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OCR for page 33
l
OVERVI EW:
THEN AND NOW
OCR for page 34
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Gift of the Harmon Foundation
OCR for page 35
In 1940, one-tenth of the U.S. pop-
ulation, 13 million black Americans, were almost completely excluded from
the political system, confined to the least prosperous sectors of the economy,
and geographically and socially segregated. One-half of all blacks lived in the
rural South, and another one-fourth lived elsewhere in the South. Among
blacks of voting age in the South, fewer than 1 in 20 were registered to vote.
Blacks of working age were overwhelmingly concentrated in agriculture and
domestic service. For all blacks, their expected life span of 54 years was very
short by modern standards.
By 1985, the nation's 30 million blacks constituted one-eighth of the U.S.
population, and enormous changes had occurred in their geographic, eco-
nomic, political, and health status. Blacks were geographically dispersed
regionally, although many were concentrated in inner cities under conditions
of high unemployment and poverty. Agriculture was an insignificant em-
ployer of blacks; although disproportionately concentrated in lower paying
jobs, blacks were generally dispersed throughout American industry, some
In presu~ous occupations. Only a little more than 1 percent of all elected
officials were black, but 63 percent of the nation's 6,000 black officials had
been elected in the South. The life expectancy of blacks was 70 years.
During the span of these four and one-half decades, five major events
transformed race relations in America. First and most fundamental, three
decades of South-North and rural-urban migration by the black population
produced conditions leading to profound changes in blacks' social status.
Second, concurrent with this migration, the civil rights revolution moved
blacks toward full citizenship rights; perhaps more than any single event,
35
OCR for page 36
A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
this revolution produced important changes in the nation's political and
educational institutions. Third, during World War II and for 25 years after-
ward, the U.S. economy grew at an unprecedented high and sustained rate;
this sustained economic growth facilitated efforts to improve blacks' status
throughout society. Fourth, during the early 1970s, the rate of economic
growth slowed, just as 30 years of black migration came to a halt. Subse-
quently, improvement in the status of blacks was significantly slowed. The
fifth event, like the first, was demographic. Rapid changes in the family
living arrangements of children, beginning in the 1960s, have split most of
the black population into two groups: those living in families with one adult
head-overwhelmingly poor-and those living in families with two adult
heads-largely middle income.
The above major events dramatically altered American society. The social
changes that have most affected the lives of blacks have invariably been
directly or indirectly due to underlying conditions that have had important
effects for all Americans. Thus, a great urbanization and suburbanization of
the entire American population accompanied black migration; the civil rights
movement revolutionized American institutions, not just black ones; chang-
ing economic conditions have affected the well-being of all Americans; and
while changes in family composition have not been nearly as significant
among whites as among blacks, general changes in family structure have been
consequential and in similar directions.
To an extent not always fully appreciated, social and material changes for
black Americans have usually followed from conditions that have had impor-
tant effects on all Americans. Gains for blacks often lag behind gains for
other groups when social conditions improve, and blacks frequently suffer
losses first when conditions worsen. Thus, while blacks may be gaining or
losing relative to whites during any particular period, the absolute status of
both groups has usually been moving in a similar direction. Improvements
in the health and educational status of white Americans during the 1940s
and 1950s were followed by improvements among blacks. Now that increas-
ing poverty rates in the United States may indicate greater material stratifi-
cation among Americans, it is not surprising that greater inequality among
blacks is occurring and that many blacks appear to be stuck in a cycle of
poverty. In these senses, blacks and all Americans living in this vast society
face a common destiny.
CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN
BLACK-WHITE STATUS SINCE 1940
It is difficult for Americans who are too young to recall World War II to
imagine the status of black Americans in 1940-the baseline year for this
report-or to visualize the state of black-white relations as the decade of the
Great Depression had just ended. In 1940, when it was about to engage in
a great war against nations advocating racism, the United States was itself a
36
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OVERVI EW: THEN AN D NOW
society in which racial inequalities were enormous, and black people were
essentially excluded from political power and from full participation in public
facilities and community life. The black population of the United States,
even after large migrations to the North, was still concentrated in the South:
some 77 percent lived in 13 southern states. The majority of black people,
51 percent nationally, were in rural areas. Although their education had
been increasing, blacks on average received far less schooling than whites,
and black pupils attended segregated schools in all southern states and in
most northern ones. The incomes of blacks in 1939 were just 39 percent of
those of whites. Racial discrimination and segregation were pervasive, rigid,
and institutionalized in law and practice. In the South, blacks were almost
totally without political voice.
These conditions and changes over time can be described by comparing
the status of all blacks born in a given year (a birth cohort) to the status of
black cohorts born at successive 10-year intervals. Using a few general mea-
sures-expected life span, electoral participation, educational attainment, and
lifetime earnings-we describe the comparative status of several cohorts at
age 25.
