over time cannot be said to have been good:
in the years 1969 and 1986, mean weekly earnings were $4~47 and $381.
Thus, among men who did not complete high school, blacks and whites
had lower real earnings in 1986 than in 1969.
Obtaining a well-paying job increasingly requires a good education or a
specific skill. Many young blacks and whites do not obtain such training,
and the educational system in many locations is apparently not equipped to
provide them. Recent reports on the state of American education sound
great alarm about the future status of today's students. One in six youths
dropped out of high school in 1985, and levels of scholastic achievement are
disturbingly low by many measures. Young men with poor credentials,
finding themselves facing low-wage job offers and high unemployment rates,
frequently abandon the labor force intermittently or completely. Some
choose criminal activity as an alternative to the labor market.
Greater numbers of people are today susceptible to poverty than in the
recent past. With some year-to-year variation, the percentage of Americans
living in poverty has been on an upward trend: from 11.2 percent in 1974
to 13.5 percent in 1986. In addition, the poor may be getting poorer in the
1980s: the average poor family has persistently had a yearly income further
below the poverty line than any year since 1963.
More and more of the poor are working family heads, men and women
who are employed or seeking employment but who cannot find a job that
pays enough to prevent their families from sliding into or near poverty. For
the more fortunate, reasonably secure from the fear of poverty, such middle-
class advantages as a home in the suburbs and the ability to send their
children to the best college for which they quatii are goals that were reached
by their parents but may be unattainable for many of them.
Perhaps the most important consequences of the stagnating U.S. economy
have been the effects on the status of children. Many members of the next
generation of young adults live in conditions ill suited to prepare them to
contribute to the nation's future. In 1987, 1 of 5 (20 percent) American
children under age 18-white, black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian-
Arnerican-were being raised in families with incomes below official poverty
standards. Among minorities the conditions were worse: for example, 45
percent of black children and 39 percent of Hispanic children were living in
poverty. During the 1970s, approximately 2 of every 3 black children could
expect to live in poverty for at least 1 of the first 10 years of their childhood,
while an astounding 1 of 3 could expect at least 7 of those 10 years to be
lived in poverty.
8
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
We cannot emphasize too much the gravity of the fact that in any given
year more than two-fifths of all black children live under conditions of
poverty as the 1980s draw to a close. As fertility rates decrease, the total
youth population of the United States will contain a larger proportion of
comparatively disadvantaged youths from minority ethnic and racial groups.
This change may in turn lead to major changes in labor markets, childbear-
ing, the armed forces, and education.
Under conditions of increasing economic hardship for the least prosperous
members of society, blacks, because of their special legacy of poverty and
discrimination, are afflicted sooner, more deeply, and longer. But the signs
of distress that are most visible in parts of the black population are becoming
more discernible within the entire population. This distress should be viewed
in the context of the underlying changes within American society that affect
not only black-white differences, but all disadvantaged blacks and whites
who face the difficult economic conditions of the late 1980s.
DETERMI NANTS OF BLACK STATUS
One major determinant of black status has been noted in the previous
sections: the stagnation of the U.S. economy since 1973, which has partic-
ularly hurt lower class blacks. In this section we note two other determi-
nants: organizational and individual resistance to change, intended and oth-
erwise, that has erected and maintained barriers to black opportunities; and
the policies of governments and private organizations aimed at improving
blacks' position, which have resulted in large measure from black activism,
initiative, and self-identity.
Barriers and disadvantages persist in blocking black advancement. Three
such barriers to full opportunity for black Americans are residential segrega-
tion, continuance of diffuse and often indirect discrimination, and exclusion
from social networks essential for full access to economic and educational
opportunities (Chapters 2-7~. These barriers also existed for blacks who
overcame them in earlier decades, but those successes were achieved in an
economy that was growing rapidly and providing good wage opportunities
even to low-skilled and less educated job seekers. In the 1960s, blacks
seeking to help themselves also were benefited by a society more willing to
expend energy and resources toward improving opportunities for the poor
. . .
anc mmontles.
