HAT economic advances have been made by American Negroes after
a decade of heroic struggle, how have they fared in relation to the white population? Both liberals of the New York Times variety and Negro moderates like the Urban League would have it that vast strides towards economic equality with white workers have been made as a result of a combination of mass struggle and enlightened legislation.
The facts, however, contradict these claims. An article, “The Decline in the Relative Incomes of Negro Men” by Alan B. Batcheldor of Ohio State University in the Quarterly Journal of Economics shows that during the 1950s the gap between the incomes of white and Negro workers, far from getting smaller, was increasing, that relatively they are worse off now than 15 years ago:
Income Income ratio,
Negro over white Negro to white
1949 1959 1949 1959 WB a ieicey ops ee 1334. 2254 §2.32 51.96
2572 4337 North-East — is51)...0.5<- 2061 3326 74.70 71.94
2759 4623 North Central ..,......... 2210 3468 81.22 76.64.
2721 4525