Tuesday, June 28, 2011
the colored girls
The Colored Girl showed the privilege and difference race and gender could have. Black women which was almost like a double negative was something that has double opposition made a problem for black women. The colored girl presented the problems black women and girls faced. Colored girls have limited options when it comes to work and livelihood. Even today the financial, social, and sexual struggle are prevalent. Black women having to work under white people and ultimately taking jobs many people would not have want. An example was being a servant in a white household washing their clothes and cleaning their house. Colored girls have had a problem of relying on black women. Black women have become the bottom of the bottom. They have received backlash from white and black men. Black women also have had trouble relying and forming an alliance with white women. Black women today have 70% of their children out of wedlock. This causes them to no be able to rely on black men. Black men were suppose to be providers and protectors and they have failed partly because of capitalism, however black women have failed. Where do black women go for comfort? The answer seems to be nowhere. Black women have not been able to be a southern bell easy black wife. Black women had to work and black men felt they could take their money and still feel like men. Today, this problem still occurs. So again, what break does black women have? I am a colored girl. I want to know. Where do I belong? Who wants me and can support me emotionally and physically?
Anita Hill
This work really irritated me. The fact that the wife is going to tell her to apologize for the husband's advantages. Anita did not want him she did not ask to sleep with him. The husband wanted her. I do not understand the right that the wife thought she had to tell this woman she should apologize. This really pissed me off. She was a strong woman, however personally I would not have been able to handle being told that. Clarence obviously wanted to have sex with a black women. He obivously was aroused, by them how is that her fault. I don't get how some women's husbands or boyfriends can cheat on them and they blame the woman. Yes, women can be provocative, but not all of them are. I think religion plays an enormous role on women blame each other for sexual acts. Women are constantly seen to make men be the victim of their sexual tricks. The reaalitivty that needs to be faces if men have a mind of their own if they cheat it is on them regardless of what the women did. Stop blaming the other woman because most of the time these men are sitting back laughing talking about how dumb these women are. Grow up and the know the difference. They are not victims. The are no resisting.
interview #2
1. What is your name? Maiden and Married
Interviewee: Latoya Tate
2. Where were you born?
Interviewee: July 1st 1988
3. Where did you grow up?
Interviewee: Canton, MS
4. What were you parents names and occupation?
Interviewee: Jerald and Cynthia Tate my father works for the city. My mother is a nurse.
5. Do you have siblings? Yes or No. Names?
Interviewee: No
6. What was you life growing up as a black girl in?
Interviewee: It is hard but not to hard. You can see a difference in respect, however to me most of it come form blacks men and women alike.
7. Did you ever encounter racism? Explain?
Interviewee: I am in Madison County, of course I have. I remember being told when I was given a ticket one time if you were a white girl I would have let you go.
8. What privileges or setbacks do you feel that you experienced growing up a black female in the North/South?
Interviewee: In the south, a black girls options are limited. The only privileges you get is if you a thick redbone that a rich guy would want. If you are not you will be alone for the rest of you life.
9. What, if anything, do you remember your parents telling you about race?
Interviewee: I remember them telling you got two things against you. You are black and a woman. You have to fight to get anything.
10. What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman?
Interviewee: My parents told me you have to respect yourself more. The first one that will bring you down is your own kind. A black man will leave you with a baby in a second and keep it moving.
11. Did you attend school? Yes or No, why or why not?
Interviewee: Yes, I have my high school diploma. My parents told me if I did not find somewhere else to live.
12. Talk a little bit about those days…
Interviewee: I wanted to be popular and everything, but my parents told me popularity equals poverty. I was odd in school, but because I wanted attention and to be popular. I lost my virginity. I hate I did, but that how the cookie crumbles. I hate myself for have a baby so young. I hate I hurt my parents for a boy that was worth my time. Everyone has a sad story and unless im getting paid for it no point in reliving it.
13. What was it like in school for you as a black female?
Interviewee: refer to the last question
14. Did you graduate and attend college?
Interviewee: I am currently going to a community college.
15. Did you get married? To who? When?
Interviewee: Nope and probably never will men don’t want use they want those dimes the take all their money or a white girl. Black women are going to be alone either way no point in talk about it.
16. Did you have any children? Yes or No? How many? Why? Was this a choice or just happened? If no children, you could ask them why they chose no to or was it medical reasons.
Interviewee: I have one she was not planned but she her and I love her. If I meet the right guy which is unlikely. I will have a more.
17. Where did they work as an adult?
Interviewee: she is 5
18. Ask them about their adult life and what it was like living as a black woman?
Interviewee: Life is hell if you don’t want a dead in job you have to go through hell and back to get there. You have to watch out for those guys that try to leech onto you for a free ride. Black women love life and business is all messed up. We have no shot.
19. Ask them if there are any specific stories that they would like to share regarding their adulthood life and being a black woman?