The past five decades have shown that purposeful actions and policies by
governments and private institutions make a large difference in the oppor-
tunities and conditions of black Americans. Such purposeful actions and
policies have been essential for past progress, and further progress is unlikely
without them. Many blacks attained middle-class status because government
and private programs enabled them to achieve better educations and jobs,
through employment and education programs and government enforcement
of equal employment opportunity (Chapters 5-8~.
Black initiative and identity have increasingly played primary roles in bring
9
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
ing about changes in government and private institutions and improvements
in blacks' economic, social, and political status. This is of course evident in
blacks' leadership of the civil rights movement and in their response to
industrial opportunity during the great rural-to-urban migration of 1940-
1970. But it is also evident in the strivings of individuals to finish high
school or attain higher education; to enter a predominantly white factory,
secretarial pool, or corporate law office; or to desegregate an entire institu-
tion, such as a professional sport, military combat corps, or legislative body
(Chapters 2 and 4~.
Many blacks who have not succeeded live in environments in which social
conditions and individual behavioral patterns are often detrimental to self-
improvement. Such behaviors may be natural responses to group conditions
and social forces perceived as beyond personal control. One-half of black
families with children must manage their affairs with only one parent-almost
always a mother. These families are overwhelmingly poor (59 percent were
below the poverty line in 1987), have high rates of dependence on family
assistance benefits, and live in areas with a high percentage of families in
similar circumstances (Chapters 6 and 10~.
Why do such behaviors and conditions persist? There are no simple an-
swers to this crucial question and no answers that can be validated as scien-
tific findings. We can say, however, that the evidence does not support some
popular hypotheses that purport to explain female-headed households, high
birth rates to unmarried women, low labor force participation by males, or
poor academic performance solely on the basis of government support pro-
grams or, more generally, on the existence of a "culture of poverty" among
the black poor. Black-white cultural differences have narrowed since 1960,
not widened (Chapters 2 - and 10~.
Our analysis of the problem does identify a number of important contrib-
utory factors. Discrimination plays an important role in the lives of many
blacks, and even in the absence of discrimination the opportunities of many
blacks are limited. Black youths in poor environments probably anticipate
little payoff from working for academic achievement and may underestimate
their opportunities. Those in poorly staffed, dilapidated schools populated
with underachieving students can easily fall into the trap of perceiving the
pursuit of academic excellence as a poor investment (Chapter 7~. Inequalities
in economic status to a large extent cause and interact with other status
features to maintain overall black-white differences in status. Consequently,
status gaps between blacks and whites will remain as long as blacks' economic
status lags behind that of whites. For example, differences in black-white
voting patterns result from persistent economic and social inequalities that
impede electoral participation regardless of race; individual blacks now par-
ticipate as much or more than whites of comparable socioeconomic status
(Chapter 5~. Similarly, differences in socioeconomic status account for the
entire black-white difference in high school dropout rates (Chapter 7~. In
health, differences in black and white infant mortality are similarly linked to
differences in economic status (Chapter 8~. In the criminal justice system,
10
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
much of the differential sentencing of blacks and whites can be attributed to
differences between sentences for defendants of higher and lower economic
status (Chapter 9~.
Yet the status of blacks is determined by the presence of both racial
stratification and class (position within the socioeconomic structure of soci-
ety). Changes in black-white relations and social opportunities do not affect
blacks of different status in similar ways. For example, because of higher
geographic concentrations of poor households among blacks, segregated res-
idential areas affect the quality of schools and medical care available to low-
income blacks more than they affect the availability of these resources to
higher income blacks or low-income whites. And we have already noted that
changes in the national economy have had particularly negative effects on
lower status Americans, white and black. But changes have been most det-
rimental to the fortunes of blacks, and opportunities were curtailed most for
blacks of lowest status (Chapter 6~.
