The Persistent Poverty of African Americans in the United States: The Impact of Public

This study examines the persistent poverty that exists among African Americans in the United States. It explains why African Americans in the United States are much more likely to live and/or remain in poverty than any other population group. This study is based on the premise that the governmental system has affected African Americans through the use of public policies. This study demonstrates how the outcome of public policies, programs and institutional practices has impacted the lives of African Americans. The primary focus of this study is to challenge the long-standing, incorrect, misdirected, flawed paradigm that was designed to eliminate poverty through the use of federal antipoverty policies and programs. President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty Great Society Legislation was used as a single case study approach to analyze and gather data to determine if antipoverty programs and policies have helped or hindered African Americans, in moving in or out of poverty.