ABC News NightLine last night ran a very interesting news story. It said that young black women have a harder time finding a marriage partner than single white women in the same age range. In fact, they said that 54% of black women never marry, as compared to 21% of white women.
Demographics were given as a reason. You take away the black men who are unemployed, those who are incarcerated, etc., and there are comparatively few left. The black women interviewed for the show understandably want to find a black male with income and social class comparable to their own, so they certainly are not going to consider those men among the prison population or the unemployed or the menially employed.
Steve Harvey, comedian turned counselor, weighed in and mentioned that black men just have less responsibility toward their female partners and less inclination to marry.
I think there is another reason that nobody dares to discuss. The way I see it is this: More black women than black men have good jobs, and thus can be in the middle class. (In places I have worked, I have seen black women well represented and in good positions; but if there were in fact any black men, they were likely to have jobs like janitor.) Maybe this suggests that more black women than men attain college educations and it would be interesting to see if statistics would bear this out. I think there is another reason, though. I think black women face less discrimination in the workplace. (And now comes the really unpopular thing that nobody is willing to admit.) This is because the white race has always been afraid of blacks, and that fear is directed much more toward black males than black females, who are perceived as much less threatening.
If a white person is walking on the street, or waiting for the el, late at night, is s/he going to be afraid if there is no one about but a black female? or if there is no one about but a black male?
Yes, these are the stereotypes in the minds of white people. Racism (which is pretty much equivalent to stereotypes) does exist. We all believe, but often won't admit, that there is a basis in fact for our stereotypes. I'm not going to weigh in on that question; let the reader contemplate it for himself.
Copyright © 2009 by Richard Stein
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You're on target, Richard. Another phenomenon is that successful black men are more likely to date and marry white women than white men are to date black women. Not just Tiger Woods, but a couple of black executives I have known. Go figure.
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