Blog Assignment #7

The article "When Fathers and Sons spend time together," by Billie Ochberg was the most meaningful article that I read this week because black fathers being present in their children's lives is a prominent issue in the African American community, and this program seems to do an excellent job of addressing these strained relationships. The Fathers and Sons project is a community based research project that aims to strengthen the bonds between African-American fathers and their 8 to 12 year old sons. The belief is that positive father involvement is linked to better health outcomes in children, even if they don't reside with their children. The intervention consisted of small groups of fathers and sons that focused on enhancing parenting skills for fathers and refusal skills for sons, strengthening father-son communication, and reinforcing cultural values. The curriculum teaches effective communication skills through sports without aggression and breaks down barriers to communication through role-play. The program appears to be quite effective and has strengthened many relationships between African American sons and their fathers.

An important strength of African American families is that family members are there for each other emotionally and physically in times of need which can be leveraged to address current challenges facing black families because they can lean on each other for support during difficult times. Another strength is that African American families are able to face and overcome adversities through their great resilience and strength. This strength will allow them to continue to face and hopefully overcome the discrimination and disadvantages that they still currently face on a daily basis in society. 

The Strong African American Families (SAAF) program is a interactive educational program for African American parents and their children. The program is designed to strengthen positive family interactions and enhance parents' efforts to help their children establish and reach positive goals. Early adolescence is the period in which children gain increasing control over their behavior and begin to form friendships based on similarities and common interests and develop attitudes toward substances and substance use. These attitudes influence their achievement, academic performance and friendship selections which lead them toward or away from substance use. 

Blog Assignment #6

1. Counselors need to fully understand the importance of spirituality for African American women and should feel comfortable openly discussing religious and spiritual beliefs. 
2. In order to increase self-worth, African American women need to be encouraged to foster spirituality and include religious leaders in treatment. 
3. A strong therapeutic alliance is essential to keeping black men in therapy, and counselors should pay special attention to the development of rapport. 
4. Counselors should be aware of possible historical mistrust due to the history of racism and they should not shy away from race topics in counseling. 
5. It is important that counselors do not lose sight of the individual and that they remember that each client is different. 

According to Alain Dang and Somjen Frazer, through census data collection they have found that there are 85,000 black gay households, which make up 14% of same-sex couples of all races. While black heterosexual and black same-sex couples have many differences, such as a gap in income averages they also share some similarities. Both black heterosexual and black same-sex couples face racism, create and sustain stable families, and have children despite defying stereotypes. They are also more likely than their white counterparts to rely on public sector domestic partner health insurance and less likely to own a home. 

In “The Choice to Be Gay,” Leonard Pitts responds to a mother who wrote in to him asking for advice about her gay son. Pitts responds by questioning why anyone would actively make the choice to be gay when there are multiple repercussions such as being ostracized by society and their family, and living in fear. No one wants to experience homophobia, ridicule, hatred, and estrangement, and therefore being gay is not a choice. 

Blog Assignment #5

I believe that an important factor that needs to be addressed are the stereotypes of black women and men because not only are they influencing the ways in which black women view black men and vise versa, but these stereotypes are oftentimes subconsciously internalized by both black men and women. Addressing this issues would certainly be no easy task because these stereotypes are deeply ingrained and rooted among society, groups, and individuals. I think that the black community needs to be better educated in a number of different ways. Firstly, they need to acknowledge and realize that they are internalizing these stereotypes because like I said it is largely subconscious, and likely never on purpose. By acknowledging these self-fulfilling prophecies black men and women can begin to challenge these stereotypes, and hopefully realize just that - that they are just stereotypes. Secondly, I think that these stereotypes need to not only be recognized in how they are manifesting in oneself but how the black community is buying into stereotypes about the opposite sex. While I’m sure many black women and men are in some ways aware of this issue I think by bringing it to the forefront and getting a deeper understanding of the detrimental effects of these stereotypes they can begin to decrease their power. Lastly there should be more education on the dying of marriages in the black community because without full knowledge of the issue and the negative effects it has on the black community now and in the future there is a much lesser likelihood that the issue will improve. There is still a cause for concern, and in order to address this issue something needs to be done. 

Stereotypes about black men and women have affected the black family because black men hold negative stereotypes about black women, and black women hold negative stereotypes about black men which is affected the rate at which they form relationships. African American men believe that the women are “undesirable,” “domineering,” and “second-best,” while African American women believe that the men are “unreliable and preoccupied with sexual exploitation.” Due to these stereotypes that the other gender believes about the other they are getting married at a much lower rate than in the past because they don’t view each other as suitable or compatible partners. 

