Statistics show black women wed less

 According to the Centers for Disease Control National Survey of Family Growth in 2012, only 26 percent of all African American women are currently married compared to their Caucasian counterparts at 51 percent.
Various factors contribute to the significantly low marriage rates among black women. With such low rates, one wonders how it will affect the future generation of families.
One factor is the low population of black men in the United States. In fact, there are 1.2 million more black women than men. This means if each black man were to marry a black woman, one out of every twelve women would never hear their own wedding bells ring.
Also, in this country's history, African Americans were held to different standards than their Caucasian counterparts.
A prime example of this would be slavery. It was not long ago slavery played an active role in the way black people were perceived and were made to work harder for little to no pay.
Although slavery has ended, the deep wounds of discrimination, prejudice and submission to majority counterparts still subliminally scars members of today's society.
As if that were not enough, to compound the amount of oppression they have faced, black women have two strikes against them: being black and being a woman.
Black women are constantly being sent mixed signals within the media, traditional family values, and the idea of a modern woman. The traditional view is that a woman is supposed to be the keeper of the home, constantly focusing on domestic things and getting pregnant.
Contrastingly, black women are reared to be independent and strong, whereas the media portray the black woman as overly aggressive and angry. The modern woman is taught to be a go-getter and anything she wants she must go after.
Senior social work major Marsidia Wilson said, "When women are raised in single parent homes, they are trained to be more independent. Also, single parent mothers do not get married and their children do not feel the need to."
It is argued the men are not taught how to be a real man by a male role model.
Sophomore criminal justice major Alicia Chambers said, "Men are not properly taught how to love and treat a woman. This is the reason why many men and women are so misguided, because of lack of guidance."
The lack of role models in this generation cause black women to feel the need to be overly strong and ambitious.
Whereas the lack of role models for young black men cause them to be more susceptible to having role models that do not effectively teach them how to play the role of a real man.
In addition to all of the stressors contributing to the lack of black marriages, interracial dating has a negative view in the African American community.
There is a stigma with any black person dating outside of the race, especially with African American males who become very successful and date or marry womn of other races. Secondly, black men tend to be intimidated by black females who are highly successful and as a result, fail to even approach them.
Chambers said, "Times have changed, but in all honesty, interracial dating is still looked down upon. Some feel it is insulting for a white woman and a black man to be together or vice versa because of the past. Also, people do not take marriage seriously anymore. Many people have the belief that if you can get the milk from the cow, why should you have to buy it?"
Senior education major Faydrian Pearson says, "Women must first know what they want. You first have to know yourself and what you want and then you can add someone else from there. You have to realize that what God has for you is for you."