Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

a black woman with a high school
diploma also made 92 percent as
much, and a black woman with
some college made 13 percent
more than a white woman with
similar education . Median income
for a black woman with some college
education in 1966 was $3,964,
$445 more than the median income
of the white woman with similar
education .
Although the data on income
trends for blacks is confusing, we
believe several conclusions are justified
. In terms of family income
the black population has made
some relative improvements in the
Sixties, but our absolute situation
has remained virtually the same . If
we remember that it takes at least
three earners in a black family to
produce a median family income
anywhere close to that of a white
family with one earner, we can certainly
say there has been no improvement
in the income situation
of the black family ; we have to
work three times harder and we still
do not keep up with the majority
of Americans . When we consider
income of persons, it is apparent,
as it has long been apparent, that
the black female is much more
capable of matching and exceeding
her white counterpart than is the
black male . Furthermore, while
Mack females with higher levels of
education exceed white females,
Sb
black males with higher levels of
education fall further behind white
males . This economic picture aggravates
so many of the subtle psychological
problems facing the
black family and the relations between
black men and women .
Earlier, we pointed to two contradictory
trends in the black population
during the Sixties . The general
social and economic picture of
black families in the cities gives
some foundation to the belief of
some experts that black people may
be moving in two directions . Recent
special censuses in many of
the major cities of the country are
showing that, since 1960, there has
been relatively little improvement
for many black families and, in
some cases, a reversal in our situation
. In many cities, the unemployment
rates for blacks have been virtually
the same throughout the Sixties
; there has been no improvement
in family income ; and often
there is a rise in the proportion of
families which are headed by women
. A notable example is the
Hough area of Cleveland where the
male unemployment rate was virtually
unchanged from 1960 to
1965, and family income declined
by 12 percent .
The situation is not getting worse
for all black people in major cities,
however, and the trends bear very
close observation and cautious interpretations
. There is no doubt
that a larger black "middle-class"
is coming into existence, and there
are some who would hold that these
March 1968 NEGRO DIGEST