African American incomes lag

November 12, 2007 (posted by Mona Tawatao)

The Brookings Institution reports that though incomes have increased among white and African American families over the last 30 years, the income gap between black and white has grown due to declining incomes of black men. In 1974, the average African American family’s income was 63 percent of the average white family’s. As of 2004 that figure has dropped to 58 percent, in large part due to declining income among black men. The Brookings reports are based on a longitudinal study (30 years) of 2,300 families. “Too many Americans, whites and even some blacks, think that the playing field has indeed leveled,” says Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, as quoted by the Associated Press.

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