Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

white families and a much lower
level of family "stability ." Black
people were twice as likely as
whites to be unemployed, and consequently
they had much lower income
levels than whites . Over a
fourth of the black families fell into
the lowest income category as compared
to a fifth of the white families,
and in the higher income categories
the whites consistently outstripped
the blacks .
Some rather profound changes
had taken place by 1965 . The fertility
level of the blacks was much
closer to that of the whites as a
consequence of a slight rise in white
fertility and a large drop in black
fertility. Black families were still
characterized by more "problems"
than white families, however, as
only 78 percent of all black youth
under 18 were living with both parents
as compared to 90 percent of
the white youth . The most significant
change was in the unemployment
levels . Black men were still
twice as likely as white men to be
without employment, but black
women had a much lower unemployment
rate, than white women .
Finally, there was a considerable
equalization in the distribution of
families by income levels . It is true
that more black than white families
were in the lowest income category,
but the difference between
the two groups was reduced greatly .
On the other hand, the difference
in the proportion of families in the
highest income category was increased
in favor of the whites, while
90
in the middle-range categories the
black and white families were almost
equitably distributed.
The general point we have been
trying to articulate in this discussion
of middle- and low-income
black families in Cleveland, and
their comparison to white families,
is in answer to the question : if
things have been getting better for
some black people in the Sixties,
what does getting better mean?
The data would suggest that middle-income
black families are
out-distancing low-income black
families in Cleveland, so in relation
to each other the absolute and relative
situation of middle-income
blacks is getting better and that of
low-income blacks is getting worse .
However, in a comparison of
middle-income blacks to whites in
the same area, the data are suggestive
if not conclusive . In 1960,
middle-income black families were
in a rather unfavorable position as
compared to white families . By
1965, the situation had improved
for two possible reasons : (1) Many
white families had moved out of
the city in flight from the influx of
black people, and those whites who
remain behind may fall into the
lowest and highest income categories,
and (2) black women carried
a considerable portion of the income-producing
activities of black
families, thus making it possible for
their families to exist in some reasonable
comparison to the white
families who remained in the area .
The situation for black men as
March 1968 NEGRO DIGEST