Changes in Employment Prospects for Black Males

Abstract

Two general assessments of black economic progress prevail in the United States today. Prominent economic studies emphasize a converging trend in the earnings of blacks and of whites. Among these studies, Richard Freeman's description of a virtual collapse in traditional discriminatory patterns in the labor market makes the point most sharply. James Smith and Finis Welch, although more cautious, reach a similar conclusion. The assessment of more popular writers is, paradoxically, more complex. It holds that there is a growing split within the black community, with some blacks making significant gains while other blacks are becoming progressively worse off. Some writers view the split in terms of labor supply. They interpret the data as reflecting a growing black middle class