A RECORD OF THE STATUS OF
BLACK AMERICANS
This section presents the committee's detailed findings on the status of
black Americans. The presentation follows the topical approach of the ma-
terial in Chapters 2-10 of the report.
ATTITUDES, PARTICI PATION, I DENTITY, AN D I NSTITUTIONS
Large majorities of blacks and whites accept the principles of equal access
to public institutions and equal treatment in race relations. For whites this
is the result of a long upward trend from a low base in the 1940s; blacks
have favored equality since survey data have been collected. Yet there remain
important signs of continuing resistance to full equality of black Americans.
Principles of equality are endorsed less when they would result in close,
frequent, or prolonged social contact, and whites are much less prone to
endorse policies meant to implement equal participation of blacks in impor-
tant social institutions. In practice, many whites refuse or are reluctant to
participate in social settings (e.g., neighborhoods and schools) in which
significant numbers of blacks are present; see Figures S-1, S-2, and S-3.
Whether one considers arts and entertainment, religious institutions, pub-
lic schools, or a number of other major institutions, black participation has
increased significantly since 1940 and since 1960. Yet increased black partic-
ipation has not produced substantial integration. An exception is the U.S.
Army, where a true modicum of integration-significant numerical partici-
pation on terms of equal treatment-has been accomplished. The other three
military services, although generally ahead of the civilian sector, have not
attained the level of equality found in the Army. Although large-scale deseg-
regation of public schools occurred in the South during the late 1960s and
early 1970s- and has been substantial in many small and medium-sized cities
11
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
FIGURE S-16 Annual number of
, . . . . . .
pHySlClaI1 VlSltS per capita, oy race.
6
5
4
m
Z 2
1
_
~ Black
_
_ J Wllite
o
. ~
1964 1975 1985
YEAR
FIGURE S-17 Black physicians.
14
`,, 1 2
10
oh
0 c)
~0
a: ~
m
4
in
2
o
. 1
1940 1970 1980
YEAR
cause ill-timed pregnancy or risk infection with sexually transmitted diseases.
Slowing the transmission rate of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome
(AIDS) in the black community is critical. This will require preventive strat-
egies tailored to the special needs of intravenous drug users and other groups
at high risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Risky be-
havior is an increasing health problem among young blacks: for example, the
homicide rate is more than 6 times higher for black men than for white men.
In adulthood, the cumulative effects of health disadvantages and delaying
medical visits until conditions are serious predispose black adults to higher
incidences of chronic illness and disability. Preventive health services as well
as assured continuity in management of chronic health conditions would
reduce deaths and disability. Poverty and limited bed capacity in care centers,
combined with discrimination, pose special problems of access to long-term
health care for elderly blacks.
CRIME AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Among black Americans, distrust of the criminal justice system is wide-
spread. Historically, discrimination against blacks in arrests and sentencing
was ubiquitous. Prior to the 1970s, very few blacks were employed as law
enforcement officials, but in the 1980s, the percentage of blacks in police
forces has increased to substantial levels. Black representation among attor-
neys and judges has also increased, although it is not as high as that in the
police.
Blacks are arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for criminal offenses at rates
much higher than are whites. Currently, blacks account for nearly one-half
22
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
of all prison inmates in the United States; thus, blacks' representation in
prisons is about 4 times their representation in the general population.
Compared with the total population, black Americans are disproportionately
victims of crime: they are twice as likely to be victims of robbery, vehicle
theft, and aggravated assault, and 6 to 7 times as likely to be victims of
homicide, the leading cause of death among young black males. Blacks also
suffer disproportionately from injuries and economic losses due to criminal
actions.
Most black offenders victimize other blacks. But offenders and victims are
often in different socioeconomic strata: most offenders are poor; many vic-
tims are not. Consequently, middle-income and near-poor blacks have greater
economic losses due to criminal acts than the black poor or than whites at
any income level.
