Losing Ground

I saw a disturbing article in the New York times last week (I blog in slow motion), and felt compelled to bring it to the attention of anyone who might care. It comments on the findings of the Brookings institute's research regarding economic mobility in black and white families. Some of the most jarring statistics were those which demonstrated a downward trend among black families' economic success over the last generation.

"..almost half (45 percent) of black children whose parents were solidly middle class end up falling to the bottom of the income distribution, compared to only 16 percent of white children. Achieving middle-income status does not appear to protect black children from future economic adversity the same way it protects white children."

I have always taken a strong stance on black under achievement, some may even say that I am too harsh. But I find it difficult to interpret these statistics in a manner which does not implicate black parents in their own children's' failure. If we know that racism is a less potent inhibitor of academic and economic progress today than it was in the past, and the older generation is capable of attaining middle class status. Then it would only make sense that each generation should be doing better than the previous one. Black children losing academic and economic ground gained by their parents is an indication that parents are not instilling the discipline and work ethic that they relied on to achieve their own success. The Brookings Institute demonstrates that the major difference between white and black middle class families of equal income are lower black male incomes, and the high rate of single parenthood in the black family. In other words, the black family is unraveling. And despite middle class incomes in some families, money alone is not enough to ensure that children will remain on the straight and narrow. I've made it known in the past, that I don't believe that we as a people will ever reverse this negative trend, and I see this study as strong support of my beliefs. If a sizable portion of the legitimately successful among us are not passing it along to their children, then what does the future hold? I am confident that there will continue to be individual black children from all classes and family structures who will succeed (both with and without the help of mentors), but as a whole, I'm afraid that the downward spiral will claim far more than it allows to escape. Of course, I will never see this as a reason to stop reaching out to children in need.