Ken Berwitz
It would be foolhardy to argue that slavery has had noeffect or that racial discrimination, greed and income inequality arenonexistent. The relevant question is: How much of what we see today can beexplained by slavery, discrimination, greed and income inequality?
As late as 1950,female-headed households were only 18 percent of the black population. Todayit\’s close to 70 percent. In the late 1800s, there were only slight differencesbetween the black family structure and those of other ethnic groups. In NewYork City in 1925, 85 percent of kin-related black households were two-parenthouseholds. In 1938, 11 percent of black children were born to single mothers;today it is close to 75 percent. In some cities and neighborhoods, thepercentage of out-of-wedlock births is over 80.
Faced with theevidence that black families were healthier at a time when blacks were just ageneration or two out of slavery, at a time when there was far greater racialdiscrimination and there were far fewer opportunities, how much credence can begiven to the legacy-of-slavery argument to explain today\’s weak familystructure? Does the effect of a legacy of slavery somehow skip fivegenerations?
One of the best-kept secrets is the fact that the povertyrate among black married couples has been in single digits since 1994.
Another devastatingproblem for blacks is the high unemployment rate in general, but particularlyamong black youth. Nationally, black youth unemployment is nearly 40 percent.In some cities, it is over 60 percent. In 1948, the unemployment rate for black teens was slightly lessthan that of their white counterparts — 9.4 percent compared with 10.2. Duringthat same period, black youths were either just as active in the labor force ormore so than white youths.
So what explains theemployment statistics of yesteryear compared with those of today? Would oneargue that the reason that black teens had a lower unemployment rate and higherlabor force participation rate than whites was that there was less racialdiscrimination in the 1940s than there is today? Would one argue that blackshad greater skills than whites in earlier periods? Whatever explains thedifferences, racial discrimination is not part of the answer.
