1980, blacks' earnings had quadrupled to $20,480, out- pacing the gains of white men, who made $28,212. Then, young black men began falling behind their white peers.
Almost all of the black gains during the 1940- 1980 period resulted from two fac- tors, according to Smith and Welch: eco- nomic growth (which accounted for 45 percent of the gain) and black migration from southern farms to cities, mostly in the North. Migration created better job opportunities, but more importantly it boosted the...