Interviewee: Personal, I liked this guy did everything to get him to notice me. He told me I don’t like black girls because they ugly and ratchet. Business job interview, they asked me did I have a child I told them I did and they told me figures. You black girls never respect your selves enough to use protection.
20. What were their relationships like with other women?
Interviewee: I personally don’t have any friends they are women. They are backstabbers. I get along with men more often. Plus, they will use their privilege in a minute over you.
21. Would they consider themselves friends with white women? Or do they have friends that are of another race?
Interviewee: I have acquaintances that are, but like I said I am not friends with any women.
22. What type of relationship do you have with black men?
Interviewee: I have a lot of black male friends. I know that black men are the main ones that will call a black girl out her name, but they are who they are. I have found that black men preacher for everyone equal when the not with you, but then you in a relationship it is totally different.
23. What do you think is the role of both black men and women in relationships and inside of the home should be?
Interviewee: I think everything should be fifty/ fifty.
24. What do you think about people dating outside of their race? Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men?
Interviewee: I hate is personally, especially if the black guy has money. It pissed me off.
25. What issues do you think most affect b lack Americans today?
Interviewee: I think blacks don’t work together enough. That is why we always fail today.
Interviewee: Latoya Tate
2. Where were you born?
Interviewee: July 1st 1988
3. Where did you grow up?
Interviewee: Canton, MS
4. What were you parents names and occupation?
Interviewee: Jerald and Cynthia Tate my father works for the city. My mother is a nurse.
5. Do you have siblings? Yes or No. Names?
Interviewee: No
6. What was you life growing up as a black girl in?
Interviewee: It is hard but not to hard. You can see a difference in respect, however to me most of it come form blacks men and women alike.
7. Did you ever encounter racism? Explain?
Interviewee: I am in Madison County, of course I have. I remember being told when I was given a ticket one time if you were a white girl I would have let you go.
8. What privileges or setbacks do you feel that you experienced growing up a black female in the North/South?
Interviewee: In the south, a black girls options are limited. The only privileges you get is if you a thick redbone that a rich guy would want. If you are not you will be alone for the rest of you life.
9. What, if anything, do you remember your parents telling you about race?
Interviewee: I remember them telling you got two things against you. You are black and a woman. You have to fight to get anything.
10. What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman?
Interviewee: My parents told me you have to respect yourself more. The first one that will bring you down is your own kind. A black man will leave you with a baby in a second and keep it moving.
11. Did you attend school? Yes or No, why or why not?
Interviewee: Yes, I have my high school diploma. My parents told me if I did not find somewhere else to live.
12. Talk a little bit about those days…
Interviewee: I wanted to be popular and everything, but my parents told me popularity equals poverty. I was odd in school, but because I wanted attention and to be popular. I lost my virginity. I hate I did, but that how the cookie crumbles. I hate myself for have a baby so young. I hate I hurt my parents for a boy that was worth my time. Everyone has a sad story and unless im getting paid for it no point in reliving it.
13. What was it like in school for you as a black female?
Interviewee: refer to the last question
14. Did you graduate and attend college?
Interviewee: I am currently going to a community college.
15. Did you get married? To who? When?
Interviewee: Nope and probably never will men don’t want use they want those dimes the take all their money or a white girl. Black women are going to be alone either way no point in talk about it.
16. Did you have any children? Yes or No? How many? Why? Was this a choice or just happened? If no children, you could ask them why they chose no to or was it medical reasons.
Interviewee: I have one she was not planned but she her and I love her. If I meet the right guy which is unlikely. I will have a more.
17. Where did they work as an adult?
Interviewee: she is 5
18. Ask them about their adult life and what it was like living as a black woman?
Interviewee: Life is hell if you don’t want a dead in job you have to go through hell and back to get there. You have to watch out for those guys that try to leech onto you for a free ride. Black women love life and business is all messed up. We have no shot.
19. Ask them if there are any specific stories that they would like to share regarding their adulthood life and being a black woman?
Interviewee: Personal, I liked this guy did everything to get him to notice me. He told me I don’t like black girls because they ugly and ratchet. Business job interview, they asked me did I have a child I told them I did and they told me figures. You black girls never respect your selves enough to use protection.
20. What were their relationships like with other women?
Interviewee: I personally don’t have any friends they are women. They are backstabbers. I get along with men more often. Plus, they will use their privilege in a minute over you.
21. Would they consider themselves friends with white women? Or do they have friends that are of another race?
Interviewee: I have acquaintances that are, but like I said I am not friends with any women.
22. What type of relationship do you have with black men?
Interviewee: I have a lot of black male friends. I know that black men are the main ones that will call a black girl out her name, but they are who they are. I have found that black men preacher for everyone equal when the not with you, but then you in a relationship it is totally different.
