The Declining Significance of Race: Revisited &

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The Declining Signi½cance of Race:
Revisited & Revised

William Julius Wilson

I published The Declining Signi½cance of Race: Blacks

and Changing American Institutions thirty-two years
ago, in 1978.1 Given the furor and controversy over
the book immediately following its publication, I
did not anticipate that it would go on to become a
classic. Indeed, the book’s impact on the ½eld of
race and ethnic relations–its arguments have been
discussed in nearly eight hundred empirical re-
search articles, not to mention the nonempirical
studies–lends credence to the idea of productive
controversy and to George Bernard Shaw’s famous
dictum: “[I]t is better to be criticized and misun-
derstood than to be ignored.” My motivation for
this essay is to reflect on responses to the book
that claim to provide an empirical test of my the-
sis. In the process, I indicate the extent to which
important ½ndings have influenced my thinking
WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, a since the book’s publication.
Fellow of the American Acade-
my since 1988, is the Lewis P. and
Linda L. Geyser University Pro-
The theoretical framework in The Declining Signi½-
fessor at Harvard University. His cance of Race relates racial issues to the economic
recent publications include When and political arrangements of society. I argued that
Work Disappears: The World of the changes in the system of production and in govern-
New Urban Poor (1996), which re- ment policies have affected, over time, black/white
ceived the Sidney Hillman Foun- access to rewards and privileges as well as racial
dation Award; There Goes the Neigh- antagonisms. I advanced this framework to accom-
borhood: Racial, Ethnic, and Class plish two major objectives: (1) to explain histori-
Tensions in Four Chicago Neighbor-
hoods and Their Meaning for Amer-
cal developments in U.S. race relations and (2) to
ica (with Richard Taub, 2007); and account for paradoxical changes in the black class
More than Just Race: Being Black structure whereby, beginning in the last few de-
and Poor in the Inner City (2009). cades of the twentieth century, the social and eco-

© 2011 by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

55
 “The nomic conditions of the black poor of individual African Americans. Several
Declining deteriorated while those of the black historical shifts accounted for these devel-
Signi½cance
of Race”: middle class improved. opments. In the preindustrial and indus-
Revisited In an elaboration of this framework, I trial periods, the basis of racial inequality
& Revised
focused on three periods of American was primarily economic; in most situa-
race relations: the preindustrial period tions, the state was merely an instrument
of antebellum slavery and the early post- to reinforce patterns of race relations
bellum era; the industrial period that be- that grew out of the social relations of
gan in the last quarter of the nineteenth production.2 Except for the brief period
century and ended at roughly the New of fluid race relations in the North from
Deal era; and the modern industrial 1870 to 1890, the state was a major instru-
post–World War II era. I pointed out ment of racial oppression.
that whether one focuses on the way State intervention designed to promote
race relations were structured by the racial equality, together with the recipro-
system of production, the polity, or both, cal relationship between the polity and
racial oppression–ranging from the ex- the economy, has characterized the mod-
ploitation of black labor by the business ern industrial period. Indeed, it is dif½-
class (including the plantation elite) to cult to determine which factor has been
the elimination of black competition for more important in shaping race relations
economic, political, and social resources since World War II. Economic expansion
by the white masses–was characteristic facilitated black movement from the ru-
of both the preindustrial and industrial ral areas of the South to the industrial
periods of American race relations. centers and created job opportunities
However, I noted that despite the prev- leading to greater occupational differen-
alence of various forms of racial oppres- tiation in the African American commu-
sion, the change from a preindustrial nity, as an increasing percentage of blacks
to an industrial system of production moved into semiskilled and skilled blue-
enabled African Americans to increase collar positions and white-collar posi-
their economic and political resources. tions. At the same time, government in-
The proliferation of jobs created by in- tervention (in response to the pressures
dustrial expansion helped generate and of increased black political resources and
sustain the continuous mass migration the civil rights protest movements) re-
of blacks from the rural South to urban moved many arti½cial discrimination
centers, especially the cities of the North barriers with municipal, state, and feder-
and West. As the urban black population al civil rights legislation. Moreover, state
grew and became more segregated, insti- intervention contributed to the more lib-
tutions and organizations in the African eral racial policies of the nation’s labor
American community also developed unions with protective union legislation.
alongside a business and professional These combined economic and political
class af½liated with these institutions. changes created a pattern of black occu-
Nonetheless, it was not until after pational upgrading that resulted, for ex-
World War II (the modern industrial ample, in a substantial decline of African
period) that black class structure began Americans in low-paying service jobs,
to take on some of the characteristics of unskilled labor, and farm jobs.
white class structure and that economic Given greater occupational differentia-
class gradually became more important tion, some aspects of structural economic
than race in determining the life chances change have resulted in a closer associa-

