Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

taking advantage of every oppor- action of the youth if not in the
tunity to increase their knowledge . educational curriculum . Sixty-six
The statistics on the proportions of percent of all black youths in the
blacks completing high school and twelfth grade in 1965 were in
college show some interesting and schools which were predominantly
significant trends . In 1960, 36 per- black, so these youth would probacent
of all black males and 41 perbly be more comfortable and at
cent of all black females between ease in black institutions of higher
the ages of 25-29 had completed education .
high school . However, by 1966, 53 Despite the movement into cities
percent of all black males and 49 where occupational opportunity is
percent of all black females in the said to be higher, despite higher
same age category had completed levels of education, the employment
high school . Not only was there a situation of black people has
dramatic increase in the proportion changed little from the "last hired .
of young adults with high school first fired" status . Since the early
diplomas, the number of young Fifties the unemployment rate for
males completing nigh school now black people has been about twice
exceeds the number of young fe- as high as that for whites, and it
males . Although the proportions has remained this way until the
are much lower, the same trend present day, although unemploy-
holds for those completing college . ment rates have fluctuated consid-
In 1960, 4 percent of all black erably . In 1961, the unemployment
males between the ages of 25 and rate for black people went up to
34, and 5 percent of all black fe- 12 .4 percent, the highest since
males had completed four or more 1958 (12 .6), but it has dropped
years of college . By 1965 these steadily in subsequent years . It
proportions had increased to 7 per- went down to 8 .1 percent in 1965 .
cent for males and 6 percent for and the decline continued to 7 .3
females . If the dramatic increase in percent for the first nine months
high school completions is any in- of 1967 . Black people are overdicator,
we can expect substantial represented in every category of un-
improvements in the number of employment . During the first nine
black youth with college degrees in months of 1967, blacks comprised
the next few years .
11 percent of the civilian labor
It is not at all insignificant in force, but were 21 percent of all
considering a Black University to unemployed workers and 23 per-
recognize that the educational excent of those persons unemployed
perience of black youth still takes for at least three and a half consec-
place in predominantly black utive months . Teen-agers still suffer
schools where the culture of black the most of those without jobs for
people is maintained in the inter- in the first part of 1967 the unem-
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March 1968 NEGRO DIGEST