Keeping with the legacy of American history, the African American family is a topic of controversy and concern. While other aspects of the family are studied, it could be argued that the area of African American motherhood receives the most attention. Unequivocally, African American mothers are depicted as matriarchs, crack-mothers, and welfare queens. In addition, Black mothers are often portrayed as lazy, irresponsible, destructive, and even worthless. These stereotypical images of African American mothers are important because they have powerful implications for African American moms, and for their families at large.
Myths influence policy-makers, as well as how these mothers are viewed and treated by society. Although these stereotypes were formed in past decades, many, if not all of them, are still alive today. In order to understand why these labels continue to exist, it is useful to examine the rationale and reasoning behind their creation and the characteristics that are associated with each false image. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Dorothy Roberts both discuss African American mothers and are therefore important viewpoints to consider in this analysis.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, an American politician and sociologist, states in his report, The Negro Family: The Case for National Action (1965), that matriarchy is the main contributor to problems within the Black family. He argues that the matriarch prevents the African American family from achieving equality since it exists in a family system that does include a strong presence of a father-figure. Moynihan contends that “the Negro community has been forced into a matriarchal structure which … seriously retards the progress of the group as a whole” (Moynihan 21)....
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John A. Kirk, History Toady volume 52 issue 2, The Long Road to Equality for African-Americans
Evans, Sara M. "Sons, Daughters, and Patriarchy: Gender And The 1968 Generation." American Historical Review 114.2 (2009): 331-347. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19
Daniel Moynihan’s controversial and needed report opened my and many others’ eyes to the societal issues that African American families face. He claims that the African American condition is caused by the fall of the family. In the Tangle of Pathology he addresses several concerns such as welfare dependence, crime, gaps in educational achievement, and children born to single-mothers as the effects of the demasculinization of Black men and the shift of the matriarchal household. Using historical context, sociology, and psychology he centers his thesis around that the matriarchy in Black families is the main issue compared to patriarchy in White households. In this report, Moynihan shed light on several studies that concluded him to assume
In chapter three of this report a section is established exclusively for matriarchy in the Negro American family. Based on the Moynihan Report, the role of the black woman in the family is to be aware her sense of self, financially, academically, and emotionally, while also uplifting and solidifying the status of the Negro man, as well as her children, both male and female. The genesis of matriarchal dominance amongst the Negro family is, according to Moynihan, education. Moynihan compares various educational rates of white males and females and nonwhite males and females. Statistically sh...
After reading “Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black families and White Families,” by Annette Lareau, it was evident that she collected much data from her study of different types of families. In this study with the help of other sociologists, Lareau went into the lives of both black and white middle class and working class/ poor families. In her study she observed the behavior of children at home, school, and in the public eye. She observed the parenting methods the adults chose to use and the child’s reaction to them. Lareau and her team were able to see what influences certain factors such as income, race, family size, home location, schooling, and career choices had on each family and their children. The purpose of this study as well as the central argument is very well addressed by Lareau in the text and leads to many well supported conclusions.
Furthermore, future research might be focused on strategies that can help women combat the superwoman schema in order to better their experiences with and memories of motherhood. Also it is reasonable to suggest that scholars study and compare the experiences of other mothers of color who fit into the superwoman role and those who do not endorse the superwoman schema. This will allow for greater understanding of histories and greater applicability of instruments made to measure or counteract this role of strong Black woman/superwomen.
Family structure in the United States has undergone a dramatic change since the 1960's. The percentage of female-headed households has increased tremendously while the percentage of married couple households has fallen. Using 1970-1990 data from the Urban Underclass Database this paper seeks to explain the role the transformation of the economy and subsequent employment dislocation have played in transforming the urban family.
African American motherhood differs from White and privileged motherhood because of slavery and the standards society holds for African- American’s. During slavery, Black women took care of their own children until they were taken from them, and care for other’s children that were sold into slavery and separated from their families. Although slavery is over, the effects of slavery linger in various forms, the most surprising: motherhood. I will draw my research from Patricia Hill Collins, the author of Black Women and Motherhood, and Shifting the Center: Race, Class, and Theorizing about Motherhood. In this paper, I will briefly highlight the history of black motherhood whilst weighing on the lasting trauma that affects these women today.
In the African American community the large infant mortality rates would seemingly be correlated poverty, lack of education, and inadequate access to prenatal care. African American women show a higher infant mortality even with higher social standing and education.( Gance-Cleveland, Locus, Wilson, 2011.) This therefore signifies another element that is as of yet undiscovered and subjective to further study. One suggested theory is that African American women go through a process in life called “Weathering.” According to Geronimus ,“weathering” is the cumulative effects of socioeconomic disa...
Boser, Ulrich. "The Black Man's Burden." U.S. News & World Report 133.8 (2002): 50. Academic
From the earlier forms of fetishizing over Saartjie Baartman in Europe, the dehumanization of black women as “mammies,” to Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s controversial Moynihan Report in 1965, African and African American female identity has been under the direct possession of white people. White Americans have continued to define the black female’s position within society by creating her narrative based on inequitable economic and societal conditions as well as gender norms that have outlined what it means to be a “true” black woman. Her behavior and body has been examined [and understood] through her direct contrast to white women, her role in supporting the white race
During the eighteenth and nineteenth-century, notions of freedom for Black slaves and White women were distinctively different than they are now. Slavery was a form of exploitation of black slaves, whom through enslavement, lost their humanity and freedom, and were subjected to dehumanizing conditions. African women and men were often mistreated through similar ways, especially when induced to labor, they would eventually become a genderless individual in the sight of the master. Despite being considered “genderless” for labor, female slaves suddenly became women who endured sexual violence. Although a white woman was superior to the slaves, she had little power over the household, and was restricted to perform additional actions without the consent of their husbands. The enslaved women’s notion to conceive freedom was different, yet similar to the way enslaved men and white women conceived freedom. Black women during slavery fought to resist oppression in order to gain their freedom by running away, rebel against the slaveholders, or by slowing down work. Although that didn’t guarantee them absolute freedom from slavery, it helped them preserve the autonomy and a bare minimum of their human rights that otherwise, would’ve been taken away from them. Black
Karenga, Malauna. Introduction to Black Studies. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press Third Edition, 2002.
Family is a basic unit in every society. However, the makeup of a family is more complex to define. There are so many types of families that it is impossible to have one distinct definition in trying to explain how a true family is defined. For example, there are married couples with or without children, single-parent families, and even families headed by gay men or lesbians. These may not have been considered families not too long ago, but now must be recognized because we live in such a diverse society. What I want to focus on is the African-American family, in terms of what they had to go through before, during, and after slavery. As well as, where they are now and where it’s going in the future.
“We are still gender-oriented . . . . Males are supposed to be the breadwinners. When they can’t perform . . . stress is created in a household,” said Morehouse’s Hodge. This can lead to high rates of divorce and domestic violence.” (4) “According to Professor Barbara Carter, Ph.D., at Spelman College, economically unstable Black men are less likely to enter into formal marriages and create stable families.” (5) No woman would want a man’s hand in marriage who could not provide for her and the potential future family just as no man would want the burden of trying to raise and care for a family when he himself has no steady source of income. This in would in turn lead to more homes with only a single (almost always the mother) parent household. All of this goes hand in hand with why black families earn significantly less than white families as well as the fact that (the single) women normally hold jobs associated with their gender (which earn way less than men do) thus leaving less money to be able to provide for and care their