The black family has been continuously evolving since its inception. The family dynamic has been changing based on the society around it for centuries, yet it still falls behind statistically compared to families of other races. Despite constant growth, the black family still appears inferior to the outsiders. What these outsiders don’t know is that the black family is equal to if not greater than other families when it comes to strength and adaptive capability. In order to understand this, we must look at the black family from a sociological perspective, and examine adaptive vitality school of thought in comparison to the pathological-pathogenic school of thought. The adaptive vitality school of thought views the ever changing dynamic within the black family as positive changes that were brought about as a form of evolution and in response to situations they were placed in. The pathological-pathogenic school of thought views the changes as negative and categorizes them as the long term effects of slavery. We must also examine the current state of the black family and how it is seen by outsiders.
A stereotype is a broadly held belief that simplifies the image and idea of a person or a group of people. We can see examples of black stereotypes in everyday life, they are presented in the media without any remorse on a daily basis from TV shows. Take The Proud Family for example; an animated TV show featuring a middle-class black family. While it featured a wide array of ethnicities, the show’s main characters still were portrayed stereotypically in some areas. “Characters on The Proud Family could be put into two separate categories: those that act in mostly racial stereotypical ways, and those that act according to stereotypical personality types, regardless of race”. Penny’s father Oscar is a perfect example of a racial stereotype; he is portrayed as a failed businessman in almost every episode and in addition is portrayed as weak because he is constantly abused by his family. There are other characters that fill racial stereotypes as well, a few of them including basketball mogul Wizard Kelly, and Penny’s best friend Dijonay.
These stereotypes are not an accurate representation of the black family. They paint the black family as broken and dysfunctional when in actuality the black family is still healing and adapting. Looking at the black family through the adaptive vitality school of thought we can see three flaws in the stereotypical representation of the black family. The first flaw is that many people try to fit the black family unit into the white family unit despite their clear historical differences. The second flaw is the belief in the idea that the black family was destroyed during enslavement. The last flaw being that the durability and adaptability of the black family is always overlooked.
In many cases social scientists focus on low-income black families, when doing this they frequently overlook the stable families. In their studies not only do they focus on the troubling aspects of the black society, they also recycle research methods and formulas from research on white families. For example, I recently read an article entitled Racial and Socioeconomic Status Differences in Depressive Symptoms Among Black and White Youth: An Examination of the Mediating Effects of Family Structure, Stress and Support by Byron Miller and John Taylor. This study was looking into the effects socioeconomic status and race had on adolescent’s psychological well-being.
While reading the article I noticed that the researchers were using the same methods while examining low-income black youth and low-income white youth. This method doesn’t take the struggle of simply being black into account. The study concluded that “Blacks and lower socioeconomic status youth have more depressive symptoms than Whites and those in higher socioeconomic status families”. If they had taken the already somewhat depressive state of being black in America into account they would see why that data is skewed in the direction of black participants.
During the period of black enslavement, families were torn apart. However, despite the breakdown of the traditional family unit, this strengthened the sense of kinship in the black community. The saying “it takes a village to raise a child” is literally put into effect when the families were broken up. Because of this, black communities foster a sense of collectivity, unlike the traditional individualism portrayed by most Europeans. While the traditional family unit was broken down through enslavement the black community member’s commitment to each other was only strengthened through this period of struggle.
Being black in America is a struggle on its own, historically it has always been hard to be black and prosper. Despite the constant struggle members of the black community keep pushing forward and past the obstacles in their way. We see examples of this on a larger scale every day when President Obama is in the news, his accomplishments are the result of his durability and adaptability to the ever-changing world around us. On a smaller scale, we see this durability displayed through black families. This strength and durability is found in the ability to meet the needs of the family and its members and the demands of the systems surrounding the family.
Robert Hill stated in his book The Strengths of the Black Family that black families have some of the strongest bonds within their family unit, especially when it comes to their children and elderly members. They also have a strong work ethic and adaptability within the traditional family roles. Hill also states that they have a high achievement and religious orientation. All of these strengths create the black family, and keep it together and surviving despite the odds and statistics stacked against them.
On the other hand, some sociologists argue that the black family is not functioning effectively. They are believers of the pathological-pathogenic school of thought. This school of thought is focused on the idea of negative adaptations of the family unit and was developed by E. Franklin Frazier. These negative adaptations include the “strong women and ineffective and marginal men”, the unstable marriages, and the loss of culture. However, this viewpoint is split between two social causes. Frazier believed the black family was dysfunctional because of the social policies and causes around them. Others have blamed the black family directly, they blame the black family for their own deterioration and social problems. Both of these arguments are flawed because they paint the adaptations as negative changes instead of as positive adaptation. Instead of looking at the changes within the black family as problems they should be viewed as the family unit evolving.
The structural changes within the black family helped keep it together in the long run, without the ability to take on other roles the existing members of the family wouldn’t be able to function. Strong women taking on the roles of absent men is important for the children in the household. While it would be better all-around if more black families had dependable, strong male figures, when they don’t it is important that someone step up and take this role.
Frazier argued that family instability among blacks resulted from the effects of slavery on black family life. According to Frazier, slavery established a pattern of unstable black families because of lack of marriage among slaves and constant separation of families as males and older children were sold. Slavery, therefore, destroyed all family bonds with the exception of those between mother and child, leading to a pattern of black families centered on mother. In addition, Frazier argued that newly freed blacks were rural folks with family patterns of traditional agricultural society out-of-wedlock children and marital instability. When these people traveled to the North, they encountered unfamiliar ways of life in the industrial cities. Because they were unable to cope with the new conditions, their family lives became disorganized, resulting in spiraling rates of crime, and juvenile delinquency.
The black family is constantly evolving, it is always growing and adapting to what any given situation requires. When it is portrayed stereotypically it is generally negative, similar to its portrayal by the pathological-pathogenic school of thought. To break down this misrepresentation we must embrace the adaptive vitality school of thought and the current state of the black family. While statistics point to a dysfunctional family unit it is important to understand that the black family is still growing and healing from the cultural genocide that took place over 150 years ago. As the black family unit continues to evolve and grow into a more stable entity it is important to consider the history of the family unit and the strength that it took to put it back together.