56 Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

tion between black occupational mobili- low-wage sector nor the corporate and William
ty and class af½liation. Access to higher- government sectors provide the basis for Julius
Wilson
paying jobs is increasingly based on edu- the kind of interracial job competition
cational criteria–a situation that distin- and conflict that plagued the economic
guishes the modern industrial period order in previous years. The absorption
from earlier systems of production and of blacks into industrial unions and the
that has made the position of the black federal government’s protective union
poor more precarious. In other words, legislation effectively negated manage-
the rapid growth of the corporate and ment’s ability to undercut the demands
government sectors has created a seg- of white workers for higher wages by
mented labor market that currently pro- replacing them with black workers. The
vides vastly different mobility opportu- traditional racial struggles for power and
nities for different segments of the Afri- privilege have largely shifted away from
can American population. On the one the economic sector and are now con-
hand, poorly trained and educationally centrated in the sociopolitical order, as
limited African Americans have seen racial tensions have more to do with ra-
their job prospects increasingly limited cial competition for public schools, mu-
to low-wage sector jobs, they have faced nicipal political systems, and residential
rising rates of unemployment and non- areas than with competition for jobs.
labor-force participation, and they have Although these developments within
endured slower movements out of pov- the sociopolitical order also affect the
erty. On the other hand, trained and edu- ultimate life chances of African Ameri-
cated African Americans have experi- cans, their respective impact on social
enced increased job opportunities in the mobility opportunities is not as great as
corporate and government sectors as a racial competition and antagonisms in
result of the expansion of white-collar the economic sector.
positions and the pressures of state af- Thus, the original argument, as out-
½rmative action programs. lined in The Declining Signi½cance of Race,
Accordingly, the mobility pattern of was not that race is no longer signi½cant
blacks is consistent with the view that in or that racial barriers between blacks
the modern industrial period, economic and whites have been eliminated. Rather,
class has become more important than in comparing the contemporary situation
race in predetermining job placement of African Americans to their situation
and occupational mobility for African in the past, the diverging experiences of
Americans. In the economic realm, the blacks along class lines indicate that race
black experience has moved historically is no longer the primary determinant of
from economic racial oppression experi- life chances for blacks (in the way it had
enced by virtually all African Americans been historically).
to the economic subordination of the
black poor. As a result, a deepening eco-
nomic schism has developed in the Afri-
I n a paper reflecting on the critical
reaction to The Declining Signi½cance of
can American community, with the Race immediately following publica-
black poor falling further and further tion of the book, the late sociologist
behind higher-income blacks. Robin M. Williams, Jr., pointed out:
Moreover, the center of racial conflict
Despite the author’s explicit quali½cations
has shifted from the industrial sector to
and speci½cations, some critics seem to
the sociopolitical order. Neither the

140 (2) Spring 2011 57

 “The miss one of the author’s central points: Of the universe of empirical studies
Declining that both racial discrimination and class that claim to respond to The Declining
Signi½cance
of Race”: position importantly affect life-chances Signi½cance of Race, I would like to high-
Revisited and that it is the changing character of the light the high-quality publications that
& Revised
interaction of the two structural conditions correctly address my thesis–including
that is critical for understanding the pres- studies that fundamentally uphold or
ent situation. The increasing differentials provide partial support for my arguments
within the black population in income, as well as those that challenge my basic
education, occupational prestige, and claims. In the process, I will show how
power-authority seem clear beyond dis- some of these studies have led me to re-
pute. That past-institutionalized racism vise or extend parts of my basic thesis,
has powerfully shaped these differentials especially as it pertains to race and in-
is equally plain, as is the fact that large terracial relations today.
average interracial differentials continue
to exist. What Wilson argues is only that
economic class has become more impor-
I n her important book Facing Up to the
American Dream, Harvard political scien-
tant than race in determining job place- tist Jennifer Hochschild states, “One has
ment and occupational mobility, as sig- not really succeeded in America unless
nalized by the growth of a black middle one can pass on the chance for success to
class concurrently with the crystalliza- one’s children.”6 She highlights research
tion of a disproportionately large black on the occupational attainments and
underclass.3 mobility of blacks revealing that, as late
As Williams indicates, my basic argu- as 1960, there was no evidence to suggest
ment, including its underlying thesis– that the effect of economic class position
regarding the effect of economic and po- could rival the effect of race in terms of
litical changes on the shifting relative im- blacks’ achievements in occupation and
portance of race and class in black occu- income. Race, or skin color, was such
pational mobility and job placement– a powerful factor in life that it clearly
is largely unaddressed in the many hun- trumped class. As Hochschild puts it,
dreds of studies responding to The De- blacks “‘experienced a perverse sort of
clining Signi½cance of Race. For example, egalitarianism’–neither the disadvan-
many of the articles whose titles play on tages of poverty nor the advantages of
the phrase “the declining signi½cance of wealth made much difference in what
race” focus on issues that do not relate they could achieve or pass on to their
to my speci½c arguments–issues such children. Discrimination swamped
as environmental racial inequality, skin everything else.” However, beginning in
tone differentials, mate selection, Amer- the early 1960s, she argues, class began
ica’s drug crisis, capital punishment, and to affect career and generational mobil-
psychological well-being and quality of ity for blacks as it had done regularly
life.4 Others discuss residential segrega- for whites: “Well-off black men thus
tion, school racial composition, and dis- could begin for the ½rst time in Ameri-
crimination in public places without re- can history to expect their success to
lating reported ½ndings to my arguments persist and accumulate. Since 1973
regarding the shift in the concentration these trends have continued, although
of racial antagonisms from the econom- less dramatically.”7
ic sector to the sociopolitical order.5 The research that Hochschild cites
includes an important study by sociolo-

