Decades after the civil rights movement, the income gap between black and white families has grown, says a study that tracked the incomes of 2,300 families for more than 30 years

One reason for the growing disparity: Incomes among black men have declined in the last three decades, when adjusted for inflation. They were offset only by gains among black women

Incomes among white men, meanwhile, were relatively stagnant, while those of white women increased more than fivefold

In 2004, a typical black family had an income that was only 58% of a typical white family's. In 1974, median black incomes were 63% those of whites

Perhaps most disturbing, middle-income black families do not appear to be passing on higher incomes to their children in the same way that white families have, Isaacs said

only one in three black children from middle-income families grew up to have higher incomes than their parents

Too many Americans, whites and even some blacks, think that the playing field has indeed leveled