Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

compared to white men had not
improved at all ; it was the continuation
of the feminine practice of
supporting the family which has
apparently made it possible for the
black families in Cleveland to improve
their situation in relation to
the white families .
In this paper we have tried to
specify some of the major demographic
trends in the black community
in the Sixties to underscore
some of the issues that must be
taken into account in the development
of a Black University . The
data indicate that black people are
becoming a larger portion of the
population in the nation's largest
cities, and we have moved into a
situation of influential control in at
least one third of the 30 largest
cities . Other data which we have
not discussed here indicate that the
blacks moving into the larger cities
tend to be young people who are
better educated and more likely to
engage in white-collar occupations
than the whites who remain in these
cities . Furthermore, the data indicate
that in the Sixties black people
have been seeking education more
than ever before .
However, in occupations, and in
employment, there has been no
substantial improvement for the
black population, with the exception
of some notable changes for
black women . While black people
have shown improvement over
previous periods in income, in relation
to whites in America the situation
is not as favorable . Black
NEGRO DIGEST March 1968
men, particularly those with higher
levels of education, are no more
able now than they were previously
to match white men in income . On
the other hand, black women compare
much more favorably with
white women in producing" incomes
. and at the higher educational
levels black women clearly excel
white women in income . When we
can separate middle- and low-income
blacks, we see that middleincome
blacks are improving their
social and economic situation much
faster than low-income blacks ;
thus the two groups are getting
further apart, and there is evidence
that middle-income black families
have been able to make gains on
middle-income white families but
primarily because of the incomeproducing
ability of black women .
A black university must address
itself to the changes taking place in
the black community, and two profound
conditions have been presented
in this article . We must
carefully consider the consequences
of the fact that, in these times, the
burden of family support still falls
heavily upon the shoulders of black
women . How this affects black men
in particular and black families in
general must be given very close
attention as we attempt to respond
to the conditions and needs of the
black community . Secondly, we
must consider the significance of
the split between middle- and lowincome
blacks that has clearly developed
in the Sixties . It would
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