In general, significant improvements have occurred for all cohorts born in
1914 through 1959. For both blacks and whites, the quality of life, as
measured by those indices, has improved appreciably. This improvement is
true both in absolute terms-blacks born 30 years ago fare much better than
did blacks born 75 years ago-and in relative terms-blacks born 30 years ago
also compare more favorably with whites of their age than blacks born 75
years ago compare with whites of their age.
In addition to overall comparisons, comparing 10-year birth cohorts allows
us to examine how uniform or disparate improvement has been over time.
Here the picture presented is less favorable than that suggested by a simple
comparison of the first (1914) and last (1959) birth cohorts. Improvement
has been much more impressive for cohorts born in the early to middle part
of the period than for those born most recently. And in one important
measure of status, expected lifetime earnings of men, the earlier trend of
increasing status across cohorts has recently been reversed.
THE BASELI N E COHORT
Black Americans who were 25 years old in 1939 were born into a society
very different from the nation we know in the 1980s. Blacks born in 1914
were in many cases no more than two or three generations removed from
slavery. The consequences of this fact still loomed large in their lives and the
lives of their future children. American slaves had been overwhelmingly a
southern agricultural people, and in 1914 almost 9 of every 10 black Arner-
icans lived in a southern state, and more than 6 of them were in rural areas;
among white Americans, the corresponding numbers were 1 of 4 and 4
of to.
This highly rural society had significant. implications for life prospects. The
37
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
FIGURE l-l High school graduates aged 25, by race.
90
60
LL
30
o
, .
Black
White
-.....
...........
1914 1924 1934 1944 1954 1959
DATE OF BIRTH
Source: Data from decennial censuses and Current Population Surveys.
FIGURE 1-2 College graduates aged 25, by race.
25
20
15
5
Black
r ~ White
...........
1914 1924 1934 1944 1954
DATE OF BIRTH
Source: Data from decennial censuses and Current Population Surveys.
38
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OVERVIEW: THEN AND NOW
FIGURE 1-3 Median lifetime earnings of men abler age 25, by race.
1 ,000,000
800,000
600,000
3
o
400,000
200,000
~ White
1914 1924 1934 1944 1954 1959
DATE OF BIRTH
Notes: Earnings are calculated in 1984 constant dollars. The median is the
midpoint of the distribution, one-half of all earnings are above the median, and
one-half are below it. See Note at the end of this chapter for details of the
calculation.
educational opportunities for southerners in particular, and black southern-
ers more especially, were driven by the minimal educational requirements of
the cotton, sugar, and tobacco industries. During the 1920s, when this birth
cohort was schooled, a black in the South could expect to attend school
about two-thirds as many days a year as a white (Welch, 1973: 900~. He or
she could also expect to be a student for a significantly shorter number of
years. A black born in 1914 had, at 25 years of age, a 12 percent chance of
having completed high school and a 2 percent chance of being a college
graduate; in comparison, 25-year-old whites in 1939 had a 38 percent chance
of having completed high school and a 6 percent chance of being a college
graduate (see Figures 1-1 and 1-2~.
At age 25, black males born in 1914 had expected future median lifetime
.
earnings equal to $71,000 (calculated in 1984 constant dollars), this
amounted to 36 percent of the expected lifetime median earnings of a white
male of the same cohort (see Figure 1-3; see Note at the end of this chaper
for details of the calculation). Because the majority of both black and white
women had no reported labor market earnings during a given year, it would
be meaningless to estimate lifetime median earnings for females.
The political and civil environment in which this cohort of whites and
blacks lived is succinctly described by the fact that in 1940, less than 1 of 20
blacks of voting age were registered to vote in the South. Nationwide, just
39
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
FIGURE 14 Self-reported voter turnout, by race, 1940-1984.
90
70
7
O 60
LL
80 _ _
50
40 _
30
0q 1 1 1 ~1 1 ~I 1 1
Black / \
1940 1948 1952 1956
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984
YEAR
Source: Data Tom decennial censuses and Current Population Surveys.
1 of 3 blacks of eligible age reported voting in the 1940 presidential election;
this compared with a reported voter turnout rate of 7 of 10 among whites
(see Figure 1-4~.
Living under these circumstances, with minimal education and very poor
earnings, health conditions were often hazardous. Black men of the 1914
cohort who reached age 25 could expect to live to age 61, and black women
could expect to reach age 63; white men of that cohort who were alive in
1939 could expect to live until age 68 and white women to age 72 (see
Figure 1-5~.
Under any measuring rod, the socioeconomic status of the black popula-
tion born in 1914 was very low in 1939. Social relationships with whites in
the South emphasized blacks' subordinate position. A little more than 10
years later, conditions were little improved. Earl Warren, chief justice of the
Supreme Court, described the situation of blacks in the South during the
early 1950s in the following terms (Warren, 1973:20-21~:
They could not live where they desired; they could not work where white
people worked, except in menial positions.... They could not use the
same restrooms, drinking fountains, or telephone booths. They could not
eat in the same restaurants, sleep in the same hotels, be treated in the same
hospitals....
