The Black Community

The number of two-parent African American households is dissolving. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the black family has declined from 80% in 1890 to 39% in 1990. The result of conflict, and warring souls in the African American community, this trend can be stopped and reversed. The African American family must first gain an understanding of what is causing this dissolution, then they can be taught about what principals and skills they must adapt in order to reverse it. Once this is accomplished, the black family must be given opportunities to share this information. By taking these steps, two-parent African American families would once again be prevalent in the United States.

A feeling of affiliation with community and strong interaction with all of its members serve as the basis of the peculiarity of Black community. Membership of community has been always more important to African Americans than the feeling of individualism and competition among its members. Jagers and Mock (1995) have talked about Afro-cultural communalism. This communalism is the tendency of African Americans toward collectivist orientation or the preference for interdependence among people. Students who are driven by this communalistic orientation cannot describe themselves in individualistic terms. In fact, much of their self-identity is grounded in their social concern for, and need to be with, others [3]. Being a member of community young African Americans always relate themselves to it, because as it has been mentioned above, individualism is not a characteristic feature of Black community.

     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

With the many conversations about the African-American communities and their issues with gang violence, government assistance, and the lack of jobs in their communities it is clear to say that the American Dream or even a moderate lifestyle was not created for all African Americans and Minorities and since we found a way to be noticed, heard, and felt like they’re rightfully a part of something America wants to now label it “war or Drugs” and “gang Violence” thus creating Gang Injunctions in those predominantly of color communities. Now I am not stating that the violence is not present, innocent lives are not being taken, nor are drugs consuming our communities, but what I am saying is that they act as if there is no other approach that could help clean up the streets, provide piece and harmony among all communities, and solve issues for the betterment of the community. Instead they are removing them from their communities, threatening them from going to their neighborhood, and as a consequence they get jail time, an institution that already houses half if not more than half of our black men. The gang injunction initiative is set up to tear apart the minority communities through driving up the prices and making them move, especially if they have a family member who is under the injunction’s rules. Its ironic how they put them in such enclosed space, while they make suburban home for the economically fit causing them to commute and now they are systematically removing them

-New Negro" as a means of rediscovering individuality of voice in the context of community.

In particular, Walter Rodney’s third argument about the role of black intellectual in integrating one’s self with the happening’s of the black masses is particularity intriguing. Here, I posit that Rodney is making an argument about the need for solidary within politically repressed minority communities like those of the African-American community. I agree with Rodney that through the acceptance and affirmation of the connections that we share with each of our brothers and sisters that it helps us move in a path in which all of those who are the most marginalized within our society stand a chance to benefit in the long run. Solidary is important to liberation and in reforming the oppressive structures under which we live.

Family structure is important for developing stability for a child. Its is also a factor in the way a child will themselves feel about the institution of marriage. Likewise, children from ‘non-normal' households are more likely to develop ‘nonnormative' attitudes towards family life. The divorce rates among the impoverished are higher than those of other classes. Higher than that are the divorce rates of African-Americans of the impoverished class. Rector states that "blacks have higher poverty rates, mainly because blacks have lower marriage rates"(Rector, 27 ).

Good intentions from the government have caused many problems in the past few decades for

The unavoidable collectivism sustained the African American society to survive during the era of white supremacy and Jim Crow laws(Fabre & Robert 225). However, African Americans were liberated through the civil rights movements and this led to a dramatic shift in their culture. The absence of systematic barriers opened up African American to the world, making family identity and cohesiveness less critical for survival (Fabre & Robert 1994 225). The community no longer needed the large family gatherings that became restricted to religious ceremonies. In the 1970s, the family gatherings made a comeback with an aim of restoring cohesiveness among African Americans and revitalizing this culture that had fizzled out.

When my high school years rolled around, I made a few Liberian friends. By my sophomore year, I was not ashamed to be seen with them. Slowly, I started saying I’m Liberian when people asked me my ethnicity. No more of, “My dad is black, and my mom is Liberian.” I started telling people that my favorite food was rice with stew and pepper chicken. To a young mind, it was quite liberating, but it was not full-fledged by any means. I still hung on to my Black associations. I would still hang around my Black friends, most of the time. Even though I was making progress with accepting my heritage, I was still attached to the Black community. I mean, I grew up in North Minneapolis; the Black epicenter in Minnesota. Growing up in the rougher neighborhood

The film Our Family Wedding illustrated the diversity among and between families. The film depicted the views of different generations within a family and how an interracial marriage affected them differently. The film explores new contemporary marriage trends and challenges traditional family roles and marriage trends. This paper will explore different demographic trends as it relates to the social constructs of class, race, and gender, survey the recent trends and changes towards contemporary marriage, and study the changes in the family relationships within the film. Conclusively, this film analysis will use textbook concepts and examples in the movie to establish a framework for the diverse family system and the changing marriage.

The African American community has sat at the end of a discriminatory lens from the moment they set foot in the United States. For that reason, black communities have undergone the process of community building to ensure that all members feel a sense of belonging.

The industrialization of earlier eras pushed some into suburbs and many in the city into tenement housing. The groups had different views of the world and sometimes how they saw their place in it all. Although it seemed stereotypical that certain racial groups fitted into these environs, they developed an individual nature that effected how families were structured. The changes of thought in people during the 1960’s brought about pro-feminist and African American empowerment movements that had people realize that the American dream seemed to be a concept that was archaic and the society needed to mature, and the family structure changed too. Reliable and convenient contraception and the availability of safe and legal abortion permitted sex with minimal risk of childbearing and the concomitant long-term commitment to parenting (Lundberg and Pollack, 2007). Families were now groups of people who cared for one another, but weren’t necessarily married the social stigma of single parent families, divorcees and inter racial couples was seen as taboo. Social changes throughout the 1960’s and 70’s made the

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.).

For instance, he points out that more than 80% of black men in marriage depict better aspects such as healthy parenting, social security, financial stability, and general social comfort. However, despite the trend and the numerous challenges, marriage among black men has been on the decline for the last one decade. It is logical to expect an increase in the number of married black men following the numerous benefits of the marriage. However, the trend indicates a decline as opposed to the anticipated increase thus creating a research gap to understand the confounding factors that influence marriage decisions among black