The role of discrimination in criminal justice has apparently varied substan-
tially from place to place and over time. Some part of the unexplained
differences in black-white arrest rates may be due to racial bias and the
resulting differential treatment. Current black-white differences in sentencing
appear to be due less to overt racial bias than to socioeconomic differences
between blacks and whites: people of lower socioeconomic status-regardless
of race-receive more severe sentences than people of higher status. An
important exception may be bias in sentencing that is related to the race of
the victim: criminals whose victims are white are on average punished more
severely than those whose victims are black.
As long as there are great disparities in the socioeconomic status of blacks
and whites, blacks will continue to be overrepresented in the criminal jus-
tice system as victims and offenders. And because of these disparities, the pre-
cise degree to which the overrepresentation reflects racial bias cannot be
determined.
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Changes since the mid-1960s among both blacks and whites have brought
higher rates of marital breakup, decreased rates of marriage, rapidly rising
proportions of female-headed households, and increasing proportions of
children being reared in single-parent families. The changes have been much
greater among blacks than among whites. Some characteristics of families are
shown in Figures S-18, S-l9, and S-20.
Birthrates for both the white and black populations have fallen since the
baby boom of the 1950s, and fertility rates have declined for women of all
ages. By the mid-1980s, the lifetime fertility rates were similar for black and
white women. Contrary to popular myth, birthrates among black teen-
agers-although still an important problem-have declined significantly dur-
ing the past two decades.
In 1970, about 18 percent of black families had incomes over $35,000
(1987 constant dollars); by 1986 this proportion had grown to 22 percent.
The increase in well-to-do families was matched by an increase in low-income
23
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
FIGURE S-18 Children in poverty,
by race.
70
60
50
By
lL
LU
40
30
20
10
o
FIGURE S-19 Median family
income, by race.
1
1
n Black
O White
1959 1 969
YEAR
_
1
35
30
1~
co 25
LL] ~
20
Z ° 15
_ ~
Dig
10
~O _ ~
1984 1 950
o
Black
O White '~
1970 1 985
YEAR
Note: Median family income is calculated
in 1985 constant dollars.
_
l _
1 l
........
... ~
FIGURE S-20 Childless women aged
20-24, by race.
80 ~ ~
Black
70 _ r O White
10 _ 1
a...
1940 1970 1982
YEAR
24
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
families. During the same 1970-1980 period, the proportion of black fami-
lies with incomes of less than $10,000 grew from about 26 to 30 percent.
After declining during earlier decades, the percentage of black and white
children in poverty began to increase in the 1970s. In 1986, 43 percent of
black children and 16 percent of white children under age 18 lived in
households below the poverty line.
Black and white children are increasingly different with regard to their
living arrangements. As we noted above, a majority of black children under
age 18 live in families that include their mothers but not their fathers; in
contrast, four of every five white children live with both parents. (Although
some fathers who are not counted as household members may actually aid
in child rearing, there are no data to estimate the number, and it is believed
to be small.) In the course of their childhood, 86 percent of black children
and 42 percent of white children are likely to spared some time in a single-
parent household.
The greater inequality between family types among blacks has important
consequences for the welfare of future generations. Black female-headed
families were 50 percent of all black families with children in 1985, but had
25 percent of total black family income, while 70 percent of black family
income was received by black husband-wife families.
The data and analyses we have examined throw doubt on the validity of
the thesis that a culture of poverty is a major cause of long-term poverty.
Although cultural factors are important in social behavior, arguments for the
existence of unalterable behaviors among the poor are not supported by
empirical research. The behaviors that are detrimental to success are often
responses to existing social barriers to opportunity. The primary correlates of
poverty are macroeconomic conditions of prosperity or recession and changes
in family composition. However, increases in female-headed families have
had only negligible effects on increasing black poverty rates since the mid-
1970s. Importantly, attitudes toward work and the desire to succeed are not
very different among the poor and the nonpoor.