They could not attend the same public schools.... They were bused for
hours each day to inferior and crowded schools where there were unoccu
40
OCR for page 41
OVERVIEW: THEN AND NOW
FIGURE 1-5 Total life expectancy for (a) males and (b) females aged 25,
by race.
75
70
60
(a) Males
O
65 _ _
o
83
78
CD
_'
73
68
63
o
1940 1 950
it White
....
...
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980
(b) Females
- ~ White
=
_
_ .
1960 1970 1980
YEAR
Source: Data from decennial censuses and Current Population Surveys.
41
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
pied white school rooms in proximity to where they lived. They were
denied admission to any university or college attended by whites, whether
public or pnvate.
They were denied the right to sit on juries even when their own lives,
Deedom, or property rights were involved....
They were segregated on buses, street cars, trains, ships, and airplanes and
at terminals of all kinds. They were not allowed to vote.
This institutionalized segregation and discrimination appeared to many
. . . . . .
. . .. . .
Amencans to be an entrenched system immune to change.
THE MOST RECENT COHORT
Change did occur, although it was slow and uneven. Change also occurred
against great resistance (see Chapters 2-5~. By the mid-1970s, the old system
of legally enforced segregation had been dismantled; black voting and office
holding had increased; average black incomes had grown both absolutely
and relative to white incomes; and educational levels had risen. In addition,
white Americans had come to accept the principle of equal treatment in law,
politics, education, public accommodations, and, to a lesser extent, in hous-
ing. However, whites were less prepared to affirm policies intended to im-
plement that principle (see Chapter 3~.
Change has not been complete. Many whites continue to resist equal
treatment of blacks; evidence of widespread discrimination is still found in
the 1980s; and negative stereotyping, although much diminished, has not
disappeared. The data show that even though black and white Americans
share many important beliefs and values, there remain crucial differences in
their respective perceptions of the history and present state of black-white
relations. Intense public debate continues about the actual status of black
Americans and about public policies aimed at affecting that status.
These changes were reflected in the comparative social status of the last
cohort at age 25 (born in 1959) in our study. A black born in 1959 became
a member of a rapidly relocating population. Blacks residing in the South
were 60 percent of all blacks, and 27 percent of blacks lived in rural areas;
for white Americans, 27 and 30 percent were the comparable numbers.
These regional and rural-urban origins, when compared with the 1914 co-
horts, signify the great urbanization of the American population during the
past 75 years. Corresponding changes in life chances are evident.
The likelihood that a black American born in 1959 had completed high
school by age 25 (1984) was 81 percent. This was nearly 7 times the likeli-
hood that a black born in 1914 had completed high school by age 25. The
difference between black and white high school graduation rates had fallen
21 percentage points so that black-white rates were much closer for the 1959
cohort than for the 1914 cohort (see Figure 1-1~. Chances for college grad-
uation had also improved significantly. The college graduation rate of the
1959 black cohort was also 7 times that of blacks born 45 years earlier (see
42
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OVERVI EW: THEN AN D NOW
Figure 1-2~. However, the black-white difference in college graduation had
not decreased comparably.
Changes in the labor market opportunities available to blacks are illustrated
by the fact that the median earnings of $71,000 that black men born in
1914 could expect to earn over their lifetimes after age 25 had grown by a
factor of 6 to $427,000 for black men born in 1959. Yet, while the relative
expected lifetime earnings of black men had risen 15 percentage points, black
mens' expected median lifetime earnings were one-half that of white men of
the same age cohort, a small improvement over 45 years (see Figure 1-3~.
Black political freedoms had been greatly altered. By 1984, 56 percent of
eligible blacks reported voting in the presidential election.
The expected life spans of 25-year-old black women and men in 1980 were
much greater than the expected life spans of 25-year-old blacks in 1939. For
this general measure of overall life conditions, blacks born in 1959 compared
much more favorably with corresponding whites (see Figure 1-5~.
UNEVEN CHANGES
With the important exception of men's lifetime earnings, comparisons
between the first and last cohorts show a tremendous amount of improve-
ment in the status of black Americans over the 45-year period. However,
change has been very uneven, across age cohorts as well as across measures
of status. This conclusion is clearly illustrated by examining changes in
educational and earnings status. As shown in Figure 1-3, expected lifetime
earnings is one measure for which change in the status of cohorts has not
been one of continuing improvement. For both black and white males,
cohorts born in 1959 have lower expected lifetime earnings than an earlier
cohort.
