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Why has the recession turned into a Great Depression for African Americans, asks Orlando Patterson in The Nation. Why do they feel the brunt of tough economic times? One big reason, in his view, is segregation.

Times for African Americans are about as tough as they can be. More than one in six black men is out of work. The rate for black teens is 38 percent.

But tough times for black families aren't merely a product of this recession. Black median household income declined steeply between 2000 and 2008. Median black family wealth has been stagnant for the past 25 years at just $5000--a mere five percent of median white family wealth. And even more dispiriting: Most children from black middle class families earn less, and often much less, than their parents did.

For Patterson, the fact that so many African Americans live in segregated communities and go to segregated schools has a great deal to do with the slipping fortunes of black families. It all comes down to networks and "access to cultural capital," he argues. White Americans are much more likely to know people who can open professional doors for them. And they're more likely to gain "tacit knowledge...from family and friends," knowledge that can help them navigate the dominant culture.

Patterson doesn't say enough about the impact of education on the life prospects of black children. Achievement gaps will turn into employment gaps, earnings gaps and gaps in cultural capital. And a small share of very segregated charter and non-charter public schools are really changing the odds for black children.

Still, I think we have to pay much closer attention to the long-term effects of segregation on both schools and families.