A Relationship Between A White And A Black Mother

1. How else might Ms. Ribiero have responded when she saw Julia and Brandon giving Denise a hard time about reading a book about a child with two moms?

A girl's communication and relationship with her mother are influential to her development and well-being. Communication between mother and daughter entails sending, receiving and comprehending each other intended message. According to Belgrave (2009), majority of girls report positive relationships with their mothers. Most girls learn from their mothers. This is because mothers teach and socialize with their daughters regarding any facet of her life, including behaving like a female, being a mother, caring for others. More importantly, mothers teach their daughters about sexuality and health (Tamis-Lemonda, Briggs, McClowry, & Snow, 2009). Mothers also teach their daughters how to make a decent living as well as how to achieve career and economic success.

n 1619 a Dutch ship brought 20 slaves to America and it took nearly 240 years for slavery to end in 1865. In the absence of rights or freedom, my ancestors were put to work growing anything from cotton to tobacco. For centuries, my people fought for equality. Although we are “free” the fight has still remain. As a black women raised in America, I was hit with some harsh realities at a very young age.

As an African American woman, not only is it hard to be educated and taking serious in the workforce but also it’s a struggle just to be educated and finding a mate. So why do we have to feel like we are degraded just for wanting more in life? I believe as black women we do feel the need to have to prove our self worth more because we’re always being stereotyped. Some women found it hard to have that dream lifestyle of being married and with children just because of education levels. There are many other reasons as to why black women aren’t married to black men which leaves a lot of single women. It’s very understandable that with any marriage there’s going be be benefits and there’s going to be costs. In my opinion, I think man should value a women whose smart and head strong, but not only that also not take it as a fear of losing power or masculinity.

African Americans have consistently been the target of cinematic and television comedy. Considering African American women, the Mammy has emerged as an icon throughout the 20th century, representing the foil to American white women (cf. Atkinson, 2004: 3). Having its roots in antebellum Southern America, the Mammy “was an important figure in the socialization of white Southern children” (DelGaudio, 1983). Considerably, various depictions of the Mammy present her performing arduous domestic duties in the household of their slave owners. Therefore, the Mammy replaces the white lady in educating and taking care not only of the white children but also of the home (cf. Jewell, 1993: 38). In their work, Jennifer Bailey Woodard and Teresa Mastin stand their

Families around the world consist of many variations. The traditional family includes a mother and father of the same racial background and their children. While this is the most acceptable type of family dynamic, today there are families that consist of countless different types of deviations. Many children grow up with one parent, gay parents, or with their grandparents. There are also families that consist of two parents that are of different races. Interracial families consist of relatives who are from diverse origins. Interracial families include families where the parents are of two different races or when the adopted children are of a different race than their parents.

Family dynamics across all races are complex. For the state of the black family is made even more complicated by a history rooted in slavery. Fractured families were born out of a system where husbands were taken away, jailed or killed, leaving the family weakened with a mother and/or grandmother at the helm. While these historical facts may be true; that the black family is weak, can be argued. Yet, the family for many in the black community and other communities of color extend to include a large number of kin. On the other hand, it can also be argued that since families were ripped apart during the slave trade it created an opportunity for setting up networks of support and family units to include members who may not be blood related. You often hear black people refer to an elder as “aunt” or “uncle” these networks were put in place as protective factors in the event that parents were sold there was an assurance that someone would care for the children. To an extent this behavior continues to this day as we see many fathers sentenced to long jail terms for petty crimes or killed. The family structure makeup may be a blood relative and it may also be kin of another kind. LaShawnDa Pittman discusses how these factors shape the African-American family and how slavery impacted the role of the mother and father within the family system. During slavery there wasn’t any possibility of childhood. Children were socialized to begin work at the age of

     The African-American family is defined as networks of households related by blood, marriage, or function that provide basic instrumental and expressive functions of the family to the members of those networks (Hill, 1999). It is one of the strongest institutions throughout history, and still today. Family strengths are considered to be cultural assets that are transmitted through socialization from generation to generation and not merely adaptations or coping responses to contemporary racial or economic oppression (McDaniel 1994; Hill 1999). This definition is contrary to the belief that the Black family is an adaptation to harsh conditions, instead of an ongoing establishment. Hill (1999) discusses

Black women’s bodies have always been seen as different. They are deemed as exotic and highly sexual because of the protruding nature and curvaceous shape of their hips, butts, and breast. An example of this exoticism and ridicule can be traced back to the early 1800s. Sarah Baartman, also known as the “Hottentot Venus” became an object of fascination, degradation, and humiliation. Her features were not foreign to Khoisan Women. However, the Europeans who kidnapped her and the people who went to view her body as an exhibit could not believe how big her butt, breast, and hips were. Sarah did not fit into the white standardized image of the body, so her body was seen was unnatural and even un-human. One online magazine writer asserts that, “what

Over the course of the years, society has taught black girls that the darker their skin tone is, the uglier they are which triggered them to do their best to meet Eurocentric beauty standards such as having light skin, slim nose and straight hair.

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.

While writing my paper the words of Martin Luther King stayed in my mind and I wondered if my father ever heard them. My father didn't believe in interracial relationships yet faith dealt him another hand. My step brother married an African American women and my father thought he would die. He yelled and

Women are seen simply as mothers and housekeepers. It is very clear that Audre’s family does not agree with societal standards and they are shunned because of their disagreement. During the novel, one incident in Chapter 25 really explained how black homosexual women were treated in America. In this chapter, Audre’s roommate Rhea leaves New York, without a word to Audre. She moves to Chicago and receives a new job. Later on, Audre discovers the reason why Rhea left. Rhea left Audre, New York, and her work because she was reported to be living in a house with a black homosexual. It's heartbreaking to know that a woman must leave everything behind when her sexuality is unveiled. The incident stresses that women must have a sexual relationship with just men. It also shows the reader how racism and homosexuality are seen in America.

In the multi cultural society that we live in today, relationships from all different cultures are welcomed. The mixing of races has been going on for hunherds of years and dates back to the unfortunate years of slavery. Where the mixing of white and black was a taboo, but still carried out by the white slave masters on their black maids/ slaves.

her father tries to change who she is and force her into a gender role