Single African American Mothers

There are many open wounds in the African-American community that have not healed what so ever. Disintegration of family structures in the African-American community has been a persistent problem for far too long. High out of wedlock birth rates, absent fathers, and the lack of a family support network for many young African-Americans have led to serious problems in America's urban areas. The persistence of serious social problems in inner-city areas has led to a tragic perpetuation of racial prejudice as well. African Americans still face a litany of problems in the 21st century today.

Unequal Childhoods is an ethnography outlining the study done by Annette Lareau which researched how socioeconomic classes impact parenting among both white and African American families. She used both participant observation and interviewing. 12 families participated in this study where she came to conclusions on whether they displayed parenting styles of concerted cultivation or natural growth based of their socioeconomic status. Concerted cultivation is a parenting style where the parent(s) are fully invested in creating as much opportunity for their child as possible, but results in a child with a sense of entitlement. An example of this would be a parent who places their children in a wide array of extracurricular activities and/or actively speaks to educators about the accommodations their child needs to effectively learn.

Children of color are over-represented in single-parent households with fifty-five percent of Black children and thirty-one percent of Hispanic children being raised in a single-parent household. (Vespa). The lessons parents will teach their son or daughter help provide the children with the skills and traits that will prepare them for adulthood. When one parent is missing, more specifically the father, the effect has an everlasting feel to

EFFECTS OF FATHERLESSNESS IN BLACK COMMUNITIES: The effects of an absent father on the black community is critical to understand the current state of Black America, the growth of a community, the incarceration rates, dropout rates of black children, poverty rates, etc. In the beginning, when a child is born, they don’t get the ability to choose who their parents are; children are simply born to two parents. This is the beginning of their lives, birth. Learning where the chain effect begins is how we understand the systematic oppression facing the community now.

American society had already made Black fathers been not being attached to their children because anytime they could be sold off or even killed. This started the whole situation of Black fathers getting the stigma that they cannot protect their families or being able to raise their children. Black fathers in slavery did what they could do during that time, but as time moved forward American society continued to want to keep that separation in the Black families.

Alarmingly, African American men make up 6% of the general population, but they represent 50% of the prison community (Perry & Bright, 2012). Despite the atrocious effects of incarceration, African American boys feel that imprisonment is a way of life given the prevalence in their environments (Perry & Bright, 2012). The Bureau of Statistics (2011) reported that by the end of 2010, the African American prisoner population consisted of 3,074 prisoners per 100,000 while the Caucasian prisoner population consisted of 459 prisoners per 100,000; thereby making African American males seven times more distinguishable in the U.S. correctional system. Evidence shows that many African American children have incarcerated fathers but are hesitant about discussing its effects on their lives (Geller, 2009). The African American community cycle of incarceration is at an incline, therefore parental incarceration is highly suggested in screening assessments for therapy (Perry & Bright,

Experiences are different for every African-American family, but ultimately are handled in similar ways because of culture. As for me education is a big deal in my family. This is largely based on the fact that many members of my family either didn’t go to college or didn’t finish until later in their lives. I was born in Alabama while my mom was in college. My mother and I returned to Seattle when I was six months old.

Interview Questions for African American Families Please find a person of African American descent to interview. The person needs to at least 21 years of age. Please inform the person that this interview is for an assignment in class (educational purposes only) and the information provided will remain confidential. Please try to obtain more than “sound bites” yes/no answers. Asked follow up questions if the interviewee’s answers are too brief (ex: Can you please provide an example or elaborate, tell me more etc..).

Social Group: Fathers During this time period, fathers were the “breadwinners” and expected to work and provide for their families. However, black fathers in the 1950’s particular had to work long hours because the only jobs available to them were often low paying. This directly correlates with African-American’s low place on the social ladder during this pre-Civil Rights era. It was also extremely difficult for African-American women to find work during this time, placing the financial buren solely on the father.

This shift has been fueled by both the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the increasing acceptance of gender fluidity. As a result, Black families are now more likely to have a greater range of gender roles and expressions, allowing them to embrace a variety of family structures and dynamics. An article, “Africanity: Its Role in Black Families” by Wade Nobles, gives an in-depth look into the Roles in Black families and the overview of how roles have changed over time. When Nobles discussed the influence of Society on Black Families he states,” The structure of the family in black communities plays an important part in buttressing the psychological isolation, economic oppression and social loneliness” (Nobles 1974). Today, black families still face such cultural factors and together with family, resilience, and adaptation, families combat those

The tradition of education in the African American culture implies the cultural values of the better opportunities for the family. Education provides an efficient ways to avoid the struggles that other African American’s families had to endure to provide a stable life for their families. An understanding of your ethnic culture

Black children, especially males, are not afforded the same privilege of going through the period of making mistakes and growing that their white

Works Cited King, Margaret A., and Alfred L. Karlson. An Examination of the Relationship Between Racial Preferences in Black Children and Their Self Concept. 1 Jan. 1979. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=eric&AN=ED169150&site=ehost-live. Lerman, Robert I. “Capabilities and Contributions of Unwed Fathers.”

Every child gets “The REAL Talk,” but every talk is different. For most African Americans the the talk includes how the world is not a fair place if a person is different, if African Americans want to get somewhere, they have to work twice as hard, and In the US last year, 223 African Americans were killed by police due to police brutality. One third of those people were unarmed, and should not have been seen as a threat, but they were still killed. 12 of these people were under the age of 18. African Americans should not have to be scared to go outside any day thinking they might not make it home.

Dear Mr. Cosby, I have heard your speech regarding African American Vernacular English, how it influences the youth and how the blame must be places on the parents for not teaching or encouraging their kids to learn “proper English” for the Brown v. Board of Education, and I don’t fully agree with the arguments you made that night. Firstly, I don’t think African American Vernacular English is the cause of the high dropout rates or the reason the African American kids are going to prison, or failing school. And with all due respect, I don’t think you are the person to complain about dropout rates, since you yourself have dropped out of high school after failing 10th grade.