Black-white differences in family structures result from a complex set of
interrelated factors. The most salient are black-white differences in income
and employment, greater (relative) economic independence of black women,
and a more limited pool of black men who are good marriage prospects.
THE FUTURE:
ALTERNATIVES AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
BLACKS'STATUS IN THE NEAR FUTURE
In assessing the status of black Americans, we have asked what roles blacks
play in the nation today and what role they are likely to play in the near
future. Our conclusion is largely positive, but it is mixed. The great majority
of black Americans contribute to the political, economic, and social health
25
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
of the nation. The typical black adult-like the typical white adult-is a full-
time employee or homemaker who pays taxes, votes in public elections, and
sends children to school. Blacks make important contributions to all forms
of American life, from the sciences and health care, to politics and education,
to arts and entertainment.
However, this role is not available to a sizable minority of black-and of a
small but growing group of white-Americans. The evidence for this assess-
ment is clear. High school dropout rates among young black adults have
risen, and attaining high standards of academic competence seems unavaila-
ble to millions of poor black youths attending school systems that are not
able to teach them. During the 1980s, thousands of young black men who
were not enrolled in school have also not been active participants in the
labor market. Many of these men are incarcerated or have dropped out of
society into the escape offered by alcohol and drug addiction. And, on the
basis of the fertility rates of 1986, 170 of 1,000 black females become
mothers before the age of 20, often disrupting or discontinuing their second-
ary educations. These young mothers are likely to be poor as they establish
households, and they will frequently have to receive family assistance bene-
fits. These alarming developments are mirrored by similar, if more modest,
trends among whites.
Barring unforeseen events or changes in present conditions-that is, no
changes in educational policies and opportunities, no increased income and
employment opportunities, and no major national programs to deal directly
with the problems of economic dependency-our findings imply several
negative developments for blacks in the near future, developments that in
turn do not bode well for American society:
· A substanua1 majority of black Americans will remain contributors to
the nation, but improvements in their status relative to whites are likely to
slow even more as the rate of increase of the black middle class is likely to
decline.
· Approximately one-third of the black population will continue to be
poor, and the relative employment and earnings status of black men is likely
to deteriorate further.
· Drugs and crime, teenage parenthood, poor educanona1 opportunities,
and joblessness will maintain their grip on large numbers of poor and near-
poor blacks.
· High rates of residential segregation between blacks and whites will
continue.
· The United States is faced with the prospect of continued great inequal-
ity between whites and blacks and a continuing division of social status
within the black population.
· A growing population of poor and undereducated citizens, dispropor-
tionately black and minority, will pose challenges to the nanon's abilities to
solve the emerging economic and social problems of the twenty-first century.
These short-term projections emerge as important implications of our as
26
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
sessment of the status of black Americans and of black-white relations since
1940. They are especially crucial to the future well-being of the United
States, as a common destiny continues to connect black and other Arneri-
cans. Throughout the five decades covered by this report, all Americans have
been affected by the same general social processes: technological change,
national and international economic developments, and large population
movements. Generally, when conditions have been improving for blacks,
they have been improving for the entire population. Yet while the same
general factors affect all Americans in similar ways, blacks-who as a group
still carry many of the effects of systematic discrimination and segregation-
are especially sensitive both to changes in the national economy and to
changes in public policies.
RESIDENTIAL SEGREGATION
Time alone does not resolve America's racial problems. When the status
of blacks has improved, it has not been simply because time has passed. Two
reasons for the continuing exclusion of many blacks from the economic
mainstream are persisting discriminatory barriers and the residential concen-
tration of poor blacks. It is therefore appropriate to consider the future
prospects for reducing current levels of black residential separation.
