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This article presents a discussion of a paper that examined the economic status of blacks in the U.S. The authors addresses how both past and current discrimination negatively impacts the economic status of blacks and the distribution of wealth in the black community. The author shows how discrimination impacts level of education, which in turn impacts occupation, which inevitably impacts level of income. The author notes that greater analysis is needed in order to understand the interdependence of discrimination and the distribution of the explanatory variables associated with discrimination.

Considers the traditional view of the causes of the black race poverty by reviewing a number of studies, demonstrating that poverty among the blacks in the United States is the consequence of discrimination. Negative effect of educational and training differences on the employment status of the black race; Alternative interpretation of the demand for nonwhite labor; Need for Black capitalism.

For many years sociologists have done research on race relations in the United States, especially between Negroes and whites. In the past decade, hospitals and the health professions have also been popular objects of sociological inquiry. But thus far, there has been relatively little study of race relations in health organizations. Although some attention has been paid to the contribution of low-status hospital workers to the therapeutic process, the extent to which the race of the low-status worker may influence the contribution has not been studied. This paper presents some data contrasting patient perceptions of subprofessional low-status Negro hospital workers with patient perceptions of the professional high-status white hospital staff. The data suggest that from the patient's point of view (1) Negro aides, orderlies, housekeepers, food service personnel, etc. are more effective in meeting the patients' needs for expressive care than white nurses and physicians; and (2) these individuals' low status, Negro race, and sub-professional affiliation directly contribute to their effectiveness. If supported by further research, these hypotheses would have important implications for the sociology of race relations and for professional practice in patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presumably, a Negro family receiving $2,400 annually would experience, because of such low income, discomfort identical with that experienced by a white family in exactly the same circumstances. There is a need for this special paper on Negro poverty because, in America, the white and Negro situations are never identical. Surely, because of discrimination, poor Negroes are psychologically more discomfited than poor whites. But economists do not investigate such discomfiture. At least five economic considerations distinguish Negro from white poverty. First, $1,000 buys less for a poor Negro than for a poor white. Second, the demographic cross-section of the Negro poor is unlike that of the white poor. Third, poor Negroes suffer though the general real benefits from secular changes in urban renewal, education medians, agriculture, manufacturing location, technology, and social minimum wages. Fourth, the effect of government transfer payments is different for poor Negroes than for poor whites. Fifth, discrimination operates against Negroes to restrict access to education and to the jobs that can provide an escape from poverty.

Recent events have reactivated controversy concerning two questions: (1) Is the low-income American Negro family showing "rapid deterioration" or continuance of low-standing patterns? (2) Are its patterns mainly rooted in the legacy of slavery? This analysis sees a long-standing picture rather than drastic change and relates family pattern primarily to postslavery conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers an explanation for the employment status of Negroes in the aerospace industry in the United States. Statistics show employment by race, sex, occupational group, and region. Regional differences in New England, Middle Atlantic, Midwest, South, and West Coast are discussed, as well as specific regions for 1966. Reasons for the low employment status of minorities include: a job structure that requires skilled workers; locational factors such as test facilities in remote areas; seniority systems where blacks are reluctant to bid for jobs; and training that is basic for job entry--not advancement. Two labor unions, the Congress of Racial Equality, and affirmative action are mentioned.

An urgent social problem of special interest to marketing people is discussed in this article. Until recently blacks have primarily operated marginal businesses not particularly attractive to outsiders. Now, one of the thrusts of the black community is business development. Blacks are interested in owning and operating more substantial retailing and light manufacturing businesses. Plans are being made by blacks to develop a wide variety of businesses. The extent to which black will succeed in their undertaking depends heavily upon the response of the white business community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article relates racial integration history and separatist attitudes in the United States, with a focus on Negroes in American industries. Herbert R. Northrup and Richard L. Rowan of the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce published their research results, "The Racial Policies of American Industry," which analyzed the economic status of black workers. Factors contributing to cultural separatism are discussed. Black workers have been successful in finding employment in the expanding industries of banking, aerospace, and automobile manufacturing. Earlier research by E. Franklin Frazier and by Daniel Moynihan found that, although there has been socioeconomic progress for the Negro working and middle classes, there has been a decline for the more disadvantages groups.

Discusses key issues concerning training recruitment programs for African-Americans in rural areas in the U.S. in 1965. Facilitative factors; Inhibitive factors; Implications on the social sciences.

This article provides an examination of Negro employment patterns for the South and the Northeast over 1940-60. The first step in the examination is to review differences in occupational structure between Negroes and non-Negroes in the respective areas. Following this, interregional racial employment patterns are compared over time. The major conclusions to be demonstrated are as follows: Employment patterns in 1940 were drawn on very sharp racial lines in both the Northeast and South. In both areas the stratification of 1940 employment was much more rigid for female Negroes than for males. The shift over 1940-60 away from racial employment patterns has been occurring at a moderate rate in the Northeast and has been more or less non-existent in the South. In fact, southern male Negroes appear to be faced by increasingly more rigid racial employment patterns over time. Within the Northeast the relative gains of female Negroes in the direction of equality of occupational status have been most marked. Although there are variations of degree, the message is clear from each of the measures of racial employment differences. Both the Northeast and South began the period under review with a very heavy racial structuring across major occupations. Some progress toward racial equality has been made in the Northeast. Very little in the way of progress toward racial equality has been made in the South.

This article focuses on several programs for the economic development of the Negro communities in the U.S. Earlier patterns of action to move the Negro into the institutional structure of American society have achieved limited objectives. Recent programs legislated by governments and those undertaken by civil rights organizations have progressed slowly in achieving social, political and economic equality for the Negro. Economic integration through jobs and skills training is no longer receiving priority in the Negro actions for economic and social equality. The primary and current orientation in the quest for economic participation is the drive for Black ownership and control of economic resources, or Black capitalism. Within this context militant leaders of national organizations have bypassed the historical emphasis of civil rights organizations on attempting to achieve economic integration through jobs and skills training. They argue that economic development for the Negro can only come through Black ownership and Black control of productive resources. The tactical dilemma facing the Negro is whether to attempt to build viable Black economic institutions within the existing and largely White economic structure, or to establish these institutions within a separate, all-Black environment.

World War II and the subsequent release of suppressed consumer demand resulted in high levels of economic activity and prosperity for the American people. Observers generally agree that the economic status of the Negro, measured in absolute terms, improved significantly during the 1940's. Disagreement is more likely to arise about changes in the economic status of the Negro relative to that of the White. The purpose of this article is to refine existing estimates of the relative gains of the Negro during the 1940's and to investigate the effects of upward occupational mobility, geographical mobility and changes in the racial age-education distributions upon the relative economic status of the Negro during the 1940's. To accomplish this an expanded version of the occupational index will be used. The use of an index is necessary since income data, which are comparable between 1940 and 1950, are given only on a national basis. The use of such data would preclude any regional analysis, thereby making it impossible to measure the effect of geographical mobility. In addition, it is generally recognized that depressed business conditions have a greater impact upon the Negro worker than upon the White worker. The severe depression of the 1930's undoubtedly reduced the Negro's relative income below what may be considered its long-term normal value.

The article cites a study that investigated the progress in the employment equality of African Americans since 1940. According to the author, in 1940 African Americans almost achieved equality at the operative level as well as on other levels of employment, however male African American professionals failed to keep up with the white male professionals which increased by 36.9%. At the end of the investigation, researchers found that employment equality of African American workers is indicative of a ratio in each occupational group equal to their population ratio.