23. What do you think is the role of both black men and women in relationships and inside of the home should be?
Interviewee: I think everything should be fifty/ fifty.
24. What do you think about people dating outside of their race? Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men?
Interviewee: I hate is personally, especially if the black guy has money. It pissed me off.
25. What issues do you think most affect b lack Americans today?
Interviewee: I think blacks don’t work together enough. That is why we always fail today.
interview #1
1. What is your name? Maiden and Married
Interviewee: My name is Annie B. Wiggins. My maiden name is Annie Body.
2. Where were you born?
Interviewee: Belzoni, MS
3. Where did you grow up?
3. Where did you grow up?
Interviewee: I grew up in Belzoni, MS
4. What were you parents names and occupation?
Interviewee: My mother’s name is Annie Lee Body, Darrell Body. They were share croppers.
5. Do you have siblings? Yes or No. Names?
Interviewee: I have 15 siblings. Sweet, Muss, Busher, Shane, Mane, Paul, Lu, Queen, Walter, Pumpkin, Johnny lee, Charles, Francine, Terrell, Lucas
6. What was your life like growing up as a black girl in Belzoni?
Interviewee: I know we wasn’t a stranger to work. We were in the cotton fields. The only way a black women left the family was if she married or went to school. Black girls were married off young mostly to younger guy. Black girl had to work in the house cooking and cleaning.
7. Did you ever encounter racism? Explain?
Interviewee: Yes, I have. I just didn’t know that what it was called. I remember when they lynched my pastor in front of the church. When we went to church he was hanging there.
8. What privileges or setbacks do you feel that you experienced growing up a black female in the North/South? The set backs were the Jim Crow South.
Interviewee: We did not have as good as school. Our parents were harder on use as disciplinarians. We often had limited options.
9. What, if anything, do you remember your parents telling you about race?
Interviewee: I remember them telling me im different so I have to be grateful for what I get and work harder to get it.
10. What did your parents tell you or instill in you regarding being a woman, specifically a black woman?
Interviewee: my parents told me the bible say I am suppose to support my husband and stand behind him. My duty is to bear children and have a husband. Taking care of the children.
11. Did you attend school? Yes or No, why or why not?
Interviewee: I did and graduated from high school.
12. Talk a little bit about those days…
Interviewee: In those days, people often would not finish school they would drop out in the eight grade to help provide for their families. Family was the most important thing.
13. What was it like in school for you as a black female?
Interviewee: It was hard school was hard enough without the boys teasing us. Many boys did not believe that women should get an education. Women were suppose to be in the house.
14. Did you graduate and attend college?
Interviewee: I married and had no been able to attend college. I was a preacher’s wife.
15. Did you get married? To who? When?
Interviewee: Yeah, Frank Thorton in 1949
16. Did you have any children? Yes or No? How many? Why? Was this a choice or just happened? If no children, you could ask them why they chose no to or was it medical reasons.
Interviewee: Yes, I had one. It just happened. I nearly died having her and could no longer have anymore.
17. Where did they work as an adult?
Interviewee: She became a a veteran affairs associate.
18. Ask them about their adult life and what it was like living as a black woman?
Interviewee: It is difficult being a black woman of the working class. We have to be faster, smarter, and more intuitive then black women. Black women must be the mothers and so much moiré with men leaving the burden on women.
19. Ask them if there are any specific stories that they would like to share regarding their adulthood life and being a black woman?
Interviewee: Being a black woman meant you had to be strong but gentle. Your grandfather cheated on me and use to beat me. Your grandfather also uses to beat your mother. I had to send you mother to my mother’s so she would be safe. I remember when your grandfather beat me for buy you mother some bubble bath. In those days, women did not have to many options, so what else could I have done. When you grandfather died he left all his money to his mistresses and left me nothing.
20. What were their relationships like with other women?
Interviewee: Many times like today, black women have more enemies than friends. Black women came together yeah. But, you had to worry about the next woman taking you husband. Life was hard for black women and the men would have sex where they could get it. You had to be friendly, but on the look out as well.
21. Would they consider themselves friends with white women? Or do they have friends that are of another race?
Interviewee: I don’t consider white folks to be friends. When times get hard the turn on you all of them are the same. The only reason the act civil now is because they have to. I have no respect for them people.
22. What type of relationship do you have with black men?
22. What type of relationship do you have with black men?
Interviewee: I was taught that if you was with a man it better be your man. If it was not your man you were seen as a slut. You did not want to get a bad reputation. Or no one would marry you.
23. What do you think is the role of both black men and women in relationships and inside of the home should be?
Interviewee: Men should tend to outside work and women should be inside. A woman should stand by and take care of her man. A woman should raise the children. Men should provide for the family. Women if needed should also work but help as well. A man is the man of the house regardless. If you don’t give the man the chicken breast he will not stay.
24. What do you think about people dating outside of their race? Black men marrying white women and black women marrying white men?