Black-white residential segregation declined more in the 1970s than in
Previous decades. necnite thP..CP chronic h~`x~P`TPr 1P`7P1C ^{hl~rlr_~`rh;~^ o^`r_
1 ~ ~_~ CAM ~ _^ ~ A_ ~ _~ ~ ~ VIA V ~11~ O~5
_ _ . ~ ~ ~ ~
Legation remain very high. (considering the 16 metropolitan areas that had
the largest black populations in 1980 and using an index for which 100
means all blacks and all whites live in distinct racially homogeneous neigh-
borhoods and zero if all people are randomly distributed, the average index
value for black-white residential segregation was about 80. This reflects a
drop of about 6 points, on average, from the segregation level of 1970. In
contrast, one can compare the indices for Hispanic and Asian-Americans,
who entered many metropolitan areas in large numbers during the 1970s.
One might expect them to be highly segregated from whites, but their
segregation indices average about 45 points. If the historically high 1970s
pace of reduction in black-white segregation were to persist, it would take
about 60 years for the black-white index to fall to the values currently
observed for Hispanic and Asian-Americans.
INCOME AN D POVERTY
Between 1940 and 1974, poverty as officially measured by cash income
declined sharply. The percentage of blacks living in poor households fell
from 92 percent in 1939 to 30 percent in 1974; among whites, the change
was from 65 to 9 percent. If that trend had continued, the percentage of
poor people in the year 2000 would be about 1 percent among whites and
27
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
9 percent among blacks. However, the trends toward lower poverty rates
came to an end in the early 1970s; since 1974 rates have stagnated or even
increased. If the post-1974 trend is extrapolated to the year 2000, the
poverty rate among blacks will be about 32 percent and the rate among
whites about 15 percent. These are approximately the rates of the late 1960s.
Of course such predictions are tentative, since economic conditions or gov-
ernment policies could change.
A similar picture results from the projection of current trends in the
incomes of black families vis-a-vis those of white families. When the Bureau
of the Census first measured family incomes in 1947, blacks' median incomes
were 51 percent of whites'. During the years of economic expansion and
civil rights legislation, the status of blacks improved: by 1974, the median
income of black families was 62 percent that of white families. A projection
of 1947-1974 trends to the year 2000 shows black families with median
income about 70 percent of whites. But in fact the median income of black
families has not gone up quite as rapidly as that of whites in the past 15
years. Projection of the 1974-1986 trend implies that in the year 2000, the
median income of black families would be 54 percent of those of white
families-the same as that in 1960.
During the decades from the 1940s through the 1970s, the hourly wage
rates and annual earnings of employed black men rose more rapidly than
those of white men. Between 1960 and 1980, the relative annual earnings
of black men increased from 49 percent of those of white men to 64 percent.
With respect to the relative annual earnings of men aged 25-64, the trend
of improvement ended in the 1980s. Between 1960 and 1980, the black/
white ratio rose from 49 to 64 percent, but it then fell back to 62 percent
by 1987. This reversal arose from an increasing black-white difference in
hours of employment. In 1960, black men averaged annually about 8 fewer
hours of work per week than white men; this difference declined to about 5
hours per week in 1980, but it then moved up to 7 hours in 1987. If these
trends continue to the year 2000, the decrease in black men's employment
will offset their gains in hourly wage rates, and the average annual earnings
of black men will be 58 percent those of white men, the level observed in
the early 1970s.
POLICY ALTERNATIVES
It was not part of the mandate of this committee to make specific recom-
mendations for public policy. It is, however, an implication of our analyses
that such rapid progress as that attained by black Americans in the 1960s
~11 not be attainable in the immediate future without both public and
private programs to increase opportunities and to reduce race-connected
constraints and disadvantages. On the basis of the findings and analyses of
this study, we have identified four areas of national life in which there are
major options for constructive social policies to improve opportunities for
28
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
disadvantaged Americans and especially to reduce impediments to black
advancement:
· Provision of education, health care, and other services to enhance peo-
ple's skills and productive capabilities;
· Facilitation of national economic growth and full employment;
· Reduction of discrimination and involuntary segregation; and
· Development and reform of income-maintenance and other family assis-
tance social welfare programs to avoid long-term poverty.