Among blacks, increases in lifetime expected earnings were much greater
for the earliest cohorts-those whose expected earnings were calculated on
the basis of the economic situation existing in the decades of the 1940s,
1950s, and 1960s. Black men born in 1924 had expected lifetime earnings
3.28 times higher than those of black men born 10 years earlier. Blacks born
in 1934 and 1944 could expect lifetime earnings 1.49 and 1.54 times higher,
respectively, than the earnings of the black cohort born 10 years earlier. On
the basis of the economic situation in 1979, however, the cohort born in
1954 has a lower expectation of lifetime earnings than the previous cohort:
0.97 times that of the cohort born in 1944. Prospects for the 1959 cohort
appear to be even worse.
The earnings data tell a similar story for the status of black men relative to
white men. The ratio of black-to-white expected lifetime median earnings
rose 14 percentage points between the 1914 and 1924 birth cohorts, rose 1
point between the 1924 and 1934 cohorts, increased 11 points between the
1934 and 1944 cohorts, and fell 6 points between the 1944 and 1954
cohorts. Again, this deterioration in cohort status is continuing with the
1959 group, as the black/white ratio of expected lifetime earnings of the
43
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
1959 cohort
is the same as that of the 1934 cohort. Thus, although the
economic environment has deteriorated for whites and blacks, the status of
black men has been more affected. This deterioration in the earnings position
of black men is primarily due to the weak performance of the economy
during the 1970s (see Chapter 6~.
Changes in the educational status of cohorts do not follow a pattern similar
to that in earnings. The educational attainment of blacks follows a path of
consistent improvement across successive cohorts. However, black-white
differences in the likelihood of high school and college graduation do not
follow a consistent pattern of improvement (see Figures 1-1 and 1-2~.
Every cohort of blacks had greater rates of graduation from high school
and college than those of any previous cohort. In addition, with the excep-
tion of the 1944 cohort's likelihood of graduating from college, the increase
in the likelihood of graduation was greater than that of any previous cohort.
However, because the educational attainment of whites also increased, some-
times at faster rates than that of blacks, the differences in educational attain-
ment probabilities did not always narrow between cohorts.
Interestingly, the changes in educational differences between whites and
blacks within cohorts do not match changes in earnings. For example, the
1924 cohort of black men had the greatest gain in relative expected lifetime
earnings, but this was the only cohort that lost ground to whites in the
likelihood of graduating from high school. Black-white differences in the
likelihood of graduating from college actually increased with each successive
cohort except for the men born in 1959, yet this group has suffered most in
terms of its relative earnings.
In general, changes in earnings status are quite different from the overall
steady increase in black status indicated by measures such as political partici-
pation and life expectancy. The 1939-1984 penod, during which each of
the birth cohorts in our study reached maturity, has seen steady increases in
the regional dispersion of blacks, their educational attainment, and their life
expectancy. That the earnings status of males has not been consonant is a
finding of particular concern (see Chapter 6~. This brief descriptive survey of
changes in selected measures of blacks' status does not do justice to the
broad and varied findings discussed in this report. However, even this short
discussion points out some important issues that emerge in the more detailed
analyses.
The patterns of change displayed in the demographic data reflect two basic
sets of conditions in American life. The changes in life expectancy, educa-
tion, real earnings, and political participation were based on macrolevel
changes in economic productivity, scientific and technical advances, and
increased provision of public opportunities and services. These things af-
fected all Americans. The uneven changes across black cohorts reflect both
these general conditions and the special legacy of segregation and discrimi-
nation as it was altered during the decades after 1939.
The general conclusion that thus emerges from our survey is that the status
of black Americans is especially sensitive both to changes in the national
44
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OVERVIEW: THEN AND NOW
economy and to changes in public policies. This condition is characteristic
of a minority population that still carries the effects of long-term discrimina-
tion and segregation.
This report may come at an opportune time in the nation's history. The
great social, economic, and legal changes of the 1960s-the civil rights move-
ment, sustained economic growth, and new legal and political policies-are
two decades in the past. Since the mid-1970s, many signs of stagnation or
even retrogression have appeared in some important measures of income,
health, education, and conditions of black community and family life: in-
creased poverty, a decrease in college enrollment of blacks, an increased
proportion of households headed by poor single women, and continuing
high unemployment of both men and women. After a decade and a half of
devoting great attention but little pragmatic action to these conditions, they
have reached a critical stage. Our review leads us to think that now is an
appropriate time for a serious national effort to find the practical means to
change those conditions.
DATA, FINDINGS, AND INTERPRETATIONS:
CONCEPTS AND METHODS
What are the positions of black people with respect to various measures
of status in American society? What is the current status of black-white
relations? How do blacks and whites perceive their relative social positions?
What changes have occurred in economic position, health, education, polit-
ical participation, residence, civil rights, community associations, self-con-
ceptions, and attitudes? The subsequent chapters report detailed findings
and conclusions as they pertain to these deceptively simple questions. A1-
most all social indicators lead us to conclude that contemporary relations
between blacks and whites involve more subtle and complicated behavior
than did such relations in the past. As a result, an assessment of black status
is more difficult than in earlier decades.