Interviewee: I cant stand those people who be with other races. This makes me sick. I hate everyone of them they are all traitor. They all are wasting or race. I hate them you would think they would have more respect for themselves.
25. What issues do you think most affect b lack Americans today?
Interviewee: lack of self-esteem is them main issue. Black have not pride in themselves and no one can help or love you if you don’t have pride in yourself.
Monday, June 27, 2011
single professional black women
For as long as there have been movies, music and magazines, there has been the single gal.
Over the years, she has gone from being a punchline to a glamorous, independent icon. Artists like Beyonce Knowles champion "Single Ladies," and movies like "Something New" make the case for successful, single women maintaining high standards.
But in reality, one group of women has found it harder to leverage professional success into the model personal life.
Over the past few decades, black women in America have made historic strides academically and professionally. According to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, at least 60 percent of black students who get awarded college degrees are women. Black women make up 71 percent of black graduate students.
But the statistics point to another issue: Many of the women are single.
According to a recent Yale study, 42 percent of African-American women have yet to be married, compared to only 23 percent of white women. There's also a gap in numbers. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 1.8 million more African-American women than black men.
But is the successful, single black woman a matter of statistics, or are there other more controversial factors at hand?
"Nightline" tackled the phenomenon in a piece originally reported by ABC News' Linsey Davis in late 2009. The piece sparked an outpouring of praise and criticism. Some viewers praised "Nightline" for covering an overlooked issue, while others found the topic offensive.
"It is an issue. I'm sorry," said Sherri Shepherd, co-host of "The View" and author of "Permission Slips." Shepherd headlined a panel of successful and single black men and women to debate the issue in the "Nightline Face-Off": Why Can't a Successful Black Woman Find a Man?
Watch the debate on "Nightline" tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET
"I've had people tweet me and go, 'Here we go again, are we still on this topic,'" said Shepherd. "We will always be on this topic, but I like having it because hopefully, I'll learn something." Shepherd, who is 42, is a single mother who is divorced from a black man. She says she needs a man.
CLICK HERE for behind the scenes photos from the Face-Off
Joining Shepherd on the female side was Jacque Reid, star of VH1's "Let's Talk About Pep."
"There are far too many black, wonderful women out there that are single and living alone and have no hope of ever finding a man," said Reid. "And I'd like to give them some hope."
Reid, who keeps her age under lock and key, still hopes that she can find a black man to partner up with.
"I just love how I feel with a black man," she said. "I love black men... I really think that black men and black women need to actually discuss this, and get past all the anger that exists between us."
Both Shepherd and Reid argued that statistics, unfaithful partners, intimidation and stereotypes play a large role in why there are more single black women.
On the other side were two men with an entirely different standpoint.
Over the years, she has gone from being a punchline to a glamorous, independent icon. Artists like Beyonce Knowles champion "Single Ladies," and movies like "Something New" make the case for successful, single women maintaining high standards.
But in reality, one group of women has found it harder to leverage professional success into the model personal life.
Over the past few decades, black women in America have made historic strides academically and professionally. According to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, at least 60 percent of black students who get awarded college degrees are women. Black women make up 71 percent of black graduate students.
But the statistics point to another issue: Many of the women are single.
According to a recent Yale study, 42 percent of African-American women have yet to be married, compared to only 23 percent of white women. There's also a gap in numbers. The 2000 U.S. Census counted 1.8 million more African-American women than black men.
But is the successful, single black woman a matter of statistics, or are there other more controversial factors at hand?
"Nightline" tackled the phenomenon in a piece originally reported by ABC News' Linsey Davis in late 2009. The piece sparked an outpouring of praise and criticism. Some viewers praised "Nightline" for covering an overlooked issue, while others found the topic offensive.
Guy D'Alema/ABC News
Sherri Shepherd, left, and Jacque Reid talk about being successful, black and single at the seventh "Nightline: Face-Off."
Watch the debate on "Nightline" tonight at 11:35 p.m. ET
"I've had people tweet me and go, 'Here we go again, are we still on this topic,'" said Shepherd. "We will always be on this topic, but I like having it because hopefully, I'll learn something." Shepherd, who is 42, is a single mother who is divorced from a black man. She says she needs a man.
CLICK HERE for behind the scenes photos from the Face-Off
'Nightline Face-Off': Sherri Shepherd on Being Single
"I think for a long time I was like, 'I don't need a man, I'm going to make my own money,'" she said. "Well, I'm trying to raise a boy, and I think he needs a man. ... I would love to have a man in my life to help me raise my son."Joining Shepherd on the female side was Jacque Reid, star of VH1's "Let's Talk About Pep."
"There are far too many black, wonderful women out there that are single and living alone and have no hope of ever finding a man," said Reid. "And I'd like to give them some hope."
Reid, who keeps her age under lock and key, still hopes that she can find a black man to partner up with.
