SATURDAY, CCEK20t II, i::2-TK2 tfZZLGX
Blacks In America: Some Bains But Still Far Behind Whites
. American blacks have
come a long way in the
past 20 years but are stil
I far from closing the gap
With whites, says
Howard University
: sociology professor John
k America , in Hhe 1980s,
released ; . recently ' in
Washington, D.C., ; by
I the private, nonprofit
Population Reference
"Bureau..:-", ;' V.,u-v;i-
sions on a review ; of
demographic and socio
economic changes in the
black population par
ticularly since the 1962
second edition of Gun
nar . Myrdal's classic
study , of American
blacks, An American
Dilemma. In that book
(first published in 1944)
Myrdal argued that the
professed American
, Creed of "liberty,
equality, justice, and fair
opportunity for
everybody" had in prac
tice been extended least
of all to blacks.
Reid observes that the
civil rights, movement
launched in the 1950's,
along with the Great
Society in the 1960s, did
give many blacks a boost
up the socio-economic
ladder. But at the outset
of the 1980s, "the pic-.
ture is far from being as
rosy as it might be," he
claims.
"Demographically
blacks , are approaching
the norm in migration
and in overall fertility,
though black teenage
and out-of-wedlock
childbearing remain
troublesome," he says.
Blacks . are nearing the
"median range" in
education attainment
and entering the white
collar occupations, if at
lower levels than whites.
"But when one considers
the dismal record on
mortality, steady
employment, and in
come, it becomes clear
that a move by American
blacks into mainstream
miacue-ciass America is
not imminent," he con
cludes. Further, he sees
what gains blacks have
made . now being.
threatened by the current
administration's cut
backs of. federally sup
ported social programs
and sharply changed at
titude as to government's
role in protecting civil
rights, plus the current
flood of immigrants into
the U.S. "who compete
directly for the low-level
'obs on which many
lacks must still rely."
One-Ninth Of
The Total
Tl i sn .
inc iov census
counted 26.5 million
blacks, 11.7 per cent
(over one-ninth) of the
total U.S. population,
the 226.S million. In the
first census of 1790, the
nation's 750,000 blacks
comprised nearly one
fifth of the U.S. popula
tion. This proportion
gradually , dropped
because immigration has
since added almost
uninterruptedly to the
white ' population, while
black immigration even-;
tually ceased after the
importing of slaves was'
banned in 1808. (Black
immigration has picked
up in recent years with
arrival of increasing
numbers of Africans and
Caribbean blacks.) By
1930 the black propor
tion of the total was
down to 9.7 per cent, but
has since increased slow
ly, due mainly to the
black-white fertility dif
ferential. Because of higher fer
tility, the black popula
tion has always been
, "younger" than the
white population, with a
current median age of 25.
compared to the white
median of 31. Along
with this more youthful
population goes a higher
"dependency ratio"
92 persons under 15
over 64 for every 1
blacks in the 'working
ages" (15-64) compared
to just 74 for whites a
fact that "has important
implications for integra
tion," Reid points out.
On one score, blacks
outstrip whites, . ; he
reports; The 1980 Census
found 85 per cent of
blacks living in urban
areas versus 71 per cent
of whites. This reflects
blacks' long trek out of
rural areas in the South
to industrial centers of
the North, beginning
after World War I. In
the 1970's this historical
pattern was reversed as
blacks joined the general
. migration stream to
or back to the South.
For blacks, this did not
- mean a return to rural
. living (a trend among
whites) but urban blacks
began to follow whites to
the suburbs in the 1970s.
However, blacks still
; make up only 6 per cent :
of the nation's suburban
population and the over "
whelming majority of
blacks remain segregated
in central cities, , Reid
notes. In 1960
Washington, D.C., was
the only ' metropolitan
central city of over
100,000 residents with a .
black majority. By 1980
there were eight more:
Gary, Indiana, Atlanta,
Detroit, Newark, Birm
ingham, New Orleans,
Baltimore, and Rich
mond, Virginia.
Higher Fertility
And Mortality
Like whites, blacks
have experienced a baby
bust since the
mid-1960's, Reid
observes, but still
average a higher 2.3 bir
ths per woman compared
to 1.8 for white women.
Black teenage fertility
rates, while now falling
as with white teenagers,
are still still two to three
times those of white
teenagers, and out-of-wedlock
fertility remains
high 55 per cent of all
black births compared to
9 per cent for whites in
1979, according to the
latest available figures.
Black leaders are now
organizing to tackle
these problems, Reid
says, along with the
related problem of large
numbers of . female
headed families. In 1980,
single parents (mostly
mothers) with children
made up 31 per cent of
all black families com
pared with 10 per cent
for the general popula
tion a reflection also
of blacks' higher rates of
separation and divorce,
Reid points out.
clacks have made signifi
cant gains since the turn
of the century when the
average black newborn
could expect to live only
33 years compared to 48
years for white
newborns. But the latest
data for 1979 show ;
black life expectancy still
six years short of whites'
(68.3 years versus 74.4
years) and black infant
mortality nearly double
that of whites (21.8
deaths under age one for
1,000 births versus the
white of 11.4).
