Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

justed for price changes in 1965
dollars so they show the actual
situation for all families during the
Sixties .
The data on family income are
related to the number of persons
within the family who are producing
an income . In 1966 more black
than white families had two or
three persons within the family
bringing home paychecks, but still
a black family with three persons
bringing home a salary (median income
of $6,583) made less than a
white family with just one earner
( $6,877 ) .
Between 1963 and 1966 median
family income for blacks went
up from $3,465 to $4,628, and
from $6,548 to $7,722 for whites .
In statistical terms the median income
for black families increased
by 34 percent while the increase
for white families was 18 percent .
Consequently, black families made
53 percent as much as white families
in 1963 and 60 percent as
much as white families in 1966 . It
would appear from these figures
that black families were overtaking
white families in their quest for a
more equitable share of the nation's
resources, but if you look at the
statistics again and do a little calculating
you will see that in 1963
a white family made $3,083 more
than a black family and in 1966
white families made $3,094 more
than black families . The data show
84
(Continued front page 31)
clearly then, that in rekrtive terms
black families are overtaking
whites, but in absolute terms the
situation is getting worse .
One of the host profound and
perplexing problems which has
plagued the black community for
generations has been the conflict
between males and females . The
income picture for persons, as differentiated
from families, shows one
underlying aspect of this conflict.
Between 1959 and 1966 median
income for black males (25 years
and older) increased from $2,610
to $3,665, and for white males
from $4,851 to $6,390 . The percentage
increase in the median income
of the black male was 40 percent
as compared to a 32 percent
increase 'for the white male . In
1959 a black man made 54 percent
as much as a white man and
in 1966 he made 57 percent as
much . In actual dollars the black
man made $2,241 less than a white
man in 1959 and $2,725 less in
1966 . Just as it was in family income,
the relative situation for the
black man improved between 1959
and 1966 while the absohttc: situation
declined .
Of even greater interest to our
understanding is that higher levels
of education did not significantly
improve the relative or absolute situation
of the black man . In 1959,
a black man with eight years of
school made 73 percent as much
March 1968 PJEGRO DIGEST