Developments in the last
decades of the 20th century seemed to justify the title of one of the era's
most influential books, The Declining Significance of Race (1978), by
William Julius Wilson. It argued that economic class was beginning to replace
race as the determinant of individual opportunity for African Americans.
Falling incomes for many blacks accompanied rising financial and professional
opportunities for others. At the same time that inner city residents were
facing growing insecurity on the streets and in their homes, blacks were
becoming more visible and influential in city halls, state houses, and the
halls of Congress.
Yet, public racial intolerance
and shocking acts of racial violence offered disturbing signs that race was
still very significant. A young black man was killed in 1986 in Howard Beach, a
white residential section of New York City. He was attempting to escape a mob
that challenged his right to be there. In a similar incident three years later,
a black teenager was killed by a white gang in the Bensonhurst section of
Brooklyn. Another divisive issue in the 1980s was white opposition to
legislation making the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a national holiday.
Then in 1991, video pictures of Los Angeles police beating Rodney King, a black
motorist stopped for a traffic violation, were broadcast on national TV. For
many, this was visual proof that police brutality continued against African
Americans. The acquittal of the white officers involved by an all-white jury
sparked national outrage and a race riot in Los Angeles.
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