Reading this article opened my eyes to the shocking and awakening facts about Black families throughout history. Blacks currently have the highest rate of single-parent homes, which was not the case 100+ years ago. In Franklin's article he briefly goes over the dynamic of the Black family during slavery, after reconstruction, and today.
According to the article, White slave owners had no impetus for keeping Black families together and in fact they were often separated. Although these slave owners were attributed the label "gentlemen" because they claimed to not break up Black enslaved families, this was FALSE. These families were meant to not be kept together; of course the significance of this is the stripping of strength or purpose (Nia) and unity (Umoja) which could have lead to possible rebellion. Black families in fact, often times escaped their plantations in order to be reunited with their wives/husbands and children. Slaves would marry often and frequently were encouraged to do so by their owners; the result being more children which increases their commodity of slaves. After reconstruction, many Blacks began the search for their family members, only to find that spouses had remarried due to the lost hope of reunion, some had died, and some were not re-traceable.
Even through the dehumanizing conditions of slavery and harsh treatment, Black families were determined to stay together. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was uncommon for Black children to be in single-parent households. The only reason for absentee fathers were because of death of being gone off to work.
Reading this article constantly forced me to raise the question - "Why are Black families facing the crisis of brokenness today?" I could not understand how or why Black families could survive a strong system of oppression and slavery and stand unified, but be completely broken today when racism does still exist, but definitely not in the same facet as it once did. Franklin gives reasons for this such as "ghettoization", lack of jobs for Black men, government policies and "other social forces". Dr. Walter Williams, in the below 2011 interview, holds similar views in talking about how Welfare has "destroyed the Black family". His statements in the interview place much of the blame on Black families, depicting them as lazy and depending too heavily on welfare. He also blames the governemt for having a system set up where Blacks will avoid "looking for jobs". I do not wholeheartedly agree to his stance because it does come off a lot as victim-blaming where a system of oppression has obviously been created to trump upward mobility, but some of his points do coincide with Franklin's. Watch the first three minutes of this video in order to hear Dr. William's arguments.
Do you agree/disagree and why?
In addition to this video, in the U.S. 2011 Census I found striking results in the state of marriages among Blacks vs. Whites, Asians and Hispanics.
| % Black Women age 18+ Never Married | 42.6 | ||||||
| % Black Men age 18+ Never Married | 50.9 |
| % White (non-Hispanic) Women age 18+ Never Married | 19.8 |
| % White Men (non-Hispanic) age 18+ Never Married | 26 |
| % Hispanic Women age 18+ Never Married | 29.9 |
| % Hispanic Men age 18+ Never Married | 40.4 |
| % Asian Women age 18+ Never Married | 22.1 |
% Asian Men
age 18+ Never 30.5
Married
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What do you think of the contrasting differences in percentages of Black people who never get married compared to Whites, Hispanics and Asians?
These and other facts about the breakdown of families in America can be found in the U.S. 2011 Census at http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam/cps2011.html.
What strategies could be compounded today in order to ressurect the unity of the Black family that was once alive before, during and after slavery? (If this is not feasible in your opinion, why not)?
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