According to U.S. Census data, between 1916 and 1970, an estimated 6 million African Americans moved from the rural South to urban centers in the North and West. This migration fundamentally altered the demographic landscape of the United States,

The report hit a nerve. Critics accused Moynihan of blaming Black families rather than the systemic factors at play: redlining, discriminatory hiring practices, and crumbling schools. While some viewed him as a truth-teller, others saw his words as dangerously close to victim-blaming.