"I just love how I feel with a black man," she said. "I love black men... I really think that black men and black women need to actually discuss this, and get past all the anger that exists between us."
Both Shepherd and Reid argued that statistics, unfaithful partners, intimidation and stereotypes play a large role in why there are more single black women.
On the other side were two men with an entirely different standpoint.
black women and economics
We occupy many of the seats on the 5:30 P.M. Metrolink train from downtown Los Angeles to San Bernardino. We are behind the counters at the Department of Motor Vehicles and on both sides of the desks at the Department of Social Services. We push wheelchairs in parks and hospitals and hug children at day-care centers. Black women, who in 2006 constituted 7 percent of the working-age population, represented 14 percent of women workers and 53 percent of black workers, yet we are largely invisible in the policy discourse about both race and gender. Like black men, black women live in neighborhoods far from employment opportunities and with low-performing schools. Like white women, black women experience occupational segregation, a gender wage gap and the challenge of balancing family and work. We are discriminated against because we are black. We are discriminated against because we are women. We are discriminated against because we are both.
This twin set of vulnerabilities has a big impact on black families and the black community at large because the wages of black women constitute a major component of black family income. Because of the limited economic prospects for black men, black women are likely to be both primary caregivers and primary breadwinners in our families. In nearly 44 percent of black families with children, a woman is the primary breadwinner. This includes both families headed by working single mothers and married-couple families in which the wife works and the husband does not. These female breadwinner families account for over 32 percent of aggregate black family income. In contrast, across all racial and ethnic groups, female breadwinner families represent only 24 percent of all families with children and account for 14 percent of aggregate family income. Hence, the gender wage gap and the lack of labor-market opportunities has a bigger impact on the economic well-being of black families than it does for other groups. Despite a history of strong labor-force attachment and despite gains in educational attainment and occupational status, black women earn less than black men, white women, and white men. In 2005, for the same hours worked, we earned 85 cents for every dollar earned by a white woman, 87 cents for every dollar earned by a black man, and 63 cents for every dollar earned by a white man. In 2006, over 13 percent of black women workers were poor, compared with 5 percent of white women, 7.7 percent of black men, and 4.4 percent of white men. Our unemployment rate is nearly double that of white women and white men.
These statistics are especially depressing because slightly more than three decades ago, black women earned 96 cents for every dollar earned by a white woman. Between 1975 and 2000, the median earnings of white women grew by 32 percent while the median earnings of black women grew by only 22 percent. This recent experience contrasts sharply with the gains realized in the 1960s and 1970s when the income growth among black women outpaced that of other groups thanks to the improvements in black women’s educational attainment and the elimination of the most blatant discriminatory barriers to employment and occupational mobility.
*** What interrupted this upward trajectory? Technological change and global competition increased the premium paid for skilled workers in the United States over the 1980s and 1990s and, although the proportion of black women with college degrees increased, a racial gap in educational attainment persists. In 2007, 19 percent of black women 25 and older had college diplomas compared with over 30 percent of white, non-Hispanic women.
Another factor contributing to a decrease in the black-white earnings ratio for women was the growth in labor-force participation of white women. This growth in white women’s labor-force participation coupled with a weakening labor-force attachment of young black women and black single mothers eroded black women’s work experience advantage. In 1972, the labor-force participation rate of white women was 42.7 percent, and for black women, 51.2 percent. By 2000, the black-white difference in labor-force participation rates had nearly evaporated: 60 percent of white women were in the labor force compared with 65 percent of black women. Among younger women, those aged 16 to 24, and among older women, those 45 and older, labor-force participation rates of white women exceeded those of black women in 2006.
Finally, equal employment opportunity (EEO) legislation and its enforcement contributed to the gains of the 1960s and 1970s, while the more recent retrenchment of those policies affected today’s wider gaps. In the 1960s, EEO allowed black women with high school diplomas to leave domestic service for higher-paying jobs as secretaries, typists, and stenographers. College-educated women moved into managerial jobs, particularly in the public sector. Retrenchment in the 1980s helps explain the lack of upward mobility for black women in clerical work and their continued exclusion from high-paying, managerial positions in the private sector.
Although employer surveys show less reluctance to hire black women than black men, there is evidence of ongoing discrimination in employment. Young black women take a longer time to find their first jobs and experience more spells of unemployment than do young white women. In data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, over the 26 years observed, 29.5 percent of black women with high school diplomas but no college degree experienced 10 or more spells of unemployment compared with only 13.5 percent of white women with the same education.
Employment discrimination has long-term consequences. When a young woman finally gets her first job, she will have accumulated less work experience than her same-aged white counterpart and thus will have an earnings disadvantage that persists over her work life. In addition, discrimination causes stress, and stress contributes to obesity and poor health. Poor health limits labor-force participation especially as women age. Older black women would likely have higher participation rates than white women if they had better health.