1. I’ll lose anyone who gets close to me 

During slavery there were no guarantees that African Americans would stay with their families, and often times they were separated when family members were sold to other plantations or slave owners. Slaves were aware of this risk, and they knew that if they got close to family members or even friends that their would be a high chance of getting hurt when they were separated. Due to this, slaves often times distanced themselves from others or at least made sure not to get attached because the risk of being separated was unpredictable. 

2. I’m not good enough to be loved 

Slaves were not treated as human beings, and were seen more as a piece of property by slaveholders and the majority of society. African Americans were taught that whites were inferior, and that they should be ashamed of their outward appearance. Because this was all they knew these ideals were internalized and therefore believed that these statements were true. They did not see themselves as good enough and therefore did not believe that they were capable of being loved. 

Responsibility-accountability and autonomy were the top two themes that emerged as most prominent for the men interviewed in the study. I was surprised that responsibility-accountability was number one because of the well known stereotype that African American men are irresponsible, but I think that is the important part to take into account - is it is a stereotype, not a truth. For autonomy I wasn't as surprised because I can imagine that is an important value among not only African American men, but men in general. I also wonder if this in any way relates to the low marriage rates because if a man is single then he is required to have high autonomy and independence. 

Blog Assignment #4

In the article What’s Love Got to Do with It?, Paul Offner discusses the current financial and educational gap between black men and women that has grown over the past decade. He offers explanations such as black women greater pursuing careers to avoid having to take on all of the domestic responsibilities in the household, the “demonization” of young black males and strict policies due to their antisocial behavior. Other reasons include employers hiring black women instead of men because they are less threatening, and black mother’s receiving welfare to go to college while men do not. I believe that these are all valid and plausible explanations for the large discrepancies between men and women, but I believe that it has also become somewhat of a cultural norm for black men to not pursue education. It seems that there is less of an expectation for black males to go to college because the rates are so low, and if people don’t expect them to pursue successful careers then that is what they may be internalizing and come to expect from themselves. 

In the editorial “Successful women who are childless” twenty-nine percent of African American women between 28-55 years old and earning over $55,000 a year are married. According to Cornel West, in 1970 the black female/male ratio was close to even and today the ratio is 9-1 female. In the article "African American Families," John Hope Franklin informs us that up until the 1960s 75% of black families included the the husband and wife, but due to rapid urbanization and ghettoization, black males have had an increasingly difficult time finding work and government policies have negatively effected family strength. 

Over the past two decades the plight has deepened for black men due to decreases in employment, an increase in incarceration rates, and a lack of black males finishing high school. Holzer and colleagues believe that the two factors that have kept black employment rates down are the high rate of incarceration and attendant flood of former offenders into neighborhoods, and the stricter enforcement of child support. 

According to Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant, "Annihilation through integration" means a weakening of the culture and economic resources of the black community, which can be caused if black men and women marry people outside of their race or don't get married at all. This relates to the marriageability index today because as less and less black people are getting married, and there is is an increase in black men marrying outside of their race the marriageability index will continue to be low or even decrease. In the McLarin and Evans articles they discuss the ways in which positive media and politics could influence and increase the marriageability index among African Americans because currently African American men and women do not see the opposite sex as high on the marriageability index. 

After reading the required articles and reflecting on the current state of African American marriages, I believe that in order to increase marriages African Americans will be required to fully acknowledge the problem at hand and take action to address it. Due to the multiple factors that play into the low marriage rates it will not be an easy issue to address, but I believe that it will improve even if that means it gets worse before it gets better. 

Blog assignment #3

After learning more about the Nguzo Saba I believe that the Nguzo Saba value systems largely contributed to the success and progression of the African American community. By having these core set of values and principles this has allowed the African American community to unite with a common set of structured goals in order to achieve harmony among the community, family, and individuals. The progression of the African American community has increased over time, and although the African American community still faces many struggles they have certainly come along way. 

In the Harvey & Hill article they discuss the ways in which Nguzo Saba principles are used today in interventions with youth and families to promote resilience in at risk African American youths. The Rites of Passage program consists of three interventions: an after-school component, family enhancement and empowerment activities,  and individual and family counseling. The seven principles of the Nguzo Saba are an important component of the program, and the youth learn and recite the principles in a unity circle at the after-school program. 

