The changing status of economic minorities, 1948–1977

Conclusion Our results indicate that the median income of economic minorities relative to that of whites does not adequately represent the entire income distribution. Among black males, for example, only the lower half of the income distribution experiences a significant change in relative income over the business cycle. The secular trend shows similar variation. Black men at the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles experienced significant gains relative to whites in the 1965–77 period while there was little improvement among blacks in the 90th percentile. Using a measure of central tendency to generalize about the entire distribution of an economic minority is a dubious proposition. While this may seem like a trival point, it should be remembered that in today’s political climate such credence is being given to improvement in the general health of the economy as the best way to foster economic progress for economic minorities, while less general remedies, such as affirmative action, are rapidly being deemphasized.