*** If black women face a double whammy in the labor market, black single mothers face a triple whammy. Women with children are paid less than are women without children who are otherwise similarly qualified. This difference in pay may be explained by differences in characteristics that employers can observe but researchers can’t—such as tardiness, absenteeism, or get-up-and-go—but it is also possible that employers perceive mothers as unreliable even if they are just as productive as other women.
Added to this disadvantage is the negative stereotype of black single mothers as “welfare queens.” Just as the civil-rights movement opened new employment opportunities for black women, it also helped to end many discriminatory practices of states in their administration of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Before the 1960s, families headed by black single mothers, particularly in the South, were underrepresented among beneficiaries of the program, and, if they received benefits, they received ones less than comparable to what white families received. As the program came under direct federal control in the 1960s, the share of black families among welfare recipients grew, and the public image of the welfare recipient shifted from that of a noble white woman widowed and struggling with housework and child-rearing to that of an unwed black teenager who has babies to collect welfare because she is too lazy to work.
This stereotype was an inaccurate portrayal of the average welfare recipient. Most welfare recipients cycled on and off welfare into low-paying jobs and collected welfare because they were rarely employed long enough to qualify for unemployment insurance. The evidence that welfare induced black women to have babies outside of marriage was never stronger than a few weak correlations. Nevertheless, the image of the black welfare queen was powerful enough to lead to the dismantling of the federal welfare entitlement system, the imposition of work requirements, and a return to state control under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 (reauthorized in February 2006). The stereotype may have also influenced employer attitudes about young black single mothers. A business owner once told me that he would willingly hire an ex-convict but not an ex-welfare recipient because, he explained, “doing crime requires initiative.”
Despite these stereotypes, many welfare recipients were initially able to move into low-wage employment. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that replaced AFDC imposed work requirements on its beneficiaries, but tight labor markets, the expansion of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the maintenance of work supports facilitated the pathway to employment. Black women have been slower to move off welfare than white women have been and are more likely to return.
Furthermore, African Americans were more likely to be denied benefits due to sanctions than due to earnings and represent a higher proportion of women who are “disconnected” from the welfare system (defined as low-income single mothers with no more than $2,000 in case earnings, no more than $1,000 in public assistance income, and no more than $1,000 in household Supplemental Security Income). A Brookings Institute study estimates that 29 percent of disconnected single mothers in 2005 were black or non-Hispanic. And though the 1996 legislation has moved many single mothers into jobs, poverty rates for single-mother families remain stubbornly high at 42.1 percent for white children and 49.4 percent for black children in families with a female householder, no husband present in 2007.
The centerpiece of the Bush administration’s anti-poverty policy is the Healthy Marriage Initiative. This approach ignores a fundamental reality for black women. Marriage has not historically been the route out of poverty for black women that it has been for white women. The marriage initiative assumes that families headed by single black women are poor because the family head is unmarried. However, the relationship between poverty and single motherhood is not so simple. Single black mothers are not more likely to be poor because they are not married. They are likely to be not married because they, and their likely marriage partners, have poor economic prospects. For black women and black men, a good job may be a prerequisite for a good marriage.
An anti-poverty policy that has reduced poverty among black women is Social Security. Without Social Security, over half of black women over age 65 would have incomes below the poverty threshold. With Social Security, the percentage falls to 27 percent. However, Social Security is even more effective in reducing the poverty rate for white women. Without Social Security, the poverty rate for white women would be over 50 percent; with Social Security, it falls to under 10 percent.
Social Security is less effective in reducing the poverty rate of black women for two reasons. First, benefits received under Social Security are based either on one’s own earnings or on the earnings of one’s spouse. A black woman and white woman with the same earnings history may receive different monthly benefits because the black husband of the black woman earned less than the white husband of the white woman. Secondly, the decline in marriage rates among black women means that as they reach retirement, fewer will be eligible based on a spouse’s earnings. In 2006, 55 percent of black women over 65 were entitled to benefits only as workers, 20 percent were dually entitled, and 25 percent entitled as a wife or widow of a worker. Among white women, 38 percent were entitled as workers only, 31 percent were dually entitled, and 31 percent were entitled as a wife or widow of a worker. Women entitled only as workers receive a lower average benefit because women historically earned less than men. In 2006, the average benefit for a black woman entitled as a worker only is $828 while the average monthly benefit for a black woman who is dually entitled is $919. This gap would be larger if the progressivity of the Social Security benefit did not mitigate the effects of racial and gender discrimination in the labor market. Hence, it is important to black women that this progressivity be maintained or even increased.