We aim to avoid oversimplification of complex findings and to be even-
handed in presenting differing interpretations of data. These objectives may
lead to a text that disappoints readers who want simple answers and conclu-
sions, but no other approach will do justice to the realities of American
society. Nonetheless, the report is not restricted to a purely descriptive
presentation of the evidence. We attempt, whenever the data are sufficient,
to give an analysis of causes and of likely implications for social policy.
We had the task of sorting out and evaluating a large set of diverse meas-
ures and indicators of conditions and their changes. The report documents
numerous scientific challenges confronted by this task. First, at the most
elementary level, there is the sheer absence of vital pieces of information.
The data necessary for thorough analysis of what is happening to the nation
often are not collected. We have had to cope with gaps and other inadequa-
cies in the data, even for elementary descriptive tasks.
45
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
Even when data do exist, many of the most interesting questions involve
quite difficult problems of scientific inference. For example, how does one
estimate the outcomes of political participation? Conclusions about changes
in the economic status of blacks are strongly influenced by choices of defini-
tions and measures. What factors should be considered in an evaluation of
the fairness of the nation's criminal justice system? Hundreds of such choices
underlie the text that follows.
For understanding the why of changes such as those we discuss, it is often
important to have longitudinal information-measurements in the same units
over time-because correlations based on cross-sectional data are tricky to
analyze and often misleading. There is also the challenge of measurement
and modeling in order to draw conclusions. A great deal has been learned
about these methods in the past decade, but there is a long way to go.
This study involves many important dilemmas with regard to values, ethics,
and relationships between scientific analysis and social policy. The facts never
speak for themselves in any field. There is no way of avoiding value-laden
choices. Our conclusions concerning a number of questions will matter to
many people. For example:
· Have the educational opportunities available to black people improved?
Have public policies had important effects?
· Has discrimination in the workplace decreased? Can equal employment
opportunity be left to market forces?
· Has segregation in housing and residential areas decreased?
· What has happened to marriage and family institutions among black
Americans? What are the causes of change?
Each of these questions is marked by active debate, many different views,
high political interest, and strong feelings. This report aims to provide fac-
tually based clarification of certain important national public concerns.
STUDY METHODS
As we examined one substantive area after another, we found that appar-
ently contradictory or anomalous findings often simply reflect differences in
indicators, definitions, data samples, or statistical models. Detecting such
variations should make it possible to at least reduce disagreements over "the
facts of the case" in analyses of public policies.
Our tasks involved four principal approaches:
· verification: checking of facts and analyses;
· extension: widening of scope and elaboration of analyses;
· discovery: finding new knowledge; and
· assessment: evaluation of significance and implications.
/
Verification involves ascertaining the validity of evidence. It also entails
updating, that is, bringing forward historical series of data into the present
to ascertain their continuing validity.
46
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OVERVI EW: THEN AN D NOW
Extension of prior studies means that we have found it essential to bring
into a single report a wide range of complex evidence, linking together
economic and political changes with changes in family structure, residence,
health, and organizational and community life. We found that many widely
accepted global generalizations are misleading, and we often had to disaggre-
gate national data to see important differences, among regions of the coun-
try, among individuals and families, and among people grouped by other
demographic factors such as age, sex, and education.
Discovery of new knowledge has been sought primarily by reanalysis of
existing information, as in our study of the changing income distributions of
black men and women in comparison with whites (Chapter 6~. In some
cases we collected new information that led to a discovery, such as the large
amount of organized self-help activity in black communities (Chapter 4~.
Assessment of the significance and of the implications of data and findings
cannot be a simple extension of analysis, but represents an integration of
empirical findings with knowledge of the broader sociocultural setting and
with an interpretation of choices, values, and potential policy options.
The basic conception that lies beneath our analysis is that of a human
society as a dynamic collection of subsystems. "Race relations" is an abstrac-
tion from the cries-crossing of social processes that make up a living society.
In the case of the United States, that society is deeply pluralistic, loosely
1 r ~
articulated, highly energetic, and tun ot possible tutures.
DETERMI NANTS OF BLACK STATUS
Black status results from American social institutions and the race relations
that have developed within that institutional structure. Statistical indices of
blacks' social positions are concrete indicators of that status. As such, status
indices are the primary objects of our analysis, and their study encompasses
most of the material presented throughout the report. However, beliefs and
attitudes-perceptions-are also important in a study of group status. Peo-
ple's attitudes and beliefs about one another are important consequences of
the structure of society and its race relations, as well as major determinants
of race relations.
