Poverty and Prosperity: Prospects for Reducing Racial/Ethnic Economic Disparities in the United States

  • Sheldon Danziger
  • Deborah Reed
  • Tony N. Brown
Chapter

Abstract

Almost 15 years ago, the Committee on the Status of Black Americans, appointed by the National Research Council, issued a report, A Common Destiny: Blacks and American Society (Jaynes and Williams, 1989). The report presented a comprehensive review of changes in the social, economic and political status of black Americans between 1940 and the mid-1980s. The first paragraph of the preface concisely summarizes the Committee’s conclusions:

This report documents the unfinished agenda of a nation still struggling to come to terms with the consequences of its history of relations between black and white Americans. In many ways this history has left a legacy of pain, and the report would be remiss if it did not emphasize that fact. In the pages that follow, we describe many improvements in the economic, political and social position of black Americans. We also describe the continuance of conditions of poverty, segregation, discrimination, and social fragmentation of the most serious proportion. (p. ix)

Keywords

Racial Discrimination Poverty Rate High School Degree Russell Sage Foundation Racial Attitude 
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Copyright information

© UNRISD 2005

Authors and Affiliations

  • Sheldon Danziger
  • Deborah Reed
  • Tony N. Brown

There are no affiliations available

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