What are the facts? First, the illegitimacy rate among Negroes in this country is roughly _ten times_ the illegitimacy rate among whites. Second, the condition is not improving, but on the contrary appears in many areas to be growing worse. Third, a disproportionately high rate of illegitimacy among Negroes obtains not only in the South, but throughout the United States. These are the grim figures from the National Office of Vital Statistics: -------------------------------------------------- ILLEGITIMATES AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL LIVE BIRTHS UNITED STATES, 1940-1959 -------------------------------------------------- _1940_ _1945_ _1950_ _1955_ _1959_ White 1.95 2.36 1.75 1.86 2.21 Nonwhite 16.83 17.93 17.96 20.24 21.80 -------------------------------------------------- Consider the record in two Southern States, Mississippi and Virginia. Here are the figures from Mississippi: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS, MISSISSIPPI, 1935-1960 ----------------------------------------- WHITE NEGRO ----------------------------------------------------------------------- _Per cent _Per cent _Per cent of all All White All Negro _Year_ _Number_ Births_ _Number_ Births_ _Number_ Births_ 1960 8,407 14.2 388 1.4 8,019 25.0 1959 8,091 13.4 370 1.3 7,721 23.7 1958 7,581 12.8 310 1.2 7,271 22.4 1957 7,815 12.9 272 1.0 7,543 22.2 1956 7,791 12.5 294 1.1 7,497 21.5 1955 7,909 12.5 274 1.0 7,635 21.4 1950 6,778 10.5 283 1.0 6,495 17.4 1945 5,499 10.2 223 0.9 5,276 17.5 1940 4,699 8.9 268 1.2 4,431 15.0 1935 3,978 8.2 265 1.2 3,713 14.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The vital statistics take on additional meaning when they are translated in terms of human beings. In the five years 1956 through 1960, white mothers in Mississippi gave birth to 1634 illegitimate children. In the same period, Negro mothers gave birth to 38,051 illegitimate children. Substantially the same picture may be seen in the records of Virginia. Between 1938 and 1958, the white illegitimacy rate in Virginia declined slightly, from 2.6 to 2.3 per cent. In this same period, which witnessed astonishing gains in Negro education, Negro housing, Negro income, and Negro job opportunities, the rate of Negro illegitimacy increased from 19.5 per cent to 22.9 per cent.