In the generation after 1940, blacks made major progress, narrowing economic differentials between them and others while discriminatory barriers began a real decline. However, black economic progress since about 1970 has been far more uneven, not mainly because of residual racial prejudice but rather largely because government efforts to alleviate poverty and other problems have disproportionately hurt African Americans, destroying robust family lives, leading to reduced workforce participation, and making disproportionate numbers of blacks de facto wards of the state.
Four Centuries of Black Economic Progress in America
Ideological Posturing versus Empirical Realities
By Richard K. Vedder
This
article
appeared in
the Fall 2021 issue of The Independent Review.
Other Independent Review articles by Richard K. Vedder | ||
Fall 2013 | The Declining Importance of Race and Gender in the Labor Market:The Role of Employment Discrimination Policies | |
Spring 2002 | For-Profit Schools Are Making a Comeback | |
Summer 2000 | Heavens Door:Immigration Policy and the American Economy | |
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