Civil Rights by 1980 Flashcards
The living standards of African Americans by 1980
By 1980, 12% of the population was African American.
43% of them were living on welfare
34% living in subsidised housing
35% received food stamps
In 1980, the Urban Institute calculated that there were 900,000 members of a black ‘under-class’ = single female headed households, welfare dependent, marginally educated (not finished high school), chronically unemployed, in and out of jail.
Not all bad? Some improvements
In 1975, 64.8% of 18-24 year olds completed high school.
By 1980, 8% of young black people had graduated from college, up from 3% in 1960
Still a level of segregation
Blacks numbered 26.5 million in 1980, 11.7% of the total population, with 85% residing in urban areas compared to 71% of whites. Some suburbanization is now occurring among blacks but the majority remain segregated in central cities.
A socio-economic gap remaining
There were continuing socioeconomic disadvantages: median family income is 56% that of whites; the poverty rate is 3.5 times higher; unemployment is twice as high. However, the gap between education levels between black and white had by this stage shrunk dramatically.