The Continuing ,
Socio-economic Lag
"Many of these gaps
are related to blacks'
continuing socio
economic disadvantages," says
, Reid. Among others, he
notes:
Though blacks age 25
and over now report
nearly as many years of
schooling as whites, on
average (12.0 versus 12.5
years), only 8 per cent of
black adults compared to
18 per cent of whites can
boast of a college degree
"the admission ticket
to socio-economic ad
vancement." College
enrollment of blacks ag
ed 18-24 nearly doubled
from 10 per cent in 1965
to 19 per cent in 1981,
but may now slow with
current cutbacks in
' federal student loans.
fin 1981, 40 per cent
of black workers were in
white collar jobs com
pared to 54 per cent of
whites up from just 1 1
per cent and less than a
third of the figure for
whites in 1960. But
blacks are still under
represented in the best
paying jobs . among
men, blacks make up on
ly 2 to 3 per cent of
engineers, physicians,
lawyers, and college pro
fessors. Black womendo
better at 5 to 7 per cent
of all female physicians,
lawyers, and college
teachers (though very
few are engineers).
Black median family
income inched up to 62
per cent of the median
for white families in . ,
1975, but dropped back .
to 56 per cent of the
white level in, 1981
$13,266 versus $23,517
below the 57 per cent
level of 1960.
ln 1981, 30.8 per cent
of black families fell
below , the Census
Bureau's poverty level
3 J times the 8.8 per
cent of ' white families
classified as poor. This .
was slightly greater that
the gap in 1959 (48 per,
cent versus 15 per cent)
when the Census Bureau
began measuring poverty-
-v-,-."-,,
In October 1982v the
black unemployment
rate (20.2 per cent) was
more than twice the
unemployment rate of
white (9.3 per cent)
also a gap that has per
sisted as long as such
statistics have been
gathered.
f- Reid finds the black
unemployment figures
particularly ominous. He
points out that many
blacks have been first
fired in the current reces
sion because they were
the last hired and many
won't be rehired because
their jobs are being
eliminatbd as the U.S.
shifts from traditional
industry to the high
technology age. He urges
"immediate and urgent"
attention to upgrading of
blacks' education, train
ing, and retraining to
meet the demands of the
changing job market. To
do otherwise, he insists,
"risks creating an even
larger and more perma
nent underclass within;
the black population,"
with only. a few blacks;
4 making . , it into
mainstream middle-class ;
American society. And
for the blacks that do
make it, social barriers .
must be 'tackled to
change what Reid
observes is, now labled
"a second-class middle
class." '
Reid holds the Ph.D.
in sociology from the
University of' Chicago
4f
( i
and has published and
conducted national con
ferences on the
demography and health
of ' American ' blacks.
Among his academic
posts prior to joining the
sociology department of
Howard University in
Washington, D.C., he
was Ware Professor and
chairman of J the
sociology department of
Atlanta ' University,
where he also served
editor of Phylon and
director ofthe W.E.B.
DuBois Institute for the
Study of the American
Black.
J Reid's 3-pagc report
j on Black America in the ,
1980s appears as the
lastest Population
Balled of the Popula
tion Reference Bureau, a
private, nonprofit educa
tional organization
located in Washington,
DC.
it
Ml--" A tf - i
t y v i
1 I,
I VI
r
iV
iVmiii II Willi HI iiiiiih
. . . , ' trJSI :
- i-i j- '
NATIONAL
4 H CONGRESS
CHICAGO
CHlCAtrO Ms. Dawn Dickerson, 5408
Newhall Rd,, was one of 35 North Carolina 4-H
merhbers who attended the 61st National 4-H Con
gress in Chicago, III. She is shown with Lathan
Smith, Jr., 4-H program leader with Agricultural
Extension Service at North Carolina State Universi
ty. Ms. Dickerson, 16-year-old daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Frank L. Dickerson, Jr., received her trip
from Simplicity Pattern Co. as state winner in the
4-H fashion revue. She modeled in the national 4-H
fashion revue.
You can learn to write, make money
and have fun at The Carolina Times
The Carolina Times needs good free lance writers!
We need feature writers, sports writers and writers who can pro
duce in-depth, comprehensive and hard-hitting articles on subjects
ranging from urban affairs to arts and culture.
By writing for us on a free lance basis, you can keep your present
job or go to school and learn a well-paying profession at the same
time.
No Experience Is Needed!
We teach you all yob need to know. Here's how it works.
You start out by attending our free six-weeks workshop "How to
Write for The Carolina Times." It meets once a week from 7 to 9 p.m.
After that, you are given assignments, and helped along on skills
such as research, interviewing, developing sources.
And We Pay You Too!
. We are currently paying the top free lance rates in this market, and
obviously, the more you learn, the better you write, the more we pay.
Don't miss an outstanding opportunity. For more information, send
your resume, and a one-page report: "Why I Want to Write for The
Carolina Times" to Milton Jordan, Executive Editor, P.O. Box 3825,
Durham, N.C. 27702.
Here comes
-;- ii-..' X, .',.' V-;-.i . v-4, .'i -
Afresh
new taste experience
that outshines menthol.
It not only tastes fresher while you smoke.
It even leaves you with a clean, fresh taste.
i
A
7 mg. "tar", 0.5 mg. nicotine
av.per cigarette by FTC method.
Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined
That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.
3 WXWm tffM4tfeb