58 Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

gist Michael Hout of the University of region, Sakamoto and Tzeng found that William
California, Berkeley.8 Analyzing data on the effect of race was smaller in 1990 Julius
Wilson
intergenerational and intragenerational than in 1940 for every level of education
mobility of black men from the Occupa- and sector attainment investigated. Fur-
tional Changes in a Generation surveys thermore, when comparing the impact
of 1962 and 1973, Hout found support for of education with that of being black,
arguments advanced in The Declining Sig- they found that for the vast majority of
ni½cance of Race. More speci½cally, he re- black men in 1940, the racial disadvan-
vealed that between 1962 and 1973, class tage was greater in absolute value than
signi½cantly affected intragenerational the effect of education was; in 1990, how-
mobility for African Americans–a phe- ever, the reverse was true: education was
nomenon similar to class effects among a much more signi½cant factor than be-
whites. As class differences in intergener- ing black. Finally, class effects–in terms
ational mobility increased, African Amer- of relative educational attainment–sub-
ican men from the most advantaged stantially increased over this time span
socioeconomic backgrounds experi- for black men. “These results,” state
enced the greatest upward mobility.9 Sakamoto and Tzeng, “support Wilson’s
Although Hout’s ½ndings are impor- thesis of the declining signi½cance of
tant, as sociologists Arthur Sakamoto race, and they are consistent with his
and Jessie M. Tzeng explain, they “gen- claim that in the modern industrial pe-
erally pertain to the period immediately riod after the civil rights movement,
before and after the civil rights move- ‘economic class position [is] more im-
ment”; therefore, they do not cover the portant than race in determining black
wide temporal span of The Declining Sig- chances for occupational mobility.’”13
ni½cance of Race, “which is about changes Nonetheless, this comparison over
across broad historical periods.”10 By broad historical periods should not lead
analyzing the 1940 and 1990 Public Use us to overlook changes in the relative
Microdata Sample (pums) data sets (a importance of race and class within the
large, nationally representative sample current modern or postindustrial period.
of the occupational attainment of black Here, I would include changes that nar-
and white males in all sectors of the la- row or increase the role that either race
bor force), Sakamoto and Tzeng were or class plays in black occupational ad-
able to test my thesis over a broader time vancement. On this connection, Michael
span.11 They found that whereas race was Hout’s signi½cant 1984 ½ndings revealed
generally more important than class in that public-sector employment “provid-
determining occupational attainment ed more high and middle-class occupa-
among blacks during the industrial peri- tions for black men than did the private
od of 1940, class was clearly more impor- sector employment” and therefore played
tant than race in determining occupation- “an important role in both occupational
al attainment among black men during upgrading among blacks and the emer-
the modern industrial period of 1990. gence of class cleavages within the black
Indeed, their results “indicate that the population.”14 In The Declining Signi½cance
net disadvantage of being black is sub- of Race, I did not highlight the relative
stantially greater in the industrial period contribution of the government sector
than in the modern industrial period.”12 and the corporate sector to black occu-
More speci½cally, after controlling for pational gains. Given Hout’s ½ndings
labor-force experience, schooling, and (and his subsequent research on this is-

140 (2) Spring 2011 59

 “The sue, as discussed below), if I were writing when they entered the labor market. By
Declining The Declining Signi½cance of Race today, I contrast, younger educated blacks are
Signi½cance
of Race”: would not only place greater emphasis now entering, and are encouraged to en-
Revisited on black gains in the public sector and ter, ½nance, accounting, management,
& Revised
the major role of the polity in the crys- chemistry, engineering, and computer
tallization of a black class structure, I science–½elds from which they were
would also underline the role and impor- deterred previously. I quoted a 1978 paper
tance of af½rmative action programs. In by Clifton Wharton, then chancellor of
the process, I would discuss the impact the State University of New York, who
of a possible contraction in government stated, “[I]n 1966, 45 percent of all black
employment as well as waning public college graduates were majoring in edu-
support for af½rmative action on the oc- cation, today only 26 percent are. In 1966
cupational mobility of the more advan- only 5 percent of the Blacks were study-
taged and educated African Americans, ing business, today 18 percent are.”16
issues to which I now turn. I also stated that prior to the 1970s,
African American men more often en-
U sing data from the Current Population rolled in education programs than in pro-
grams that prepare students for higher-
Survey, sociologist Melvin E. Thomas
demonstrated that “contrary to the as- paying corporate jobs, such as business
sumption of the declining signi½cance or accounting. For all these reasons, the
of race thesis, blacks with higher levels incomes of older educated black males
of education were found to be worse off lag signi½cantly behind the incomes
than less educated, lower status blacks of comparable white males, whereas
when compared to similar whites.”15 I younger college-educated black males
½nd two shortcomings with Thomas’s had approached income parity with
treatment of my thesis. First, Thomas their white counterparts.
failed to disaggregate the data to show Recognizing the need to focus on
comparisons between younger and older younger educated blacks in the post–
educated blacks. Second, he neglected civil rights period to provide “an appro-
to mention that in the second edition priate test of the declining signi½cance
of The Declining Signi½cance of Race (pub- of race within the black middle class,”
lished in 1980), I referred to the signi½- sociologists In Soo Son, Suzanne W.
cant income gap between all college- Model, and Gene A. Fisher examined
educated African Americans and all col- “interracial differences in the net effect
lege-educated whites that still exists, of higher education among young work-
noting that this ½nding was largely a ers who entered the labor market after
consequence of the substantially lower the mid-1960s.” Analyzing data from
incomes of older educated blacks. the Panel Study of Income Dynamics
Denied the opportunity to move into (psid) from 1968 to 1981 on the occu-
higher paying occupations when they pational mobility and earnings attain-
graduated from college, or discouraged ment of young black and white males,
from pursuing such careers, older black the authors found “evidence of class
college graduates tend to be concentrated polarization among blacks in the era
in lower-paying ½elds such as teaching, following the 1960s’ antidiscrimination
social welfare, and segregated services; legislation.” In 1974, blacks lacking a
they were rarely employed as executives high school diploma earned 57 percent
or professionals in large corporations of what black college graduates earned,

