Color, Education and Marriage

       The issues discussed in "The Separate World Of American's Black Elite" such as the shade of black, the socioeconomic status, education, and authenticity of being black are real problems facing the African American population today.  The fixation on skin color still exists; the road to "white aspirations" is paved with judgement from blacks and whites, and the pride in their economic or academic success is still riddled with conflict over being embarrassed by the less successful black brother or sister. The situation remains a battleground as we see precedence in our media for the lighter skinned black model, the wealthier black athlete, actor or comedian, and an obvious lack of notoriety for the black physician, politician, and lawyer.

       "What's Love Got to Do with It" brings our attention to the problems we see with the disparity between the rise in education and socioeconomic status of the black female versus the lack of education and low SES of the black male. This affects long term relationships and yes, many black females are opting to stay single. The problem is not an easy one to solve. I do believe the fact that there are many programs available for young black women, who have children, to advance in their academics and those same opportunities are not equal for young black men, who might have faced difficulties such as parenting or jail. Research also shows mothers are prone to want to be educated as they see their children learning. If the father were living in the same home, would he be more prone to desiring an education? Is the absence of a father figure for young men the biggest problem or is it the lack of positive regard for education among our athletes, comedians, actors, or musicians that prevents young black men from striving for a higher education? And then, the greater question is how will this continue to impact the African American Family?

       "Successful Women Who Are Childless" draws us to the facts of African American women between the ages of 28-55 years old, who are earning over 55k per year and only 29 percent of them are married. The composition of the lack of young black men attending college and advancing in their careers and SES is again compromised as we see the data from Harvard showing that in 1979 the ratio of black female/male was close to even and today it is a significant 9-1 for the female dominating. This is yet another growing concern as we see the decline in options of marriage and hopes for equality in career and SES for the black family.

       Looking at the article "Plight Deepens for Black Men, Studies Warn," Holzer and his colleagues cite two factors for the increase in unemployment for the black male:  1) The high rate of incarceration of black males then leads to less opportunity outside of prison and 2) the child support enforcement law has placed young fathers in lower paying and lower skilled jobs which leads to little hope for advancement. In the past two decades opportunities for young black women have increased and the black male has not been afforded these same educational advantages.

      "Annihilation through integration" as seen  in the article "bring me home a black girl" refers to the weakening of the culture and the economy of the black people.  I can see the importance for black parents to instill a value of marrying within your culture to their children.  If all families took that attitude and talked frankly with their children regarding this message, then yes, I can see the black family being strengthened and the marriageability index going up; however, we are still faced with the problem of education and SES, all of which need to be addressed.