*** Neither of the presumptive nominees of the two major parties has indicated an interest in revisiting welfare reform. Neither candidate has proposed a specific plan for Social Security reform. Barack Obama has proposed initiatives to increase the take-home pay of workers and to expand work supports including increasing the federal minimum wage (over 949,000 black women earn a wage at or below the federal minimum), expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, and expanding and making refundable the child-care tax credit. John McCain proposes a sizable refundable tax credit for health insurance. While an expansion of refundable tax credits is likely to benefit families headed by black women, black women must be as concerned with candidates’ expenditure plans as well as with their tax policies. Cutbacks in social services impact black women both as recipients of those services and also as providers. Black women are disproportionately employed in public administration and in the delivery of social services.
Black women confront many of the same issues as white women, as black men, and as working people in general, but these issues are compounded by the intersection of race and gender. In addition, black women suffer from not only the burden of their own employment obstacles but also from the lack of economic security among black men, and this third burden, which, as economist and college president Julianne Malveaux recently observed, is “why African American women cannot separate interests of race and issues of gender in analysis of political candidates, economic realities, or social and cultural realities.” Black women may share policy agendas with black men and with white women, but it is important that the specific impacts of policies on black women not be ignored as we pursue common goals.
These statistics are especially depressing because slightly more than three decades ago, black women earned 96 cents for every dollar earned by a white woman. Between 1975 and 2000, the median earnings of white women grew by 32 percent while the median earnings of black women grew by only 22 percent. This recent experience contrasts sharply with the gains realized in the 1960s and 1970s when the income growth among black women outpaced that of other groups thanks to the improvements in black women’s educational attainment and the elimination of the most blatant discriminatory barriers to employment and occupational mobility.
Another factor contributing to a decrease in the black-white earnings ratio for women was the growth in labor-force participation of white women. This growth in white women’s labor-force participation coupled with a weakening labor-force attachment of young black women and black single mothers eroded black women’s work experience advantage. In 1972, the labor-force participation rate of white women was 42.7 percent, and for black women, 51.2 percent. By 2000, the black-white difference in labor-force participation rates had nearly evaporated: 60 percent of white women were in the labor force compared with 65 percent of black women. Among younger women, those aged 16 to 24, and among older women, those 45 and older, labor-force participation rates of white women exceeded those of black women in 2006.
Finally, equal employment opportunity (EEO) legislation and its enforcement contributed to the gains of the 1960s and 1970s, while the more recent retrenchment of those policies affected today’s wider gaps. In the 1960s, EEO allowed black women with high school diplomas to leave domestic service for higher-paying jobs as secretaries, typists, and stenographers. College-educated women moved into managerial jobs, particularly in the public sector. Retrenchment in the 1980s helps explain the lack of upward mobility for black women in clerical work and their continued exclusion from high-paying, managerial positions in the private sector.
Although employer surveys show less reluctance to hire black women than black men, there is evidence of ongoing discrimination in employment. Young black women take a longer time to find their first jobs and experience more spells of unemployment than do young white women. In data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, over the 26 years observed, 29.5 percent of black women with high school diplomas but no college degree experienced 10 or more spells of unemployment compared with only 13.5 percent of white women with the same education.
Employment discrimination has long-term consequences. When a young woman finally gets her first job, she will have accumulated less work experience than her same-aged white counterpart and thus will have an earnings disadvantage that persists over her work life. In addition, discrimination causes stress, and stress contributes to obesity and poor health. Poor health limits labor-force participation especially as women age. Older black women would likely have higher participation rates than white women if they had better health.
Added to this disadvantage is the negative stereotype of black single mothers as “welfare queens.” Just as the civil-rights movement opened new employment opportunities for black women, it also helped to end many discriminatory practices of states in their administration of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Before the 1960s, families headed by black single mothers, particularly in the South, were underrepresented among beneficiaries of the program, and, if they received benefits, they received ones less than comparable to what white families received. As the program came under direct federal control in the 1960s, the share of black families among welfare recipients grew, and the public image of the welfare recipient shifted from that of a noble white woman widowed and struggling with housework and child-rearing to that of an unwed black teenager who has babies to collect welfare because she is too lazy to work.
This stereotype was an inaccurate portrayal of the average welfare recipient. Most welfare recipients cycled on and off welfare into low-paying jobs and collected welfare because they were rarely employed long enough to qualify for unemployment insurance. The evidence that welfare induced black women to have babies outside of marriage was never stronger than a few weak correlations. Nevertheless, the image of the black welfare queen was powerful enough to lead to the dismantling of the federal welfare entitlement system, the imposition of work requirements, and a return to state control under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 (reauthorized in February 2006). The stereotype may have also influenced employer attitudes about young black single mothers. A business owner once told me that he would willingly hire an ex-convict but not an ex-welfare recipient because, he explained, “doing crime requires initiative.”
Despite these stereotypes, many welfare recipients were initially able to move into low-wage employment. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program that replaced AFDC imposed work requirements on its beneficiaries, but tight labor markets, the expansion of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the maintenance of work supports facilitated the pathway to employment. Black women have been slower to move off welfare than white women have been and are more likely to return.
