Mia McDowell

Elizabeth Kent
February 22, 2016
English 1020 Monsters

Website Source 1 (HealthyMarriageInfo)

Griner, Maureen. "African Americans and Black Community." National Healthy
Marriage Resource Center. National Healthy Marriage Resource Center Inc. Web. 20
Feb. 2016.

According to the U.S. Census, African American households are least likely to contain a married
couple, when compared to other races and minorities. An African American child is three times
likely to be born out of wedlock than a Caucasian child. Those African American children who
are in a married family household only spend six years together compared to fourteen years of a
Caucasian child. Marriage in the African American community appears to vary based on their
income and education. Marriage also contributes to the economic well being of African
Americans compared to other races. Only 45 percent of African American families have married
couples, compared to 80 percent of Caucasian families and 70 percent among Hispanics. More
African Americans with college education tend to marry more often compared to those without
it. The divorce rate in this community increased significantly between the years of 1970 and
2000. Black women divorce at a rate nearly double the amount of white and Hispanic women.
The author of this article then goes on to discuss how this is disheartening and disgusting
because back in the old days slaves were not allowed to get married. The only way they could
symbolize their marriage was to jump a broom, and now people have all these big elaborate
ceremonies and get divorced within the next few months. They also believe that because times
have changed marriage is not view as important as it once was. I felt this source did not give
enough information as it should have but it gave pretty solid facts.

Mia McDowell
Elizabeth Kent
February 22, 2016
English 1020 Monsters

Jackson, Charreah K. "9 Interesting Facts about Divorce for Black Couples." Essence.com.
Essence Magazine Communications, 03 July 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

Essence Magazine Source

The article in essence opened up talking about how in the black community, we embrace
the phrase "it takes a village". It then, however, begins to describe this is not a healthy way to run
a marriage and is one of the leading causes for divorce in the African American society. It talked
about how many African Americans believe in getting their family, their church, and even their
community sometimes involved in their marriage. This is extremely unhealthy for a marriage
because it drives a wedge between husband and wife having so many opinions for outsiders
about the marriage. The article then goes on to say that today's society in the African American
community is more like a matriarch compared to the old days. More African American women
now are more educated and having higher earning jobs. This tends to make women more
independent and men feel more inferior. Typically, African Americans do not embrace seeking
help from therapists when their marriage is in trouble. This is because many African Americans
have a negative view and outlook on getting help from a therapist because they think this will
make them become labeled as mentally ill. This stigma causes those in the African American
community to just rather divorce instead of seeking help from professionals. All children are
impacted by their parents divorce, but African American children are impacted more heavily
and negatively. It is very typical in the African American community that when a husband
divorces his wife, he also walks away from his kids. This is more typical in the African
American community than in any other community of races. I also learned that apologizing can
really also prevent a divorce, but in the black community people really cannot seem to put their
pride aside to fix their differences. Having too much pride can really hinder working out
problems with your spouse. They covered the topic very well.

Mia McDowell
Elizabeth Kent
February 22, 2016
English 1020 Monsters

Library Article Source: African American Women Unique Divorce Experiences

Molina, Olga. "African American Women's Unique Divorce Experiences."

Journal Of Divorce & Remarriage 32.3/4 (2000): 93. SocINDEX with Full Text. 20 Feb.
2016.

The United States has the highest marriage rate in the world, however it also has
the highest divorce rate as well. More than one million couples get divorced every year
and more than 75 percent of these families include children. African Americans tend to
be slower with remarrying after divorce. It was stated that divorce affects African
American women differently. Some African Americans are completely sadden by their
divorce and feels that they are being judged by society as a failure. They tend to not feel
the comfort or support they should from others around as much during this troubling time
in their lives compared to Caucasians. The African American woman, however, tends to
bare all the burdens after divorce. It is proven that African Americans tend to have way
messier divorces. More than likely the African American woman is left fighting for child
support and for the father to still be in the childs life although they tend to take on the
role as the common primary caretaker. This causes African American women a lot of
stress especially financially, wondering how they will provide for their family and
children. Not to mention, they still deal with self-esteem issues and feelings of being
lonely from their marriage dissolving. Some women, however, prefer not to go through a
custody battle about the kids at court because it truly affects the children so some parents
end up coming to a mutual agreement before things have to get so messy. This article
also stated that it is expected in society for Black women and her spouse not to make it. I
do not think this source was a really good one.