The report focuses on the relationships between three fundamental deter-
minants: social institutions, black-white relations, and underlying social con-
ditions (demographic change and economic growth, for example). Effects on
blacks' social positions are generally inferred from changes in statistical indi-
ces of social status and black and white attitudes. But it is important to note
that changes in indices of status and attitudes are both consequences and
causes of change in the three more fundamental determinants of blacks'
. . . .
social positions.
To understand the status of blacks, it is necessary to consider black-white
relations. Blacks' status both influences and is influenced by the existing
pattern of black-white relations. For example, opportunities for the status of
blacks to advance in terms of their employment, education, and general
47
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
health were quite different under pre-1960s de jure segregation than after-
ward. Changes in black status can begin a dynamic process that results in
alterations in black-white relations: for example, when blacks gained the
right to vote, serve on juries, and become officers of the courts, black-white
relations in the civil and criminal justice systems changed.
In the United States, the structure of social institutions has always played
an important role in determining blacks' status and black-white relations.
Thus, black-white relations and blacks' status changed after southern public
schools were desegregated in the late 1960s and the 1970s. Furthermore,
changes in more fundamental social conditions can effect change in black
status and in black-white relations by acting on either or both. One such
force is change in the underlying structure of the economy. For example,
between 1940 and 1970, large losses of black jobs due to the mechanization
of southern agriculture and the expansion of industrial employment oppor-
tunities for blacks outside the South accelerated the urbanization of the
black population. These changes set the stage for at least two important
alterations in black status and in black-white relations: urbanized blacks,
especially outside the South, gained the elective franchise and greater access
to political office, and industrial employment raised black incomes so that
blacks' power as consumers affected a variety of black-white relations (Chap-
ter 5~. Less spectacularly, what laws are passed and how they are enforced
continue to be affected by and to affect race relations and the status of blacks
(Chapters 3-5~.
In sum, there is a large, complex system of mutually dependent phenom-
ena. Sources of change, for better or worse, exist at nearly every position of
the system. However, some kinds of changes can be expected to have larger
effects of longer duration than others. In theory, one can trace out the likely
effects of a change in any of the variables upon the entire system, but it is a
very complicated process.
INTERPRETING DATA
Throughout this report we make assessments of the consequences of some
of the conditions described: these are inferences about causes and effects.
Any such cause-effect judgments concerning the dynamics of complex social
systems require great care. Yet such appraisals are vitally necessary-for oth-
erwise little that is sensible could be said about crucial issues of public and
private policies for the years ahead. Because appraisals of interrelated causal
sequences are highly dependent on particular social contexts, our inferences
are embedded at widely separated points in the analysis. When thus dis-
persed, these judgments may not stand out in their full import. Hence, we
wish to call special attention to them here.
There are systematic patterns evident in the data we analyzed. A central
example is the reciprocal effects of economic changes and political actions.
Thus, we regard the evidence as compelling that long-term changes in the
economic status of black Americans have been powerfully shaped by the
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OVERVI EW: THEN AN D NOW
interaction of large-scale changes in the economy with reductions in racial
discrimination. In turn, reductions in discrimination, and in enforced segre-
gation, have been possible only because of political mobilization of black
people and their white allies. We conclude that increased political participation
has been enhanced by improvements in economic status and in education.
Most policy proposals are based either on assumptions about individual
behavior and decisions or about the constraints the social environment places
on people's choices. Thus, much of the policy debate concerning the status
of black Americans is over whether policy needs to change people's behavior
directly or whether it should change their opportunities and range of choices.
Changes in the opportunity structure available to blacks and their responses
to those changes have been substantial during the past few decades. Many
of the findings discussed in the following chapters have been consequences
of these patterns of social opportunity and individual responses.
Explaining Black-VV6ite Differences
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, investigating Miami, Florida, in
the aftermath of the violent racial disorders there in May 1980, reported that
one of the most frustrating conditions perceived by blacks was lack of job
opportunities. There were two major explanations for the lack of jobs. The
commission found that "young black job seekers" faced discrimination from
employers-many of whom held very negative stereotypic perceptions of
blacks. The commission also found that large numbers of unemployed black
youths lacked the "basic entry level skills" required to compete effectively
for jobs (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1982:147-148~.
Both race and lower status backgrounds limit the opportunities of many
blacks. The two reinforce each other, and each has some independent influ-
ence. The importance of race is clear from examining a large inventory of
research and statistical data. Those data show nationwide discrimination
against blacks-although diminished since the mid-1960s-throughout the
decades since World War II. In the 1980s, differential treatment of blacks
infrequently takes the form of blatant hostility and overt discrimination.
Differential treatment is most likely to occur when it allows someone to
avoid close interracial contact; it prevents the establishment of interracial
relations of equal status or black dominance. esDeciallv in emolovment and
1 ~ 1
. . . . .. . ~ . . . . . ~ .. ~ .
housing; and it Is possible to kind a nonracial explanation for deferential
treatment. For example, blacks who find little difficulty gaining entry- and
even middle-level employment positions frequently encounter barriers to
upper-level positions that would involve significant authority over whites or
the need to interact with them in social settings like private clubs.
