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Protests spread across the US after the death of George Floyd
In the weeks following the death of George Floyd, much has been said about the long struggle by African Americans for equality in the US.
It is 57 years this August since civil rights leader Martin Luther King led the March on Washington to demand racial justice.
So how much progress have black people in the US made since the 1960s? We’ve looked at six measures.
1. Family wealth
In 2016, the latest data available, the average wealth of a white family was almost seven times more than a black family in the US.
The black-white wealth gap was larger in 2016 than it was in 1983, when black family wealth data was first collected.
Average US family wealth by race 1963-2016
In the 1960s, the data collected had non-whites all grouped together, rather than in separate groups.
The disparity was at a similar level then as in the most recent data, with white families having about seven times more wealth on average than non-white families.
Researchers at the Brookings Institute say: “The wealth gap reflects a society that has not and does not afford equality of opportunity to all its citizens.”
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Martin Luther King led the March on Washington, in 1963, to demand civil and economic equality
Wealth is calculated by a family’s assets – such as a house or savings – minus their debts.
Inheritance accounts for roughly 4% of annual household income in the US – so generational inequalities continue to have an impact, with less money being passed down through black families.
In 2016, an average white family’s wealth was over $700,000 (£550,000) more than that of an average black family.
2. Poverty
Although the wealth disparity remains significant, African Americans have become more economically well off since the 1960s.
A smaller proportion live in poverty than ever before, according to the latest data.
Poverty rate by race 1966-2018
In 2018, the black poverty rate was 20.8% – about half of that in 1966.
The white poverty rate has remained relatively steady.
There are 8.9 million African Americans living in poverty, according to the latest US Census Bureau data.
Poverty in the US is calculated by judging if a family’s total income is less than the family’s needs.
If it is, then every person in that family is considered to be in poverty.
3. Completing college
This is another area in which progress has been made since the 1960s.
More African Americans had completed four years of higher education by 2019 than ever before – 26% compared with just 4% in 1962.
College attainment 1962 v 2019
Percentage of people who completed four or more years of college
College attainment by white Americans has also increased since the 1960s – but at about half the rate.
4. Jobs
The African-American unemployment rate reached a record low of 5.5% in September last year – but it has spiked sharply because of the huge impact of the coronavirus crisis on the US economy.
Before this, the white unemployment rate had consistently been about half of the black unemployment rate since records began, in the 1970s.
The recent uptick in job losses has also disproportionately affected African Americans – their unemployment rate is 3.5% higher than the overall figure.
5. Wages
There hasn’t been much movement in the disparity between the wages of black and white Americans either.
The average income of black households is about 60% less than that of white households, with this disparity barely changing over the past 50 years.
Black wages have gone up, but roughly in line with white wages.
And today’s average wage adjusted for inflation has about the same purchasing power as it did 40 years ago.
6. Representation in Congress
Progress has been made in black representation in politics, with today’s US Congress being the most diverse ever.
The current Congress – the US legislative branch of government, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate – has 55 African-American members, up from 50 in the previous term.
As voting rights and protections were expanded during the civil rights movement, the number of black lawmakers increased.
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Lauren Underwood became the youngest black woman elected to Congress, in 2019, aged 32
The first elected Congress of the 1960s had just four African-American members – but by the end of the 1960s, there were 11.
This number has continued to grow and has more than doubled since the start of the 1990s.