Mia McDowell
Elizabeth Kent
February 22, 2016
English 1020 Monsters

Moore, Don. "African-Americans and Marriage." Divorce360.com. Divorce 360. Web. 18 Feb.
2016. <http://www.divorce360.com/divorce-articles/news/trends/african-americans-andmarriage.aspx?artid=1176>.

Website Source 2: Divorce360

African Americans in todays society are now less likely to be married and more prone to
getting divorced according to experts who study divorce rates in the United States. The biggest
indicators for the failure of marriage in this community tend to be age, poverty, and education.
Age differences among couples or marrying entirely too young can really have a negative impact
on marriages at times. Being that in the African American community levels of poverty are
extremely high and education levels are extremely low it really makes sense why the divorce rate
is so high. Poverty issues can put stress on any marriage as well as not having a good education
can hinder you from landing a decent job. Poverty affects marriages because you truly need
money to run a family and run a household. Divorce among black couples is more prevalent than
among the Asian, Hispanic, and Caucasian couples according to a 2003 study done by
demographic research. Research shows that 32 percent of African American couples divorce
compared to 21 percent of white couples and 22 percent of the Hispanic couples. Andrew
Cherlin, a professor of sociology at John Hopkins University, tried to explain why he thinks
African Americans divorce rate is higher than other races. He stated he believed blacks were
more prone to divorce because their poverty level which really strains any marriage. He also
went on to say that African Americans tend to involve way more outsiders in their marriage
compared to other races as well. Researchers have found that 70 percent of black womens first
marriages will end in divorce compared to the 47 percent of Caucasian womens marriages. Age,
Income, and Education are the three main factors of marriage. It was found in research that in the
black community a baby has a chance of being born to an unmarried couple. Dr. Pamela
Thompson, a psychologist located in Atlanta stated that African American couples tend to
divorce more because now in todays society, the African American woman is earning more
money and reaching higher educational levels than the average man which makes some men feel
very inferior. If this woman overbears the man, it could ruin the relationship. She also says that
black women and their attitudes contribute to the rate as well, which I feel is a personal opinion.
A minister named Cedric Brooks of Atlanta stated that divorce increases because of the decline
of church attendance. Another stated factor would be a materialistic attitude that African
Americans have about the greed of money and material things. A study called "The
Consequences of Marriage for African Americans" found that black men receive more benefits
from marriage than black women. Marriage is beneficial for African American children more
than Caucasian children because it gives that male child a father figure with their father in the
home, and it improves the overall finances of the family. I feel like this source is very valuable
because it gave plenty information and covered the topic very well.

Mia McDowell
Elizabeth Kent
February 22, 2016
English 1020 Monsters

Website Source 3: Divorce Saloon

Robinson, Denise. "DIVORCE SALOON INTERNATIONAL." Black Couples &
Divorce: Why Is the Divorce Rate for Blacks so High in the U.S.? Divorce Saloon. Web.
20 Feb. 2016.

Marriage amongst black couples seemed to decline so much, they have a day called
"Black Marriage Day". Another reason would be that the divorce rate of African Americans are
close to 70 percent and that amount does not even consider those married African Americans that
are legally separated and they do not cohabit together. This rate really began declining since the
1970s. Some studies have shown that divorce can impact black children more strongly and
negatively compared to white children because they lose that father figure in their life more
likely than forever. This causes black male children to really lose their way more frequently in a
life of drugs and crime. There also was another study done that yielded different results. In the
second study, it showed that Caucasian children are more impacted compared to bad children.
They figured this because when Caucasian children lose their father, they lose their family's
primary breadwinner. They have to completely reshape their life differently to what they are
accustomed to compared to African American children who may be used to the struggle and
extreme poverty levels. Both of these findings say a lot about the African American community
as a whole. It was revealed that Black women typically have to fight for child support more
opposed to White women. This is very saddening because it should be equal. I think this is more
likely because studies prove that past matrimony Caucasian men are more involved with their
children opposed to men in African American community. According to this article marriage
between African American couples are even starting to become endangered. I felt this source
was bias in a sense towards Caucasians in my personal opinion, but it had some very valid
points.