African American Studies Commons^™

Some Observations On Closing The Gap, Jeremiah Cotton

Trotter Review

James P. Smith and Finis R. Welch, along with fellow economist Richard B. Freeman, have been primarily responsible for the much accepted notion that there have been “dramatic” advances in the economic situation of blacks in the recent past. Closing The Gap: 40 Years of Economic Progress for Blacks (CTG) is just the latest installment and reworking of this optimism. Freeman attributed the alleged progress to a “collapse” of labor market discrimination caused by “governmental and related antidiscrimination activity associated with the 1964 Civil Rights Act.” Smith and Welch, on the other hand, have always been somewhat agnostic about the …