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In general, during the 50s black blue collar people and white blue collar ones were never on a par. Everything that was skimpy about white people, was worse among blacks. Middleclass blacks were not as well off as middle class whites. Black children did not have the same privileges that their white counterparts did. Jobs were available but promotions weren't so easy to come by because of racism in the work place. Benefits on the job were not always free and houses were not that easy to get mortgages for. The 50s were, after all, the era when the civil rights movement was fomenting. Back then, what got black folks over was indeed their culture. They did their own thing within the confines of their communities and managed to find a way to survive and even enjoy themselves.

What I didn't hear (actually "read"..lol) anyone mention is the ECONOMIC difference between the 50s and today and how blue-collar working class jobs paid far more when you adjust to the cost of living than they do today. And that's if a Black person can even GET a blue collar job outside of going though a temp-agency. Yes you got married in your early 20s, had children, and raised them. But you could raise them and maintain a home because chances are that Black husband had a job (usually with benefits) that paid well enough that he could support himself AND his wife (whether she worked or not) and his children. I can be corrected...... But it's my understanding that most Black men were able to earn enough money to provide atleast BASIC NECESSITIES for their families. Now if the family wanted to get more of the "finer" things in life like new cars, bigger houses, televisions, ect....miss lady might fry up that hair practice up on her grammar and look for a part time job to bring in some extra money, but it's not my understanding that most Black wives who went to work in the 50s did so just to keep the lights on in the home. Ofcourse much of it was cultural. However Black people were able to live close to how White people lived in those days. Now I it seems that MONEY more so than morals is the biggest determining factor as to whether or not one is able to maintain a traditional nuclear family. Now I'm not naive into thinking the problems didn't exist in the Black family at that time. A book I'm reading now about the relationship between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X talks about how Muhammad Ali's father would get drunk and physically abuse him and his mother. But atleast the economic situation was better off for MOST (not a gifted educated few) Blacks in those days than they are for most today. There was a plentiful supply of good paying low skilled factory and other blue collar jobs for most Black men who lived in the city as well as plenty of farm land and agricultural jobs for Black men who still dwelt in the rural south. I believe the DE-INDUSTRIALIZATION of the United States is the single biggest factor that has contributed to the dissolution of the Black family today as compared to the 50s.

This is classic Cynique y'all! Cynique with your permission I'd like to republish -- this is great. "...hoping they didn’t take you up on the offer." HA, HA HA! "The Internet - the enabler of every bizarre facet reflected by today’s society." - Deep! I OFTEN think about the things I do for my children that they are unaware of and/or take for granted -- things that my parents would not have dreamed of doing for me. I'm sure the kiddies benefited in some respects but I think they may have placed at a disadvantage in others. My kids have been to more places, acquired more processions and experiences by 16 than I did by 30 -- no exaggeration! Net-net this is a good thing. I'm fortunate I had the resources to provide this for them. However part of me wonders how they will react when times are hard. Well they reflect on the good times, continue to work hard, confident things will improve; or will they fall apart unaccustomed to going without the luxuries to which they've become accustomed. "children taking center stage as their doting parents over-indulged them" this seems so true -- especially in upper middle class families. Some of my buddies have given up their entire weekends shuttling kids from “play dates” to baseball practice to piano lessons. They spend lavishly on sweet 16 parties, Christmas, vacations, camp, schools, cars, salons, clothing, etc. But even lower middle class parent do the same thing spending a ton of money on sneakers ("tennis shoes" for you southerners), jewelry and clothing. Speaking of sneakers I was a teenager when the real pressure to get the latest sneakers started. If you got the $100 Air Jordans you was the man! You could get by with Puma, Addias, Converse or maybe Pro-Keds -- anything less and you were the object of ridicule and scorn. There was no surer indicator of how poor you were if you stepped outside with rockin' some no-name brand sneakers ("skippies"). The mentality persists into adulthood and the cycle continues... ...and we are seemingly becoming a nation of spoiled brats unable to instill discipline into our children -- because we never had it.