RISING SKILL LEVELS AND DECLINING LABOR-FORCE STATUS AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES

Steadily rising levels of educational attainment typify young African Americans in recent decades. Also typical among this group, particular ly among males, is the rising incidence of subpoverty-level earnings a nd higher nonparticipation in the labor force. This article presents a nd analyzes data showing that downwardly mobile White workers ave incr easingly displacing blue-collar Black workers in ways reminiscent of t he Great Depression, and that those Blacks who remain employed in blue -collar fields often face reduced compensation and job security. It at tributes the severe problems facing Black workers partly to their weak er position relative to Whites to defend themselves from modern-day em ployer practices and partly to broader economic changes affecting blue -collar workers of both races.