60 Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

while the ½gure for comparable whites based on a subset of the data used by William
was 65 percent. By 1981, blacks without Hout, he stated: “Opportunities for Julius
Wilson
a high school diploma earned only 36.6 blacks were best in the public sector
percent of what blacks with a college where the observed rate of intrasector
degree earned, while the analogous ratio upward mobility was actually higher
for the two groups of whites declined for blacks than for whites. . . . Since the
only to 58.5 percent.17 public sector offers the most opportu-
Moreover, Son, Model, and Fisher nity for black advancement, reductions
found not only that African American in government employment are likely to
men without a high school degree con- be especially detrimental to blacks.”20
sistently earn the smallest proportion of A 1996 study by A. Silvia Cancio, T.
comparably educated whites’ incomes, David Evans, and David J. Maume pre-
but they were the only group that expe- sents data suggesting that these concerns
rienced a decline in their absolute real were justi½ed. The authors also appropri-
dollar earnings, bringing their 1981 earn- ately pointed out that “aggregate black/
ings to only two-thirds that of their white white earnings are invalid because older
counterparts. Black high school gradu- Blacks presently earn less than whites
ates’ earnings were slightly better in both because of past discrimination practices”
absolute and relative terms, with an earn- and concluded that a comparison of the
ings gap that increased 7 percent between salaries of young workers would be the
1974 and 1981. By contrast, the progress “most appropriate test of the signi½cance
of black college graduates was substan- of race in the modern industrial period.”
tially greater, with incomes that changed Using psid data from 1976 and 1985, they
from fewer than 6 percent of compara- found that the effect of race, after control-
ble whites’ incomes in 1974 to matching ling for other variables, increased during
the income of their white counterparts this period, and that the proportion of
in 1981. Even more spectacular, “[B]lack the racial gap in hourly wages due to dis-
college graduates obtain more prestigious crimination (that is, after racial differ-
posts than their white counterparts.”18 ences in measured quali½cations were
These ½ndings are consistent with the taken into account) also increased dur-
data I presented on the black/white in- ing this time span. Thus, they argued,
come gap of younger college graduates “[T]he government’s retreat from anti-
in the second edition of The Declining discrimination initiatives in the 1980s re-
Signi½cance of Race. sulted in organizational discrimination
Despite the progress of educated blacks, against blacks and contributed to the
Son, Model, and Fisher warned: “[T]he reversal in the postwar trend toward
racial parity achieved by young college- racial parity in earnings.”21
educated blacks in the 1970s will be main- Cancio, Evans, and Maume observed
tained only if the government’s commit- that until 1980, my arguments of observ-
ment to af½rmative action does not slack- able racial progress are essentially correct.
en. Ideological and economic pressures However, they stated: “Wilson gave no
to reduce federal spending, coupled with indication that he expected the long run
a tighter business environment, could trend toward racial parity in earnings to
easily lead to fewer opportunities for reverse in the 1980s. But that is what has
blacks.”19 Sociologist Marshall I. Pomer happened to young cohorts.”22 In the
reached a similar conclusion. In his 1986 epilogue to my book’s second edition, I
article on intragenerational mobility acknowledged that vigorous af½rmative

