Data Proves that Slavery has Little to do with the Current Plight of African-Americans
Wow.
The brilliant economist and political thinker (and Professor at George Mason University) Walter E. Williams has a new column
up at CNS News discussing modern black America. Professor Williams is a
conservative African-American who is often at odds with the liberal
orthodoxy on the problems within the black community, and his latest
commentary is no different. In his latest effort, Williams discusses the
mythology that has arisen around the current problems in the black
community – particularly fatherlessness, broken families and
unemployment. Listen as Williams demolishes some commonly held liberal
beliefs, such as today’s problems can be traced back to slavery.“Hustlers and people with little understanding want us to believe that today’s black problems are the continuing result of a legacy of slavery, poverty and racial discrimination. The fact is that most of the social pathology seen in poor black neighborhoods is entirely new in black history. Let’s look at some of it.
Today the overwhelming majority of black children are raised in single female-headed families. As early as the 1880s, three-quarters of black families were two-parent. In 1925 New York City, 85 percent of black families were two-parent. One study of 19th-century slave families found that in up to three-fourths of the families, all the children had the same mother and father.
Today’s black illegitimacy rate of nearly 75 percent is also entirely new. In 1940, black illegitimacy stood at 14 percent. It had risen to 25 percent by 1965, when Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action” and was widely condemned as a racist. By 1980, the black illegitimacy rate had more than doubled, to 56 percent, and it has been growing since. Both during slavery and as late as 1920, a teenage girl raising a child without a man present was rare among blacks.
image: http://cdn1.eaglerising.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Walter-E.-Williams-300x168.jpg
Much
of today’s pathology seen among many blacks is an outgrowth of the
welfare state that has made self-destructive behavior less costly for
the individual. Having children without the benefit of marriage is less
burdensome if the mother receives housing subsidies, welfare payments
and food stamps. Plus, the social stigma associated with unwed
motherhood has vanished. Female-headed households, whether black or
white, are a ticket for dependency and all of its associated
problems. Ignored in all discussions is the fact that the poverty rate
among black married couples has been in single digits since 1994.”Williams goes on to discuss similar problems when analyzing modern black unemployment rates and low earnings.
I was amazed by all of the FACTUAL information provided by Williams, which can be easily proved with just a little research. The numbers are staggering and the connection between the problems in the black community and the welfare state are so far more compelling that it seems almost laughable that liberals continue to blame slavery for these issues. The truth is staring them in the face and still they choose to ignore it.
I think I may have been most impressed with this statement, though.
“Ignored in all discussions is the fact that the poverty rate among black married couples has been in single digits since 1994.”
What is ironic in all of this, as Williams points out, is that the welfare state incentivizes bad behavior, which leads to terrible results. Under the American welfare system a single mother “earns” more from the government than a married couple, and the more kids that single mother has… the more money she “earns.” It’s a vicious cycle and the liberal welfare warriors just keep making things worse.
Will black America ever notice? I sure hope so.
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