The Black Community in the 1980s: Questions of Race, Class, and Public Policy

• Author: William Julius Wilson
• DOI: 10.1177/000271628145400104
• Published date: 01 March 1981
• Date: 01 March 1981
• Subject Matter: Articles

The Black Community in the 1980s:
Questions of Race, Class, and Public Policy
By WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON
ABSTRACT: Because the dissimilar effects of policy pro-
grams on different segments of the black population are
usually not specified or recognized, recent developments
involving Blacks are puzzling to observers of race relations.
This article argues for a return to the emphasis on the eco-
nomic dimensions of racial inequality that characterized
important writings on race in the mid-1960s. The deteriorating
economic conditions of the black poor and the changes in their
family structure are discussed and analyzed. Aguments are
advanced for why it is important to distinguish the black
poor’s situation from that of more prosperous Blacks, and for
why their economic plight calls for public policies sig-
nificantly different from the race-oriented programs that
have benefited the black middle class.
William Julius Wilson is the Lucy Flower Professor of Urban Sociology and is
chairman of the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago. He is
author of Power, Racism, and Privilege: Race Relations in Theoretical and
Sociohistorical Perspectives (1973); The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks
and Changing American Institutions (1978), second edition (1980); and coeditor of
Through Different Eyes: Black and White Perspectives on American Race Relations
(1973). He is currently working on a forthcoming book on race, class, and public
policy, to be published by the University of Chicago Press.
NOTE: An extended, and somewhat different version of this article, under the title
&dquo;Barriers to Labor Market Access: Questions of Class, Race, and Public Policy,&dquo; appeared in
Adherent: A Journal of Comprehensive Employment Training and Human Resources
Development, 7(2) (Dec. 1980).
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27
CIVIL rights supporters are puz- of the black community and for the
zled by recent developments
future of race relations in America.
in the black community. Despite the
passage of antidiscrimination leg-
CHANGING DEFINITIONS OF
islation and the creation of affirma-
THE PROBLEM
tive action programs, they sense that
conditions are getting worse not bet-
In the mid-1960s, a series of in-
ter for the vast majority of black
sightful articles were written by
Americans. This perception emerges
black and white intellectuals that
because of the constant flow of pes-
raised questions about the direc-
simistic reports concerning the sharp
tion and goals of the black protest
rise in black unemployment, the
movement.’ Basically, the authors
substantial decline of blacks in the
of these articles made it clear that
labor force, the steady drop in the
from 1955 to 1965, the chief ob-
black-white family income ratio,
jectives of the Civil Rights move-
the consistent increase in the per-
ment were to integrate public ac-
centage of Blacks on the welfare
commodations and to eliminate black
roles, the remarkable growth of
disfranchisement. These were mat-
single-parent households, and the
ters of constitutional rights and basic
persistent problems of black crime
human dignity, matters that affected
and black victims of crime. The per-
Blacks and other minorities exclu-
ception is reinforced by the almost
sively and therefore could be defined
uniform cry among black leaders
and addressed simply as problems
that not only are conditions de-
of civil rights. However, these au-
teriorating, but white Americans
thors noted that despite the spec-
have abandoned the cause of Blacks
tacular victories in the area of civil
as well. In the face of these de-
rights, by the latter half of the 1960s,
velopments, there are noticeable
a more complex and fundamental set
signs that demoralization has set in
of problems had yet to be attacked-
among many Blacks who have come
problems of jobs, education, and
to believe that &dquo;nothing really works&dquo;
housing that affected not only Blacks,
and among many whites who are
but other minorities and Whites as
otherwise committed to social reform.
well.
However, a careful review of the
A
consistent theme nmning through-
issues makes it immediately clear
out these articles is that in the
that significant variations in the
period from 1955 to 1965, all Blacks,
black experience tend not to be
noted or appreciated and that the
1. Bayard Rustin, "From Protest to Politics:
differing effect of policy programs on
The Future of the Civil Rights Movement,"
different segments of the black pop-
Commentary (Feb. 1964); idem, "A Way
ulation are usually not specified. In
Out of the Exploding Ghetto," New York
this article, these
Times
issues
Magazine (13 Aug. 1967); idem, "The
are exam-
Lessons of the Long Hot Summer," Com-
ined within the context of a broader
mentary (Oct. 1967); Tom Kahn, "Problems
framework of macroeconomic and
of the Negro Movement," Dissent 11:108-
political change. In the process I
38 (winter 1964); and Kenneth B. Clark, "The
hope to focus
Present Dilemma of the
on a series of mount-
Negro" (Paper pre-
sented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern
ing problems that are not receiving
Regional Council, Atlanta, Georgia, 2 Nov.
serious attention, but that have pro-
1967) (hereafter cited as "The Present Di-
found implications for the structure
lemma of the Negro").