Residential Segregation and Its Effects
The clearest evidence of discrimination comes from audits of practices in
the rental and sale of residential properties. Black and white people of equal
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
economic means, education, and credit worthiness have very different expe-
riences in the housing market. Blacks are more likely to be excluded from
renting or buying in certain residential areas, to be given quotations of higher
prices and rents, and to be "steered" to areas already primarily populated by
blacks. Estimates of the frequency of these practices vary, but it appears that
in many metropolitan areas one-quarter to one-half of all inquiries by blacks
are met by clearly discriminatory responses (Chapter 3~.
Urban residential segregation of blacks is far greater than that of any other
large racial or ethnic group, and there is extensive documentation of the
purposeful development and maintenance of involuntary residential exclu-
sion and segregation. Residential segregation has not been an unplanned,
spontaneous process, nor has it disappeared along with legal segregation.
Black suburbanization rates remain low, and objective indicators of socioec-
onomic status that predict suburbanization for Hispanics and Asian-Ameri-
cans do not do so for blacks. The social changes of the 1960s and 1970s that
affected black status had only slight effects on the residential segregation of
blacks in large cities. Blacks are not free to live where they wish, whatever
their economic status. Thus, black-white residential separation continues to
be a fundamental cleavage in American society.
Discrimination in housing markets forces blacks into separate residential
areas. Because of the large incidence of poverty and relatively low education
levels among blacks, many are then concentrated into areas with high per-
centages of economically poor and poorly educated families. The resulting
social patterns generate persisting disadvantages. For example, residential
separation greatly restricts educational and employment opportunities and
thereby directly limits the economic and social status of the next generation.
In a report of this kind, much of the description and analysis relies on
aggregate statistics. But population aggregates and averages frequently con-
ceal important differences among various groups. Thus, while we report a
1987 national poverty rate among blacks of 30 percent, the rate was 45
percent among blacks living in Houston, Texas, but 19 percent among
blacks in Los Angeles. Similarly, national high school dropout rates among
blacks are about 25 percent, but many large city school districts such as New
York and Chicago report black and Hispanic dropout rates twice as high,
about 50 percent. Recent concern has focused on the fact that national black
infant mortality rates are twice the white rate, but in the District of Colum-
bia, Chicago, and Detroit, black infant mortality rates in 1985 were almost
3 times higher than the national white rate.
These disparities are not arbitrarily chosen examples. Inner-city areas con-
tain densely populated neighborhoods of very poor families and individuals.
Poverty has severely detrimental effects on the life chances of children.
Children from low-income households have, on average, lower educational
attainment and achievement, poorer health, and inferior job prospects. Dur-
ing the mid-1980s, the rate of poverty among black children has been about
3 times the rate among white children. Furthermore, one-half of all black
children were poor for at least 4 of their first 10 years of life during the
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OVERVI EW: THEN AN D NOW
1970s; only one-twelfth of white children experienced poverty so severe.
About 33 percent of black children were poor for at least 7 of 10 years in
the 1970s, compared with 3 percent of white children (Chapter 6~.
Poor blacks are much more likely than poor whites to live in residential
areas of concentrated poverty (Chapter 6~. A consequence is that poor blacks
are far less likely than poor whites to have social contacts with higher income
individuals-in neighborhoods, churches, recreation areas, school-related ac-
tivities, and so on. They are less likely to have access to information or
contacts useful in locating educational and economic opportunities. Children
and youths in areas of concentrated poverty have fewer models of successful
attainment and are less likely to receive adult support, guidance, and disci-
pline conducive to educational and occupational attainment (Chapters 6 and
7).
Black youths living in poor areas face daily challenges that jeopardize their
chances of reaching adulthood prepared for a satisfying and materially pros-
perous life. The destructive pressures of peer groups and the dangers of
ghetto streets abound. Crime rates and violent behavior among young black
males have become epidemic. The unemployment rates for blacks aged 15-
24 are very high: in March 1985 they were 28 percent for females and 32
percent for males. Young adult blacks have higher rates of addiction and
arrest for drug use and sale of drugs than whites. Among the black popula-
tion, the deadly acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is reaching
alarming rates, primarily because of needle sharing among drug users. Illiter-
acy rates among black youth are very high in many areas. Violence and
absenteeism are reported to be prohibitive obstacles to effective teaching and
learning in many schools located in high-poverty areas.
DESCRIPTION OF THE REPORT
The following nine chapters of this report present detailed findings and
conclusions on a wide range of measures of black status. In the next chapter,
we assess change and continuity since 1940 in black-white relations and in
the extent and nature of black participation in predominantly white social
institutions. A primary distinction is made between black numerical access
(desegregation) to such institutions and equality of treatment between races
(integration>.
