African Americans And African American Families

Currently, African Americans make up nearly one million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population. Nearly one in three African American males born today can expect to serve time in prison during their lifetime (NAACP, 2015). A central issue in today’s society is the rate of criminalization of African American males. There are many speculations on this topic; however, the central one is when a crime is committed then there is “time” to be served. However, the time served by African American males is disproportionate than that of Caucasian counterparts for the exact same crime. The lack of concern that is presented over the clear overrepresentation of African American males in the prison system is appalling.

There are invaluable life lessons to be learned before one even reaches the age of eighteen; lessons that range of the difference between right and wrong, which friends are the right friends, and the importance of faith. But what influences the questions and answers asked and given during this critical beginning to an individual’s life? Family values built around the influence of the modern age, ethnic background and religion shape an individual and the values they will pass on to future generations.

Africans have, since the early settlement of America, has had a great influence in the nation’s growth. These contributions to the United States from enslaved Africans have been greatly portrayed in American culture. Varying from cuisine, to song and dance are not only portrayed today but it has a deep-rooted impact throughout the United States. During the middle passage, enslaved Africans were forced to abandon their everyday lives, their families and their homes and forced to adapt to a new lifestyle they knew nothing of. However, upon arrival into the New World, due to their prior knowledge and wisdom from back home, they were able to quickly adapt and custom themselves to this new lifestyle in order to survive with the hope of potentially one day returning back to Africa. Unfortunately, African contributions to the culture of the United States has received little to no recognition and it has been taken credit for by Europeans and Whites since the early establishment of the United States.

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

Marcus Garvey, a ‘proponent of Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements” (), once stated that “a people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” (Good Reads Quotes) He was in fact very much so right. Most people in this world care about where they come from, who they descended from and where the backbone of their identity lies. Have you ever wondered why almost most orphans tend to look for their family lines or go out in search of where they belong? It is with this very essence my quest to look for answers and investigate about two very distinct yet similar groups. The groups I examine throughout this paper are Africans and African-Americans. What I seek to find out is why two very ‘distinct’ yet similar groups of people fail to see eye to eye, judging from the fact that Africans and African-Americans look alike, originated from Africa and their histories and culture somehow intertwine with each other. The main question here really is: what are the factors that hinder the relationship between Africans and African-American people.

The mission of the students around the country who fought for an education that would shed light on African Americans. The progress the students created is seen today in American Universities ,and also HBCUs, where (AAS)African American Studies is implemented into the curriculum. Before, the dissection the formation of AAS, it should be noted that without the sacrifice from others I undoubtedly would not be writing about AAS ,or reflecting on the significance it has created for generations so far.

Although, Nixon's “War on Drugs” affected Black marriage the rate in which families were staying together was already declining. More families were getting divorced, while some were never marrying. More people were having children out of wedlock which caused stress to the families making them even more divided. Marriage trends for families in general began to decline after the 1960s. The African American family began to spiral in the 1970’s continuing into the 1980’s. What was the reason for this decline? During this time, new jobs were emerging, there were men who were returning home from the war. Families were trying to establish themselves more, however not as a unit any longer, but as their individual selves. In comparison to the 1950s

Envision living in a world where you were viewed as a nuisance, To wake up in a country every day that you did not choose to be a part of but rather forced to join and then be a second class citizen in that country. Although the way we African-Americans have been treated has dramatically changed over the years we are still nowhere near the equal rights we have constantly had to fight for. From the individual tactics of leaders such as the Non-violent Martin Luther King Jr. to the fight fire with fire mindset of Malcolm X to the group efforts of the Black Panther Party the African-American community has always came together to voice our problems with the ways we are viewed, mistreated, and disrespected. In 2017 we now have the Black Lives Matter

Being a future educator of our youth, it is important to look into different cultures to understand where people come from and understand their struggles. It is important to look into different cultures to know how to work with these families. One must first understand their values, belief, and their family structure, before they are able to help them. I found a textbook that talked about African American family structure so, as a teacher, I can understand this dynamic and work with the families to help their children get the best education possible. The textbook looked into traditional family structures, racial socialization, and roles of different family members, in African American culture. It is important to understand these aspects in

The unemployment rate in the African American community is higher than any other group in American society. Institutionalized racism and unequal education opportunities have contributed to the unemployment rate. There are various reasons why the unemployment rate is greater in the African American communities. Consequently, Blacks are attaining higher education at a rate lower than other groups in society, and lack opportunities in the workforce. These are just two of the elements that cause the wealth gap between Blacks and Whites in America’s financial system. African men and women were brought to America for slavery. Once the slaves were freed, they had to find work and enter into the American workforce with little or no education. Therefore, countless Blacks were forced to take lower level jobs in American society. As a result, racism and inequality became institutionalized injustices that widen the wealth gap. Scores of Blacks were denied the opportunity to purchase properties and to attain assets and wealth. The majority of Whites do not know Black people’s reality and financial obstacles because White people do not face housing discrimination or scrutiny in the workplace. White people have benefited from the inequality that minorities face in the United States financial system. According to Hilary Shelton Deputy Director, Washington Bureau, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People “because of affirmative action, fairness is

I’ve always been involved in the black community to an extent. I’d voice my opinion on different topics that involve African Americans at a young age and participate in events and activities in my community. I’d like to continue participating and supporting these types of events throughout my life and also expose other young people as well.

African Americans have come a long way in the last few decades. We have more rights, more opportunities to grow and prosper and more independence than ever before. But the same cannot be said for African American families as a whole. The African American family and community is in trouble (Tilove, 2005). These families are facing many issues today that are contributing to their break down. These factors include poverty, diminishing health, welfare, incarceration, the struggle to find housing and the challenges involved with providing children with higher education. The disintegration of families have gone on for too long and it’s time we do something about it (“Current Challenges”, n.d.).

As we know the family, is considered the core unit of society, is subject today to a series of changes, changes that have always existed, but are now presented in a more practical and faster than before. During the different stages of family development, the family faces different critical moments in the evolutionary cycle, involving both individual and family changes, which may constitute a period of crisis. In this case, we have a family of African Americans, in which we can denote that the relationship between one and the other influences the behaviors and feelings of each one of its members, where all act as a whole but each one interacts individually. Where there are communication and trust to express themselves, but there are still

Single-parent families are becoming increasingly common. Singleparent had said that “single parenting is becoming a rapidly rising trend in society […] studies in the US alone indicate there are four single parents to every ten parents […].” In early 1965 a guy named Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003) had completed a report that was eventually published as “The Negro Family” or more frequently referred to as Moynihan’s Report (Encyclopedia). In his report Moynihan had described the