ABSTRACT
Popular theories on the growth of the Negro population in America have been diverse. There were about 17 times as many Negroes in the United States in 1940 as there were in 1790, when the first census was taken, but in the same period the white population increased 37 times. Negroes were 19.3 per cent of the American population in 1790, but only 9.8 per cent in 1940. The decline in the birth rate for both whites and Negroes has been changing the age structure of the populations and this, in turn, is having certain effects on both birth and death rates. One reason for the inarticulateness and inadequacy of American discussion of population policy is the heterogeneity of America's population, and the fact that some of its component groups are commonly considered to be inferior. This complicates tremendously the formulation of a rational and unified population policy.
