Marriage Is for White People?
An article published in the Washington Post on March 26th gives cause for alarm for anyone concerned about the trend of abandoning traditional family values in America.
Joy Jones begins her insightful article with anectdotal evidence of the decline of marriage among the African-American community.
I grew up in a time when two-parent families were still the norm, in both black and white America. Then, as an adult, I saw divorce become more commonplace, then almost a rite of passage. Today it would appear that many -- particularly in the black community -- have dispensed with marriage altogether.
But as a black woman, I have witnessed the outrage of girlfriends when the ex failed to show up for his weekend with the kids, and I've seen the disappointment of children who missed having a dad around. Having enjoyed a close relationship with my own father, I made a conscious decision that I wanted a husband, not a live-in boyfriend and not a "baby's daddy," when it came my time to mate and marry.
My time never came.
For years, I wondered why not. And then some 12-year-olds enlightened me.
"Marriage is for white people."
That's what one of my students told me some years back when I taught a career exploration class for sixth-graders at an elementary school in Southeast Washington. I was pleasantly surprised when the boys in the class stated that being a good father was a very important goal to them, more meaningful than making money or having a fancy title.
"That's wonderful!" I told my class. "I think I'll invite some couples in to talk about being married and rearing children."
"Oh, no," objected one student. "We're not interested in the part about marriage. Only about how to be good fathers."
And that's when the other boy chimed in, speaking as if the words left a nasty taste in his mouth: "Marriage is for white people."
Jones predicts the trend away from marriage will continue to spread into white America.
Couple this news with Pew research results indicating that fewer Americans are opposing same-sex marriage that were doing so just two years ago and you have to wonder if the marriage insitution is going the way of the dinosaur.
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And quite frankly, I love having a husband that I know will walk throught the door after work every night.
Comment by Brooke— 2006/03/29 @ 05:51 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Cate— 2006/03/29 @ 06:18 PM — (Reply)
It proves one thing - brainwashing works.
It's time to start re-programing.
Comment by Felis— 2006/03/30 @ 12:02 AM — (Reply)