Chapter 3 continues our assessment of intergroup relations and black
participation in the wider society. It also looks forward to Chapter 4, which
analyzes changing attitudes and social structure within black communities.
Chapter 3 thus provides a general analysis of black and white attitudes and
behaviors toward one another and toward many of the important issues
treated in Chapters 2 and 4 (e.g., desegregation of schools and housing,
equal versus discriminatory treatment in black-white relations, and black
identity). ,
Chapter 4 reverses direction. It is concerned with the status of black
communities themselves. Thus, while much of the discussion treats many of
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A COMMON DESTINY: BLACKS AND AMERICAN SOCIETY
the same kinds of organizations and institutions discussed in Chapter 2, the
focus is on change and continuity in concepts of black self-identity and in
black-controlled institutions and organizations. Black-white relations are not
of primary concern in Chapter 4.
Chapters 5-9 report findings with respect to blacks' status in political
participation, the economy, education, health, and criminal justice. Finally,
in Chapter 10, we report on the conditions of families and the status of
children. Throughout these last six chapters, the conceptual focus is on both
a comparative analysis of blacks' absolute social status at different times and
on their status relative to white status across time. As a consequence, a rather
broad picture of the status of the white population is also presented.
Chapters 2 - thus provide a discussion of changes in black-white relations,
attitudes toward racial issues, and effects of these changes on aspects of social
structure in black and white communities. These chapters provide one side
of the factors determining blacks' status, black-white relations within social
institutions. The last six chapters report on various dimensions of blacks'
status that (as we argued above) also determine blacks' general social posi
tlon.
We close this overview with two observations. One is that the unique
historical experience of black Americans is a strong living force in the present,
encouraging pride in achievement against great odds and in unique cultural
contributions to national life. A strong sense of common destiny and group
identity is widespread and is important to a degree not fillly appreciated by
white Amencans. Our second observation is that the changing status of
blacks affects the lives of all Amencans. The social position of black people
is an indicator of the functioning of American institutions.
REFERENCES
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
1982 Confronting Racial Isolation in Miami. Washington, D.C.
ing Office.
Warren, Earl
1973 Equal opportunity: the Constitution and the law. Pp. 16-27 in Robert C. Roo-
ney, ea., Equal Opportunity in the United States: A Symposium on Civil Rights.
Austin: University of Texas Press.
Welch, Finis
1973 Black-white differences in returns to schooling. American Economic Reriew
LXIII(5) :893-907.
: U.S. Government Print
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OVERVIEW: THEN AND NOW
NOTE
Figure 1-3 summarizes calculations of the hypothetical earnings of black
and white men over their working lives, ages 20 to 64. They are hypothetical
because they assume that the distributions of annual earnings by age for a
given date will continue over the 45 years of a career of a man aged 20 at
that date. For each date, and for blacks and whites separately, an age-earnings
profile was computed for a man with median earnings at every age.
Using five age brackets and ten earnings brackets (in 1984 constant dollars),
median earnings figures for each age were estimated by linear interpolations
across the earnings brackets. Rather than assuming that a man at the median
received the same earnings for every year he was in one of the five age
brackets, a year-by-year profile was estimated by linear interpolation. When
this interpolation gave negative estimates for initial or terminal years, zeros
were substituted.
The lifetime sums of profile earnings are converted to an annual figure
simply by dividing the sums by 45. "Discounted" or "corrected" figures
allow for mortality, growth of earnings, and time discounting. For example,
the discounted figure for 1984 uses the 1983 mortality table (Statistical
Abstract of the United States, 1987:Table 108) for white men and black men;
a rate of growth of per-worker earnings of 1.5 percent; and a real rate of
interest discounting future earnings by 3 percent per year. These values are
meant to approximate recent trends while adjusting them optimistically. The
discounted figure for 1970 uses the 1971 mortality table (Statistical Abstract
of the United States, 1974: Table 82) for white males and Negro and other
males; the growth and time rates are 2.5 percent and 1.5 percent, respec-
tively, reflecting the different macroclimate of those times.
Black men have significantly higher death rates than white men, especially
among the young. The probability that a 20-year-old man will survive to age
65 was 67 percent for whites and 50 percent for blacks by the 1971 table
and 76 percent for whites and 58 percent for blacks by the 1983 table. This
implies that later earnings mean less for blacks than for whites and also that
the joint result of expected growth and of time discount, positive for 1970
and negative for 1985, means less for blacks than for whites. Although it is
probable that survival rates are correlated with earnings, it was not possible
to allow for this relationship in our calculation.
Likewise, it could be argued that the time discount for blacks should be
higher than for whites, and in general that the time discount should be
higher for lower income men. It is harder for blacks, especially low-income
blacks, to convert future earnings prospects into current spending through
borrowing.
c~
~ r~ - 1 ~ ~
53
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
black americans
