True that majority of blacks were slaves but it's not the entire population . There was always a free population and the first group to arrived was indentured servants that would be free after completing their contracts. If you ever get the chance pick up/ order Before The Mayflower, it documents the history of blacks between 1617-1966 i think. There are many details .

The statistics that compare blacks to other ethnic groups is not a comprehensive study of progress. The media & politics have a field goal with those percentagesand numbers. If your going to publish reports on any particular group, which they do, then it should reflect the current & past statistics. To me that make more sense because it doesn't matter if the income gap is larger as long they can take care of themselves and families . Poverty going to vary but it's lower compared to many decades earlier. But comparing can be trivial at times when whites outnumbered blacks 3-1.

This notion of out of wedlock includes me personally and it's definitely a knee jerk response because someone else is speaking from looking outside in and don't know the full details . Yes it's accurate but the reasons behind it vary from person to person and can't be blanketed. I've met many of blacks that knew their fathers and some didn't, it varies. Here's some of the factors speaking from a black experience : Father is in military, prison, dead, lives in a different city/state. due to job, deadbeats, and or living together . Let me tell you the most cases out of those factors : Lived together , lived in seperate homes, prison. I've met far more guys that knew their dad vs deadbeats. That why I've been trying to figure out how does marriage equal parenting? Their are statistics for unmarried two households for blacks but rarely is brought into discussions. http://m.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2...america/277084/