Before 1960, when poverty and racism were by all accounts far worse, the black family was considerably more stable.
Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the large majority of black women were married before they had children. Black children were less likely than whites to grow up in two-parent homes, but only slightly so. It was only after 1960, even as more black men were finding jobs and even as legal discrimination was being dismantled with civil-rights legislation, that the family began to unravel. It was precisely that unexpected disconnect that spurred Daniel Patrick Moynihan to warn that the cycle of poverty and disadvantage will continue to repeat itself in his 1965 report.Thanks for posting... odd to find this in the Atlantic...