The Impact of Diminishing Discrimination on the Internal Size Distribution of Black Income: 1954–74

• Published in: Social forces Vol. 56; no. 4; pp. 1019 - 1034
• Main Authors: Villemez, Wayne J., Wiswell, Candace Hinson
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chapel Hill, N.C The University of North Carolina Press 01.06.1978; University of North Carolina Press
• Subjects: African Americans; Black people; Black/Blacks; Censuses; Discrimination; Distribution/Distributions; Economic trends; Income distribution; Income inequality; Income/Incomes; Inequality/Inequalities; Liberalism; Median income; Size distribution; Size distribution of income; Social integration
• ISSN: 0037-7732; 1534-7605
• DOI: 10.1093/sf/56.4.1019

A number of studies have sought to ascertain the scope of black economic gains in the last two decades. The extent of these gains is still under debate, but observers agree that some gains have been made. The locus of these gains in the black sector has not been adequately demonstrated. This paper examines income data for males from 1954–74 to determine the pattern of reduction in black-white inequality and the concomitant variation of those reductions with changes in the size distribution of black income. Findings show that, in the industrial non-South, decreasing black-white inequality has been accompanied by increasing inequality among blacks, and there are indications that most black economic gains have occurred at the top of the black distribution. The data argue against the possibility of long-range improvements in the coeconomic status of blacks as a group. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.