'To acknowledge one mechanism for before the 50 years ago, and a completely different one for for the modern era, lacks parsimony, is politically self serving, and should be scraped away by Occam's razor.

But thing do change. Why must the same reason for black problems in 1880 be the same for 2010?

'The reason Mr. Collins is careful about his language is that it is very difficult to compare poverty in pre 1960 america with post 1960 america, because the availible historical evidence available is so different.'

Yes, but better jobs tend to lead to the former, no?

'So, of course the rural south has always been poor. And blacks have always born the brunt of it... but somehow, magically, in the last 50 years this STOPPED being because of overt white opression, and STARTED being about "subtle racism of lowered expectation championed by America's left wing"

It.... is.... to.... laugh.'

You can laugh. I see it every day. NEw Orleans school system is a joke. And you know how many whites are involved in it? The school board meetings may as well be NAACP conventions for all the involvement white conservatives (or white racists as some prefer) have a role in it.

'OK... Per capita parity of black and white poverty rates.

But you never have parity in any country with vastly different racial groups.