140 (2) Spring 2011 61

 “The action programs may still be needed in different decades, as government policies
Declining the immediate future “because it is dif½- on the labor market have changed over
Signi½cance
of Race”: cult to determine if the gains that younger time. If these policies affect careers at their
Revisited educated blacks are experiencing in entry starting points, does their impact last into
& Revised
level positions will be reflected in promo- mid- and late-careers similarly for Whites
tions to higher level jobs in later years.” and Blacks?25
But I went on to say: “[A]t this point
For the present essay, in the absence
there is also reason to believe that trained
of longitudinal studies, I examined co-
and educated blacks, like trained and
horts of male workers ages twenty-½ve
educated whites, will continue to enjoy
to twenty-nine at ten-year intervals,
the advantages and privileges of their
using ½gures from the Current Popula-
class status. It appears that the powerful
tion Survey comparable to the 1977 ½g-
political and social movement against
ures originally reported in the second
job discrimination will mitigate against
edition of The Declining Signi½cance of
any effective and systematic movement
Race. I found that the black/white earn-
to exclude quali½ed blacks.”23 I noted
ings ratio for college graduates declined
that the real issue is improving the plight
signi½cantly from 1977 to 1987 (blacks
of the black lower class, whose condi-
who graduated from college earned 93
tions have not been addressed by pro-
percent as much as their white counter-
grams like af½rmative action.
parts in 1977, but by 1987, that ratio had
The research by Cancio and her col-
dropped to 73.2 percent). The ratio in-
leagues suggests that my optimism con-
creased by 9 percentage points between
cerning the movement against job dis-
1987 and 1997 (from 73.2 percent to 82.5),
crimination was unfounded: “Events in
then decreased by 2.9 percent from 1997
the 1980s proved that African Americans
to 2007 (from 82.5 percent to 79.6 per-
cannot take for granted the political com-
cent). Thus, despite some improvements
mitments to af½rmative action and equal
during the 1990s, by 2007, the income
opportunity legislation. . . . Our results
ratio of young black college-educated
suggest that a waning devotion to these
males was signi½cantly below the ratio
ideals negatively affected the earnings
of 1977.26
of Black workers.”24 Their research clear-
Finally, in 1995, political scientist
ly underscores the importance of the
Theodore J. Davis presented ½ndings
strength and direction of future govern-
on the consequences of race and class
ment efforts to promote racial equality.
interaction for both upward and down-
They also point to the need for careful
ward mobility. Using data from the 1972
longitudinal studies to understand fully
to 1989 Cumulative General Social Sur-
the racial differences in career dynamics:
vey, Davis found that although there is
Blacks and Whites are more likely to be some evidence of a very gradual decline
paid equally at the beginning of their ca- in the role of race in influencing occu-
reers. Research that observes people at pational attainment in the 1980s, and
the beginning of their work and examines although both black and white males
race differences as they move through the experienced intergenerational occupa-
stages of a career . . . will shed needed light tional upward mobility in the 1980s,
on the experiences of Blacks within orga- black males were also more likely than
nizations. Moreover, it is important to com- white males to experience downward
pare cohorts who started their careers in occupational mobility.27

62 Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

 Given the research discussed in this cess to jobs and schools, and even expo- William
section, I reiterate a point I made earlier: sure to violence. Using individual-level Julius
Wilson
if I were writing The Declining Signi½cance data from the geocoded version of the
of Race today, I would place greater em- psid for the years 1970, 1980, 1990, and
phasis not only on the role of the public 2001 to correspond with the decadal cen-
sector in accounting for black occupa- suses, urban planner Lance Freeman
tional mobility, but also on the impor- found that higher socioeconomic status
tance of sustained public support for anti- among African Americans is generally
discrimination programs, including af- associated with greater integration and
½rmative action, to ensure that the gains improved locational outcomes.
continue or, at the least, are not reversed. The strength of these relationships,
However, I also need to address another however, did not increase between 1970
aspect of “the declining signi½cance of and 2000. “Class does matter,” Freeman
race” thesis–namely, class changes with- states. “Higher status Blacks generally
in the African American community. live in higher-status neighborhoods and
those with more Whites. But the impor-
One of the basic arguments of The tance of class has not increased since
1970. The determinants of spatial out-
Declining Signi½cance of Race is that there
has been a deepening economic schism comes for Blacks have been remarkably
as reflected in a widening gap between durable at the end of the twentieth cen-
lower-income and higher-income black tury. . . . It appears that Blacks will have
families. In light of more recent data, to achieve upward mobility in other do-
not only has the family income gap mains, such as education, before achiev-
between poorer and better-off African ing widespread access to higher-status
Americans continued to widen, but the and White neighborhoods.”31 Reaching
situation of the bottom ½fth of black this goal may be more of a challenge for
families has deteriorated since 1975 black males than for black females.
(see Table 1). Indeed, what has also changed since I
In 2007, 45.6 percent of all poor blacks wrote The Declining Signi½cance of Race is
had incomes below 50 percent of the that the black class structure increasing-
poverty line.28 Overall, poor black fam- ly reflects gender differences, especially
ilies fell below the poverty line by an among younger blacks, as males have
average of $9,266 in 2007, a depth of fallen behind females on a number of
poverty exceeding that of all other racial/ socioeconomic indicators: employment
ethnic groups in the United States.29 rates, high school completion rates, and
Regardless of the reversal of the relative average income, with some of the sharp-
income gains of younger educated blacks est discrepancies at the lower end of the
reported in the previous section, the gap income hierarchy.32 Black women have
between the haves and have-nots in the also far outpaced black men in college
African American population continues completion in recent years. Despite the
to grow. fact that the gender gap in college degree
Research also indicates that “higher attainment is increasing across all racial
socioeconomic status Blacks have more groups, with women generally exceeding
White neighbors, fewer poor neighbors, men in rates of college completion, this
and live in neighborhoods with higher discrepancy is particularly acute among
housing values.”30 This fact is important African Americans. That gap has wid-
because one’s neighborhood controls ac- ened steadily over the past twenty-½ve

140 (2) Spring 2011 63

 “The Table 1
Declining Average Income of Black Families by Income Group
Signi½cance
of Race”:
Revisited 1975–2007 1975–2007
& Revised (changes in (percent
1975 1985 1995 2005 2007 dollars) change)

Lowest
Fifth $8,939 $7,284 $7,463 $7,784 $8,143 -$796 -8.9%

Second
Fifth 18,533 17,833 20,073 22,085 23,384 4,851 26.2

Middle
Fifth 30,650 30,832 35,022 35,842 40,278 9,628 31.4

Fourth
Fifth 46,095 49,396 55,408 61,407 64,573 18,478 40.1

Highest
Fifth 78,031 90,902 111,767 129,002 132,565 54,534 69.9

Top 5
Percent 106,908 131,672 183,471 212,818 220,916 114,008 106.6

All ½gures reported in 2007 dollars. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2008 Annual
Social and Economic Supplements, Table F-3, “Mean Income Received by Each Fifth and Top 5 Percent of
Families.”

