If Moynihan Had Only Known: Race, Class, and Family Change in the Late Twentieth Century

Abstract

In this article, the author argues that while Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 1965 analysis of the black family was prescient in many respects, it also largely ignored social class variations among black families. This gave the erroneous impression that the changes occurring in the black family were related to distinctive cultural features rather than the economic position of most blacks. Over time, it has become evident that poor economic circumstances would produce comparable effects on whites just as they did for blacks when Moynihan published his findings.