ABSTRACT
The Negro American revolution is rightly regarded as the most important domestic event of the postwar period in the United States. The fundamental problem is that the Negro revolution, like the industrial upheaval of the 1930's, is a movement for equality as well as for liberty. American democracy has not always been successful in maintaining a balance between these two ideals, and notably so where the Negro American is concerned. The point of semantics is that equality of opportunity has a different meaning for Negroes than it has for whites. The Negro was given liberty, but not equality. Life remained hazardous and marginal. The impact of unemployment on the Negro family, and particularly on the Negro male, is the least understood of all the developments that have contributed to the present crisis. A fundamental fact of Negro American family life is the often reversed roles of husband and wife.