years. In 1979, for every 100 bachelor’s creasing proportion of black men in
degrees earned by black men, 144 were higher socioeconomic positions.
earned by black women. In 2006 to 2007,
for every 100 bachelor’s degrees con-
ferred on black men, 196 were conferred
I n the epilogue to the second edition of
The Declining Signi½cance of Race, I argued
on black women–nearly a two-to-one that a conclusion one could draw from
ratio. To put this gap into a larger con- my book was “that the sole concentra-
text, for every 100 bachelor’s degrees tion on policy programs dealing with ra-
earned by white men and every 100 cial bias makes it dif½cult for blacks to
earned by Hispanic men, white women recognize how their fortune is inextri-
earned 130 and Hispanic women earned cably connected with the structure and
158, respectively (see Table 2). The gap the functioning of the modern American
widens higher up on the educational economy.”33 In concluding the epilogue,
ladder. For every 100 master’s degrees I wrote: “Supporters of basic economic
and 100 doctorates earned by black reform can only hope that in the 1980s
men, black women earned 255 and 193, the needs and interests of the black poor
respectively. These ratios have huge im- (as well as those of the other minority
plications for the social organization of poor and the white poor) will no longer
the black community. If present trends be underrepresented in serious public
continue, future discussion of the black discussions, policies, and programs.”34
class structure will have to include a These statements were influenced by my
gender component to show the increas- sense at the time that while race-specif-
ing proportion of black women and de- ic programs like af½rmative action had

64 Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Table 2 William
Gender Imbalance in Higher Education: Number of Degrees Earned by Women for Every Julius
One Hundred Degrees Earned by Men, Academic Year 2006–2007 Wilson

Non-Hispanic Non-Hispanic Hispanic Asian/Paci½c

White Black Islander
Associate’s
Degrees 158 225 171 141

Bachelor’s
Degrees 130 196 158 122

Master’s
Degrees 167 255 185 122

Doctoral
Degrees 124 193 129 108

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Post-
secondary Education Data System, Fall 2007, Completions component.

elevated and would continue to improve whose 1985 book, Canarsie: The Jews and
the employment prospects of trained Italians of Brooklyn Against Liberalism, dis-
and highly educated blacks, they had cusses the racial antagonisms of Jews
not enhanced the employment oppor- and Italians against inner-city blacks in
tunities of the black poor. I felt there- Brooklyn and relates the conflict to my
fore that the focus should shift to more central theme regarding the increasing
class-based, race-neutral programs. I centrality of racial conflict that origi-
no longer support this view. Recogniz- nates “in the sphere of consumption
ing that a detailed discussion of policy rather than of production.” In other
options would require far more space words, his ½eld research supported the
than that allocated for this article, I idea that “competition between blacks
would like to conclude with a brief dis- and whites has moved from the sphere
cussion of why both race-speci½c and of jobs to the enjoyment of public goods,
race-neutral–including class-based– like schools and entitlements.”35
programs must be strongly emphasized The research discussed in the previous
and pursued to combat racial inequality. section suggests that the white backlash
As I indicated earlier, many studies against racial entitlements such as af½rma-
claim to address or challenge “the de- tive action, which is so clearly described
clining signi½cance of race” thesis by in Rieder’s book, contributed to the gov-
presenting data on residential segrega- ernment’s retreat from antidiscrimina-
tion, racial composition in schools, and tion policies during the 1980s, a retreat
discrimination in public places without that may have influenced hiring and pro-
relating the ½ndings to my argument motion decisions in the corporate sector
that the concentration of racial antago- as well. It should come as no surprise that
nisms has shifted from the economic waning support for af½rmative action
sector to the sociopolitical order. One programs would have an adverse effect
notable exception is Jonathan Rieder, on blacks, especially more advantaged

