False Racism Narrative

"That dog won't hunt."
--Wade Garrett (Roadhouse)

As in times past, Prof Williams challenges the popular narrative that problems encountered by black Americans today are mostly rooted in racism and a legacy of slavery. Instead, he presents data suggesting that these problems are grounded issues such as:

Breakdown of family structure. Female headed households as a percent of total black households: 1950 18%, today close to 70%. In 1925, 85% of black households in NYC were two parent households. Poverty rate among black married households has been in single digits since 1994.

Out-of-wedlock births. Percent of black children born to single mothers: 1938 11%, today 80%+.

Youth unemployment. Nationally, black unemployment averages 40% and tops 60% in some cities. Youth unemployment in 1948: blacks 9.4%, whites 10.2%. Labor force participation rates among black teens: early 1900s equal to or higher than white teens, today a fraction of white teens.

Williams' point is this. If racism was the primary underlying cause of black socioeconomic problems today, and the data suggest that these problems are getting worse, then the implication is that racism has been on the rise for the past half century. Claiming such will strike most as ludicrous. Gathering evidence to effectively support this claim is an uphill battle.

Which is why supporters of the institutional racism myth don't do so. Instead, they prefer to chant the narrative and believe the fiction.