Each type of policy contains many complex possibilities. Feasible alternatives
necessarily must be developed through the political processes by which col-
lective decisions are made. Here we wish only to note some salient options.
Several specific policy interventions have been effective in promoting black
advancement and greater opportunities for all Americans. Most successful
have been employment and training programs such as the Job Corps; early
intervention and other compensatory education programs such as Head
Start; governmental financial aid for postsecondary education; increased ac-
cess to health care, particularly for pre- and postnatal clinical service for low-
income women; and greater health insurance coverage for all poor and near-
poor people. These specific policy interventions have been shown to work
and to be beneficial to the nation. Improvements in program design are
surely possible and should be given the highest priority by policy makers and
practitioners.
The one issue that stands out above all others in this study is that of
bringing the black population into gal 1 full employment. This is a major
task for public policy. Economic opportunity alone will not solve all prob-
lems, of course, but it is the essential ground for other constructive devel-
opments. All the evidence reviewed in this report points to the central
importance of jobs for men and women at pay levels that permit families to
live above the poverty line.
Macroeconomic growth and reduced joblessness create favorable condi-
tions, but they do not remove some crucial barriers that exist for blacks.
Improvement depends also on active promotion and vigorous enforcement
of antidiscrimination laws and administrative measures to reduce discrimina-
tion in employment, education, and housing. Carefully designed programs
intended to increase black participation in social institutions can be useful in
counteracting the persisting effects of past exclusion, discrimination, and
segregation. Both the removal of barriers and compensatory programs are
needed for full equality of opportunity. Persistent segregation in neighbor-
hoods and schools, for example, are barriers to equal opportunity, and they
cannot be ameliorated without large-scale efforts-national, state, and local.
Economic growth and removal of barriers create many opportunities. To
take advantage of such opportunities, however, black Americans must fur-
ther develop their education, skills, health, and other "human capital." The
efforts of individuals and of voluntary associations and groups are likely to
1
29
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
increase in the near term. But these efforts can be fully effective only when
public programs provide access to job training and education for children
and youths from low-income families. The decreases in black college enroll-
ment in the late 1970s and 1980s that followed reductions in federal financial
aid to students attest to the importance of such support.
This brings us to the fourth type of social policy on our list: policies to
reduce extreme and long-term poverty. Income-maintenance and family as-
sistance programs have developed to meet residual problems not solved by
general economic growth and equal opportunity measures. For example,
although better education and job training programs have a potential for
helping to place workers into available jobs, they will not overcome all the
barriers that keep many single mothers and men out of the labor force.
Furthermore, the provision of employment is not enough, by itself, to
raise all families out of poverty. Three-fourths of recipients of family assis-
tance and other benefits are unable to find work at wages sufficient to
produce incomes above the poverty level even if they worked yearlong at
full-time jobs. To reduce the extreme poverty of such families-primarily
mothers and children in female-headed households-thus requires supple-
mentary programs and changes in tax policies and child support programs.)
Programs specifically aimed at the reduction of poverty may take two
contrasting approaches: a single comprehensive program such as the negative
income tax or a set of programs directed to different categories of individuals
n(1 f~mili~c such as child allowances, Social Security for the aged, special
aid for the ill and disabled, and so on. The latter approach characterizes the
present situation in the United States. Although this diversity is often criti-
cized, plausible arguments can be advanced that the more differentiated
approach can be made both more efficient and politically feasible.
_ ~ ~ ,
BLACK PERSPECTIVES
The historical record of black people in America shows a persisting tension
between the goals of social separation from whites and inclusion within the
broader society. This tension differs from-although it has some similarities
to-the tension between cultural assimilation and pluralism among groups of
different national origins. Black Americans have long debated the merits of
integrated participation with whites as opposed to the development of au-
tonomous organizations and communities.