Tyler Perry's films are a form of "Kuumba," one of the seven principles of Nguzo Saba, which means creativity. His films exhibit the African American community, their conditions, and their reality through comical situations. Creating a piece of art such as film is beneficial for arts sake because making movies makes the world a "more beautiful an beneficial" place, which is what the principle of kuumba embodies. Perry's films reflect regression for Black Americans because he highlights stereotypes that are placed upon Black Americans in todays society, and although they are intended to be comical and poke fun, these stereotype are a reality for many people and aren't always a joking matter.  

Blog Assignment #2

Is Race Real? 

Fact #1 Human subspecies don’t exist 

"Unlike many animals, modern humans have not been around long enough, nor have populations been isolated enough, to evolve into separate subspecies or races. Despite surface differences, we are among the most similar of all species."

Our race is purely an outward appearance, not something that determines or effects our personalities or who we are as people, yet somehow we see people of different races as different beings. Something that I always think of when I think or race, which unfortunately comes along with racism and discrimination, is that although we might all have different personalities, different dreams, different upbringings, different interests, etc ultimately we are all human beings and we have many more similarities than differences. People of different races are treated as if they are a different species, but as this fact proves we are among the most similar of all species, and because we often times tend to focus on the color of a person's skin we forget this. 

In "The Roots of Racial Classification," scientists claimed that whites were the last and most developed and than that black people were inferior to whites. Even though we do have more similarities than differences there are many people who disagree, and while these beliefs have come along way and have dissipated, many people still have this belief today. I was shocked to learned that scientists so strongly stood behind these beliefs and it makes more sense why so many people believed these claims because this information was being published in newspapers and scholarly journals! 

Fact #2 Race is not biological, but racism is still real 

"Race is still a powerful social idea that gives people different access to opportunities and resources. Our government and society have created advantages to being white. This affects everyone, whether we are aware of it or not."

Unfortunately, our race often determines the opportunities we are given and the ways in which we are treated in society which has many negative repercussions for people who are not white because they don't have "white privilege." But I think the part that most people are unaware of, especially white people because they don't experience as many ill effects as minorities, are the ways in which it can effect white people as well. I don't feel that I fully even understand the effects and I look forward to learning more about it in this course. 

Fact #3 Race is a modern idea 

"Ancient societies did not divide people according to physical differences, but according to religion, status, class, even language"

I found this fact very interesting because it shows that there has always, or at least for a very long time, been some sort of division among society. While it is understandable that people like to stick with people that are similar to them and people they have more in common with I believe that something beautiful about this world is that there are so many different types of people that we can learn from. Being surrounded by people that are all the same as you can get boring and uniqueness is something that makes our world beautiful and interesting. 

Another article that I found by Tim Wise is "White Denial: America’s Persistent and Increasingly Dangerous Pastime."

Blog Assignment #1

After reading the Bob Herbert editorial, write a brief reflective response (1-2 paragraphs) based on the following 3 points:

What does Mr. Herbert describe as the problem with Black America article? 

Do you agree or disagree with his perspective?

Herbert calls for a new Civil Rights Leader, which reminds us of the great work of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Now that you have read the speech, how do Mr. Herbert and Dr. Martin Luther King differ in terms of both the cause and solution to the plight of Blacks in America?  

Herbert states that although the slavery era is behind us, there are still many problems that black people face in the present day which he believes are largely self-inflicted due to black American’s behavior. While I do agree with Herbert’s standpoint on this issue, I believe that it is important to identify why this is happening, and that while one could claim it the behavior is self-inflicted I believe it is a vicious cycle that many black people have a difficult time escaping because of their upbringing, knowledge, and opportunities. That’s not to say that they are helpless beings and that it is out of their control and they shouldn’t take accountability for their actions. I just believe that he is a little bit harsh on blacks, and I think if any race was put in some of the positions black americans are put in then the results would be similar. 

Mr. Herbert and Dr. Martin Luther King’s view points are similar in that they are advocating for a revolution, or change among the black community, but their reasonings for why these issues are present and the ways in which they believe we should go about achieving change differ. Herbert believes that the cause of these issues are due to self infliction that black people have put upon themselves while Dr. Martin Luther King believes the issues are present due to the promise of the nation that every citizen would be ensured equality and happiness, which was not kept and carried out sufficiently for black Americans.  The solution MLK provides is much broader than Herbert’s and claims that blacks can never be satisfied until they receive equality, and that they must take a stand without resorting to violence, but instead using “soul force.” Herbert on the other hand makes a much more concise and simple solution to the problem which would be for black women and men to come together in a meeting and brain storm creative ideas to approach the issues.