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28
regardless of their station in life,
than the issue of civil rights. The
were concerned about the banning
late Martin Luther King, Jr., recog-
of discrimination in public accom-
nized this point in 1968 when shortly
modations and in voting. As Bayard
before his death he asked, &dquo;What
Rustin observed, &dquo;Ralph Bunch was
good is it to be allowed to eat in a
as likely to be refused service in a
restaurant if you can’t afford a ham-
restaurant or a hotel as any illiterate
burger?&dquo;5 It would not be unfair to
sharecropper. This common bond
suggest that he was probably in-
prevented the latent class differences
fluenced by the thoughts of Bayard
and resentments from being openly
Rustin who, four years earlier in his
expressed.&dquo;2 However, it did not
now
classic article &dquo;From Protest to
take long to realize that the group
Politics,&dquo; phrased the matter in much
that had profited the most from the
the same way: &dquo;What is the value of
civil rights legislation up to 1965
winning access to public accommo-
were middle-class Blacks-Blacks
dations for those who lack money
who had competitive resources such
to use them ?&dquo;6
as steady incomes, education, and
Thus the removal of artificial racial
special talents. As Kenneth Clark
barriers would not enable poor Blacks
argued in 1967, &dquo;The masses of
to compete equally with other groups
Negroes are now starkly aware of
in society for valued resources be-
the fact that recent civil rights vic-
cause of an accumulation of dis-
tories benefited a very small per-
advantages flowing from previous
centage of middle-class Negroes
periods of prejudice and discrimina-
while their predicament remained
tion, disadvantages that have been
the same or worsened.&dquo;3
passed on from generation to gen-
What these observers were telling
eration. Basic structural changes in
us in the mid-1960s is that a close
our
modern industrial economy have
examination of ghetto black discon-
compounded the problems of poor
tent, most dramatically revealed in
Blacks because education and train-
the riots of that period, revealed
ing have become more important
issues that transcended the creation
for entry into the more desirable
and implementation of civil rights
and higher-paying jobs and because
laws. &dquo;To the segregation by race,&dquo;
the increased reliance on labor-
Bayard Rustin observed in 1967,
saving devices has contributed to a
&dquo;was now added segregation by
surplus of untrained black workers.
class, and all the problems created
In short, once the movement faced
by segregation and poverty-in-
these more fundamental issues, ar-
adequate schooling, substandard and
gued Rustin in 1964, &dquo;it was com-
overcrowded housing, lack of access
pelled to expand its version beyond
to jobs and job training, narcotics and
race relations to economic relations,
crime-were greatly aggravated. &dquo;4
including the role of education in
In short, for ghetto Blacks the issue
society.&dquo;’
of human rights is far more important
During the same period in which
problems of structural inequality
were being raised, scholars such as
2. Rustin, "The Lessons of the Long Hot
Summer."
5. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Showdown for
3. Clark, "The Present Dilemma of the
Non-Violence," Look, 32:23-25 (16 April
Negro," p. 8.
1978).
4. Bayard Rustin, "The Blacks and the
6. Rustin, "From Protest to Politics."
Unions," Harper Magazitie, May 1971.
7. Ibid.

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29
Kenneth Clark and Lee Rainwater
&dquo;culture of poverty&dquo; thesis to explain
were also raising important issues
group disadvantages, the works of
about the experiences of inequality.’
Clark and Rainwater not only pre-
Both scholars sensitively examined
sented a sensitive portrayal of the
the cumulative effects of chronic
destructive features of ghetto life,
subordination and racial isolation on
they also provided a comprehensive
life and behavior in the urban ghet-
analysis of the deleterious structural
tos. As Kenneth Clark put it, &dquo;The
conditions that produce these features.
symptoms of lower-class society af-
However, arguments stressing eco-
fect the dark ghettos of America-
nomic relations in determining the
low aspirations, poor education, fam-
structure of...