Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority - Part One

Chapter 2: Relationship Wrecks

Why Can't We Form Strong Family Bonds?

"Disrespect"

It's a lot more rampant that I had noticed before reading this, but upon a self examination...

I noticed that with in my family that utter disrespect of our patriarchs is rather...dramatic. At one time in their lives, they were in fact family leaders that made important and heavily weighed decisions. But now, as I know them, the patriarch in my family is nothing more than a once "more proud" figure head.

"...43.3 percent of black men and 41.9 percent of black women in America who have never been married...compared to 27.4 percent of white men and 20.7 percent of white women who have never been married."

Okay, so perhaps this is true. Maybe not a reality in my life. But who is to say that this other 60 or so percent of white men and white women have great functioning marriages? And furthermore, it's understandable that nearly half of all black adults in America have never been married. We've been conditioned to believe that marriage is too hard. Black men in particular have been conditioned to believe that marriage is an outdated and ridiculous way of life. It strips them of their "player status."

Is that the issue? That black men and black women have internalized these beliefs? Yes, that is an issue. Ironic how in one point of African-American life marriage was nearly the only thing we had to live for, and even that had to be done in secret and now it is the number one thing we seem to be avoiding.