Students will need two color pencils for this line graph.  Red and green are good choices.  Place the data points in red for the first category, and connect the dots with straight line segments.  Do the same for the data in the second category, using green.  Be sure to complete the color key at the top.

What the Chart Shows

   This chart shows that the percent of Americans living in poverty fell sharply for both whites and blacks in the 1960s, although blacks experienced poverty conditions at a higher rate than whites.  The figures remain approximately level for two decades, then decline again in the 1990s.
   The poverty rate is defined as the percent of Americans living below an income level that government experts consider the minimum for a decent life.  Since that official figure changes from year to year, the data is to some extent recording a moving target.
   Much debate centers on whether the improvement shown by the graph was mainly due to government programs, or mainly due to the growing economy.
   Keep in mind that the data is not showing people permanently stuck in poverty.  Changes in jobs and income can move individuals and families below the poverty level one year, and above it the next.

   What factors do you think...
 

   The most obvious fact shown by the chart is that a higher percentage of blacks lived in conditions of poverty than whites throughout this period.  Certainly this pattern was mainly a result of the widespread discrimination against blacks seen in America prior to the Civil Rights movement.  Blacks often found it much more difficult than whites to secure a good education and advance in jobs and careers.

   The drop in poverty rates during the 1960s for both whites and blacks was probably due primarily to the general economic growth of the post-war era.  Government anti-poverty programs such as those that formed President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" no doubt accounted for some of the gains as well.
   The nation's economy ran into problems during the 1970s, with high rates of inflation eroding purchasing power at all income levels.  Solid growth returned in the 1980s, but it was not until the 1990s that poverty rates began showing real improvement again.
   Certainly the rapid economic expansion of the late 90s helped lower poverty rates by expanding job opportunities for both whites and blacks.  Also, the victories of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s began paying off in dollar figures as a new generation of African-Americans moved into and up the ranks of businesses and professions.