The most obvious fact shown by the chart is that a higher percentage of blacks lived in conditions of poverty than whites throughout this period.  Certainly this pattern was mainly a result of the widespread discrimination against blacks seen in America prior to the Civil Rights movement.  Blacks often found it much more difficult than whites to secure a good education and advance in jobs and careers.

   The drop in poverty rates during the 1960s for both whites and blacks was probably due in large part to the general economic growth of the post-war era.  Government anti-poverty programs such as those that formed President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" no doubt accounted for some of the gains as well.
 
   The nation's economy ran into problems during the 1970s, with high rates of inflation eroding purchasing power at all income levels.  Solid growth returned in the 1980s, but it was not until the 1990s that poverty rates began showing real improvement again.
   Certainly the rapid economic expansion of the late '90s helped lower poverty rates by expanding job opportunities for both whites and blacks.  Also, the victories of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s began paying off in dollar figures as a new generation of African-Americans moved into the higher ranks of businesses and professions.