140 (2) Spring 2011 65

 “The blacks. A number of empirical studies kets in which employers are looking for
Declining have revealed signi½cant differences in workers rather than workers looking for
Signi½cance
of Race”: the family and neighborhood environ- employers.
Revisited ments of blacks and whites that are un- At the time of this writing, the nation
& Revised
derstated when standard measures of is plagued with one of the highest unem-
socioeconomic status are employed. ployment rates since the Great Depres-
Take, for example, the question of fam- sion, affecting all racial and ethnic groups
ily background. Even when white par- in the United States. For almost ½ve de-
ents and black parents report the same cades, the black/white unemployment
average income, white parents have ratio was 2.0 or greater, which means
substantially more assets than do that the black unemployment rate was at
black parents. least twice that of the white unemploy-
Whites with the same amount of ment rate in both good and bad econom-
schooling as blacks usually attend better ic times. What is unique about the cur-
high schools and colleges. Furthermore, rent economic crisis is that the unem-
children’s test scores are affected not only ployment rate has surged for both blacks
by the social and economic status of their and whites. Since December 2009, the
parents but also by the social and econom- black/white unemployment ratio has
ic status of their grandparents, meaning fallen below 2.0. The ratio was 1.87 in
that it could take several generations be- October 2010 and 1.88 in November
fore adjustments in socioeconomic in- 2010.36
equality produce their full bene½ts. Thus, This scenario presents a dilemma for
if we were to rely solely on the standard the Obama administration, which has
criteria for college admission, such as publicly acknowledged the need to com-
sat scores, even many children from bat racial inequality. Given the upsurge
black middle-income families would in unemployment among all racial groups,
be denied admission in favor of middle- including whites, it would be politically
income whites, who are not weighed prudent for the president to advance pro-
down by the accumulation of disadvan- grams that address nationwide jobless-
tages that stem from racial restrictions ness. However, a strong case could be
and who, therefore, tend to score high- made for introducing programs that are
er on the sat and similar conventional designed to combat unemployment in
tests. For all these reasons, the success the highest areas of joblessness, includ-
of younger educated blacks remains heav- ing a mix of private- and public-sector
ily dependent on af½rmative action pro- initiatives. For example, in black inner
grams, whereby more flexible criteria cities, where the number of very low-
of evaluation are used to gauge poten- skilled individuals vastly exceeds the
tial to succeed. number of low-skill jobs, a healthy dose
The policy implications are obvious. of public-sector job creation is needed.
Race-speci½c policies like af½rmative ac- This approach would also apply, say, in
tion will be required for the foreseeable white and Hispanic areas that feature
future to ensure the continued mobility high rates of joblessness.
of educated blacks. But af½rmative action The point is that a continuous struggle
programs are not designed to address the is needed to address the problems of ra-
problems of poor blacks, which require cial inequality–some calling for race-
greater emphasis on demand-side solu- based solutions, like af½rmative action,
tions, such as creating tight labor mar- others calling for class-based solutions,

66 Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

such as programs to increase employ- much greater emphasis on the need to William
ment in areas with the highest rates of strongly and continuously embrace, as well Julius
Wilson
joblessness. Accordingly, if I were writ- as advance, both race- and class-based
ing The Declining Signi½cance of Race to- solutions to address life chances for
day, I would provide more balance in people of color.
my policy recommendations by placing

endnotes
1 William Julius Wilson, The Declining Signi½cance of Race: Blacks and Changing American Insti-
tutions (1978; 2nd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980). I would like to thank
Anmol Chaddha for his help in reviewing the literature on The Declining Signi½cance of Race
and for his thoughtful comments on a previous draft of this manuscript.
2 One notable exception was the pattern of black political subjection imposed by the ur-
ban political machines in the early twentieth century. However, although the racial devel-
opments in the municipal political system had little or no direct or indirect implications
for racial interaction in the private industrial sector, one could argue that the systematic
exclusion of African Americans from meaningful political participation was a response
to the racial antagonisms generated from the social relations of production. Even if one
is willing to concede this argument, it could hardly be said that race relations in the ur-
ban political system in turn influenced race relations in the private industrial sector.
3 Robin M. Williams, Jr., “Structure and Process in Ethnic Relations: Increased Knowledge
and Unanswered Questions,” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Sociological Association, Boston, August 30, 1979.
4 See, for example, Michael Hughes and Bradley Hertel, “The Signi½cance of Color Remains:
A Study of Life Chances, Mate Selection, and Ethnic Consciousness among Black Ameri-
cans,” Social Forces 68 (4) (1990): 1105–1120; Clarence Lusane, “In Perpetual Motion: The
Continuing Signi½cance of Race and America’s Drug Crisis” (The University of Chicago
Legal Forum, 1994); Michael Hughes and Melvin Thomas, “The Continuing Signi½cance
of Race Revisited: A Study of Race, Class, and Quality of Life in America, 1972 to 1996,”
American Sociological Review 63 (6) (1998): 785–795; Aaron Gullickson, “The Signi½cance
of Color Declines: A Re-Analysis of Skin Tone Differentials in Post-Civil Rights America,”
Social Forces 84 (1) (2005): 157–180; and James Unnever and Francis Cullen, “Reassessing
the Racial Divide in Support for Capital Punishment: The Continuing Signi½cance of
Race,” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 44 (1) (2007): 124–158.
5 See Joe T. Darden, “The Signi½cance of Race and Class in Residential Segregation,” Journal
of Urban Affairs 8 (1) (1986): 49–56; Carl Grant, “The Persistent Signi½cance of Race in
Schooling,” The Elementary School Journal 88 (5) (1988): 561–569; Joe Feagin, “The Contin-
uing Signi½cance of Race: Antiblack Discrimination in Public Places,” American Sociological
Review 56 (1) (1991): 101–116; and Marvin P. Dawkins and Jomills Henry Braddock, “The
Continuing Signi½cance of Desegregation: School Racial Composition and African Ameri-
can Inclusion in American Society,” The Journal of Negro Education 63 (3) (1994): 394–405.
6 Jennifer L. Hochschild, Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the
Nation (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1995), 44.
7 Ibid.
8 Michael Hout, “Occupational Mobility of Black Men: 1962 to 1973,” American Sociological
Review 49 (3) (1984): 308–322. See also Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan, The American
Occupational Structure (New York: John Wiley, 1967); and David Featherman and Robert