In the past, segregation and discrimination helped to create strong currents
of so-called "black nationalism," illustrated in separatist politics as well as in
cultural autonomy movements (Chapters 3-5~. But blacks' political and
economic interdependence with white Americans is very great and is grow-
ing. Our data show that black separatism is not a dominant orientation. The
likelihood appears low that separatism will be important in the near fixture,
1. The Family Support Act of 1988 was passed by Congress late in the year, and we were not
able to assess its likely effects.
30
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
with the exception of some use of separatist ideology in political debate. Yet
there is much evidence that racial identities and interests are likely to remain
significant in political affairs, and in public life generally, for the foreseeable
future. We do not find convincing evidence that such identities and interests
. . . .. . .
are c ~m~msh~ng in importance.
Full assimilation of blacks in a "color-blind" society is unlikely in any
foreseeable future. Existing social and economic separation, very low rates of
intermarriage, and group preferences and images ensure the continued exis-
tence of distinct racial groups. It does not mean a continuation of discrimi-
nation in public life, but it does mean that black Americans will claim
acceptance and equality on their own terms. Although a "color-blind"
society is not foreseen, integrated participation in public affairs is becoming
more acceptable. Indeed, political and civic coalitions and joint collective
activities are now common. As shown in Chapters 4 and 5, a high degree of
cooperation and coalition between blacks and whites has been and is now
important on selective issues of legislative and administrative politics. Coali-
tions with other racial and ethnic minorities will likely grow in importance
as such minorities become an increasing proportion of the total citizenry.
We cannot exclude the possibility of confrontation and violence. The
urban revolts and civil disorders of the 1960s and later are still vividly present
in memory; the 1980s had barely begun when blacks in Miami exploded in
anger and dissatisfaction. The ingredients are there: large populations of
jobless youths, an extensive sense of relative deprivation and injustice, dis-
trust of the legal system, frequently abrasive police-community relations,
highly visible inequalities, extreme concentrations of poverty, and great racial
awareness. Such conditions sometimes produce apathy when disadvantaged
persons feel that their situation is hopeless. But the surface calm can disap-
pear very quickly. A specific source of possible social turbulence is wide-
spread dissatisfaction with the operation of the criminal justice system, which
is evident among black Americans. The allegations of bias are two sided: that
law enforcement officials, judicial proceedings, and the correctional system
treat blacks with undue harshness, and that the system is too lenient with
whites who commit criminal offenses against blacks. Given the high likeli-
hood that young urban males, blacks and whites, will continue on occasion
to find themselves in confrontational situations, and given the continuing
high incidence of street crime, it is realistic to expect future episodes of racial
violence, followed by concentrated pressures on legal and correctional insti-
tutions to deal with alleged racial bias.
CONCLUSION
After our intensive review, the committee has a concluding reflection on
the wider implications of the findings. We believe it is consistent with the
research data and the best available historical understandings of how Ameri
. ,~ .
can society functions.
31
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
Every society to survive has to adapt to its environment and maintain its
resources over time. It must cope with the basic economic problem-the
efficient allocation of scarce resources-as well as with its external relations to
other societies. Every society must also develop practical arrangements for
the internal distribution of power, economic goods, and social prestige and
respect. Finally, societies over the long term must safeguard their own legit-
imacy and historical meaning. These latter tasks of social integration and
cultural maintenance tend to be discounted and neglected in a task-oriented
society that focuses attention on short-run payoffs. In the United States of
the coming decades, any agenda for these basic needs will have to give high
priority to dealing with the fissures that have been created by the history of
relations among black and white Americans. Our review leads us to believe
that now is an appropriate time for a serious national effort to grasp the
means at hand to accomplish this vital assignment.
32
Representative terms from entire chapter:
civil rights
