Considering the economic status of black Americans and Hispanics in the 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's, it is easy to be cynical about the accomplishments of their reform movements in the 1960s

The nation's immigration quotas expanded allowing more newcomers to enter the United States legally than at any point since the beginning of the twentieth century. The Immigration Reform Act of 1965 had eliminated quotas based on national origin. Newcomers from regions other than Latin America were generally admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. The extent and character of the new immigration was causing a dramatic change in the composition of the American population. By the end …

…Nonwhites were disadvantages by many factors in the changing social and economic climate of the 1980s and 1990s. They suffered as well from a steady decline in the number of unskilled jobs in the economy; the departure of businesses from their neighborhoods; the absence of adequate transportation to areas where jobs were more plentiful; and failing schools that did not prepare them adequately for employment. They also suffered from a sense of uselessness and despair.