140 (2) Spring 2011 67

 “The Hauser, “Changes in the Socioeconomic Strati½cation of the Races, 1962–1973,” American
Declining Journal of Sociology 82 (3) (1976): 621–651.
Signi½cance 9 A study by Lee Wolfle reached similar conclusions. Wolfle noted that previous research
of Race”:
Revisited found that social background variables were more important determinants of educational
& Revised attainment among whites than among African Americans. However, his study, using data
from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972, controlled for es-
timated measurement error structures and found that “social background plays a similar
role for whites and blacks. Increments in background social status variables lead to similar
increases in educational attainment for whites and blacks. Moreover, the effects of person-
al characteristics variables (ability, curriculum, grades) of whites and blacks as they influ-
ence educational attainment are also similar for both groups”; Lee Wolfle, “Postsecondary
Educational Attainment among Whites and Blacks,” American Educational Research Journal
22 (4) (1985): 501–525, quote at 501. Also, analyzing a subset of the data used by Michael
Hout, Marshall Pomer reported that in contrast to higher-status black men, black men
in low-paying occupations were signi½cantly less likely than comparable white men to
achieve upward mobility; Marshall I. Pomer, “Labor Market Structure, Intragenerational
Mobility, and Discrimination: Black Male Advancement Out of Low-Paying Occupations,
1962–1973,” American Sociological Review 51 (1986): 650–659.
10 Arthur Sakamoto and Jessie M. Tzeng, “A Fifty-Year Perspective on the Declining
Signi½cance of Race in the Occupational Attainment of White and Black Men,”
Sociological Perspectives 42 (1999): 160, 174.
11 Ibid., 161. The authors state: “We restrict the analyses to native-born, noninstitutionalized
white and black men aged 25 to 64 who were not enrolled in school and who participated
in the labor force at the time of the census. Because most women did not work in the paid
labor market in 1940 (Bianchi and Spain, 1986: 141 [Suzanne M. Bianchi and Daphne
Spain, American Women in Transition (New York: Russell Sage, 1986)]) and because Wil-
son’s (1980) discussion of labor market trends focuses on men, we do not include women
in our analyses. The 1940 pums provides systematic empirical evidence about the net ra-
cial disadvantage during the industrial period while the 1990 pums provides systematic
empirical evidence about the net racial disadvantage during the modern industrial period.”
12 Ibid., 174.
13 Ibid., 174–175.
14 Hout, “Occupational Mobility of Black Men,” 308.
15 Melvin E. Thomas, “Race, Class, and Personal Income: An Empirical Test of the Declining
Signi½cance of Race Thesis, 1968–1988,” Social Problems 40 (3) (1993): 328.
16 Clifton R. Wharton, Jr., “Education and Black Americans: Yesterday, Today and Tomor-
row,” paper presented at the New York State Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus,
Inc., and New York State Conference of Branches, naacp, February 19, 1978.
17 In Soo Son, Suzanne W. Model, and Gene A. Fisher, “Polarization and Progress in the
Black Community: Earnings and Status Gains for Young Black Males in the Era of
Af½rmative Action,” Sociological Forum 4 (3) (1989): 309, 311, 324.
18 Ibid., 323.
19 Ibid., 325.
20 Pomer, “Labor Market Structure, Intragenerational Mobility, and Discrimination,” 657.
21 A. Silvia Cancio, T. David Evans, and David J. Maume, Jr., “Reconsidering the Declining
Signi½cance of Race: Racial Differences in Early Career Wages,” American Sociological
Review 61 (4) (1996): 541, 543.
22 Ibid., 554.
23 Wilson, The Declining Signi½cance of Race, 2nd ed., 178.

68 Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

24 Cancio, Evans, and Maume, “Reconsidering the Declining Signi½cance of Race,” 554. William
25 Ibid. Julius
Wilson
26 The income ratios reported here are based on an analysis of Current Population Survey
microdata. To draw comparisons with the data I reported in the second edition of The
Declining Signi½cance of Race, I used the “white/black” designation, instead of “non-Hispanic
white and non-Hispanic black” designation. There are only slight differences between the
percentages for the two different designations; thus, the trends reported and conclusions
reached would not have changed.
27 Theodore J. Davis, “The Occupational Mobility of Black Males Revisited: Does Race Mat-
ter?” The Social Science Journal 32 (2) (1995): 121–135.
28 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2008 Annual Social and Economic Supple-
ment, Table pov28, “Income and De½cit or Surplus of Families and Unrelated Individuals
by Poverty Status: 2007.”
29 By comparison, poor non-Hispanic white families fell below the poverty line by an aver-
age of $7,957; poor Hispanic families by $8,611; and poor Asian families by $8,959; U.S.
Census Bureau, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007, Cur-
rent Population Reports P60-235, Table 4, “People with Income Below Speci½ed Ratios of
Their Poverty Thresholds by Selected Characteristics: 2007.”
30 Lance Freeman, “Is Class Becoming a More Important Determinant of Neighborhood
Attainment for African-Americans?” Urban Affairs Review 44 (1) (2008): 3.
31 Ibid., 24.
32 William Julius Wilson, More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (New York:
W.W. Norton, 2009).
33 Wilson, The Declining Signi½cance of Race, 2nd ed., 179.
34 Ibid., 182.
35 Jonathan Rieder, Canarsie: The Jews and Italians of Brooklyn Against Liberalism (Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1985), 101.
36 Ratio calculations based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table A-2,
“Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Race, Sex, and Age,” December 3, 2010.

140 (2) Spring 2011 69