Furthermore, African Americans were more likely to be denied benefits due to sanctions than due to earnings and represent a higher proportion of women who are “disconnected” from the welfare system (defined as low-income single mothers with no more than $2,000 in case earnings, no more than $1,000 in public assistance income, and no more than $1,000 in household Supplemental Security Income). A Brookings Institute study estimates that 29 percent of disconnected single mothers in 2005 were black or non-Hispanic. And though the 1996 legislation has moved many single mothers into jobs, poverty rates for single-mother families remain stubbornly high at 42.1 percent for white children and 49.4 percent for black children in families with a female householder, no husband present in 2007.
The centerpiece of the Bush administration’s anti-poverty policy is the Healthy Marriage Initiative. This approach ignores a fundamental reality for black women. Marriage has not historically been the route out of poverty for black women that it has been for white women. The marriage initiative assumes that families headed by single black women are poor because the family head is unmarried. However, the relationship between poverty and single motherhood is not so simple. Single black mothers are not more likely to be poor because they are not married. They are likely to be not married because they, and their likely marriage partners, have poor economic prospects. For black women and black men, a good job may be a prerequisite for a good marriage.
An anti-poverty policy that has reduced poverty among black women is Social Security. Without Social Security, over half of black women over age 65 would have incomes below the poverty threshold. With Social Security, the percentage falls to 27 percent. However, Social Security is even more effective in reducing the poverty rate for white women. Without Social Security, the poverty rate for white women would be over 50 percent; with Social Security, it falls to under 10 percent.
Social Security is less effective in reducing the poverty rate of black women for two reasons. First, benefits received under Social Security are based either on one’s own earnings or on the earnings of one’s spouse. A black woman and white woman with the same earnings history may receive different monthly benefits because the black husband of the black woman earned less than the white husband of the white woman. Secondly, the decline in marriage rates among black women means that as they reach retirement, fewer will be eligible based on a spouse’s earnings. In 2006, 55 percent of black women over 65 were entitled to benefits only as workers, 20 percent were dually entitled, and 25 percent entitled as a wife or widow of a worker. Among white women, 38 percent were entitled as workers only, 31 percent were dually entitled, and 31 percent were entitled as a wife or widow of a worker. Women entitled only as workers receive a lower average benefit because women historically earned less than men. In 2006, the average benefit for a black woman entitled as a worker only is $828 while the average monthly benefit for a black woman who is dually entitled is $919. This gap would be larger if the progressivity of the Social Security benefit did not mitigate the effects of racial and gender discrimination in the labor market. Hence, it is important to black women that this progressivity be maintained or even increased.
Black women confront many of the same issues as white women, as black men, and as working people in general, but these issues are compounded by the intersection of race and gender. In addition, black women suffer from not only the burden of their own employment obstacles but also from the lack of economic security among black men, and this third burden, which, as economist and college president Julianne Malveaux recently observed, is “why African American women cannot separate interests of race and issues of gender in analysis of political candidates, economic realities, or social and cultural realities.” Black women may share policy agendas with black men and with white women, but it is important that the specific impacts of policies on black women not be ignored as we pursue common goals.
black hair
I mean Black men are the only race on this planet who berate Black women for their hair textures, the way Black women wear their hair, what weaves they wear or don't wear, and make an issue of Black women's hair being fake or real, perm or natural. Yet I'd never seen any White, Asian or any other race of men who make such issues about their race of women's hair like Black men do. We all know and I hope Black men know this too all races of women wear wigs. All races of women have issues with their hair. The difference is Black men go overboard with their excuses for not being with Black women, and hair is one of the reasons, Chris Rock's "Good Hair".
Black men go out of their way and to the extreme about Black women's hair because she wears a wig, weave, extensions, nappy, perm, locs, twist, etc and would even do a documentary about Black women and their hair. These Black men seem so educated about Black women and their hair yet totally ignorant about White and other races of women and their hair. Correct me if I am wrong but have you ever seen any documentary done by White or even Asian men about their women's hair? Are Black men that shallow and are ashamed to admit they are jealous of Black women and their hair or are they ashame to admit to hating Black women just because of their hair textures? What are your views and opinions? I would like to know.
Peace.
Black men go out of their way and to the extreme about Black women's hair because she wears a wig, weave, extensions, nappy, perm, locs, twist, etc and would even do a documentary about Black women and their hair. These Black men seem so educated about Black women and their hair yet totally ignorant about White and other races of women and their hair. Correct me if I am wrong but have you ever seen any documentary done by White or even Asian men about their women's hair? Are Black men that shallow and are ashamed to admit they are jealous of Black women and their hair or are they ashame to admit to hating Black women just because of their hair textures? What are your views and opinions? I would like to know.
Peace.
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