Donna L. Franklin and Angela D. James
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- September 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199374878
- eISBN:
- 9780190254186
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199374878.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity, Marriage and the Family
This chapter starts with an examination of the cultural importance of marriage as a prelude to an interrogation of the continued focus on the conceptual category of race to explain and make sense of ...
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This chapter starts with an examination of the cultural importance of marriage as a prelude to an interrogation of the continued focus on the conceptual category of race to explain and make sense of the massive changes in the American experience of marriage and family. It explores representations of black families over time to further probe what explains this particular focus. The chapter provides a demographic overview of recent changes in marriage among African Americans, along with a review of social scientific research and media representations of marriage among African Americans. Chapter 9 explores various theoretical frameworks for understanding both the discourse about and the patterns of contemporary marriage among African Americans. The chapter then indicates that key insights have been missed because of the “veil” of overarching racial meaning attached to marriage and family change. Specifically, it develops the argument that the exploration of cultural and structural factors underpinning changes in marriage among African Americans in the past several decades has been burdened by the historical discourse of racial difference that has impeded an understanding of marriage and family change among African Americans.Less
This chapter starts with an examination of the cultural importance of marriage as a prelude to an interrogation of the continued focus on the conceptual category of race to explain and make sense of the massive changes in the American experience of marriage and family. It explores representations of black families over time to further probe what explains this particular focus. The chapter provides a demographic overview of recent changes in marriage among African Americans, along with a review of social scientific research and media representations of marriage among African Americans. Chapter 9 explores various theoretical frameworks for understanding both the discourse about and the patterns of contemporary marriage among African Americans. The chapter then indicates that key insights have been missed because of the “veil” of overarching racial meaning attached to marriage and family change. Specifically, it develops the argument that the exploration of cultural and structural factors underpinning changes in marriage among African Americans in the past several decades has been burdened by the historical discourse of racial difference that has impeded an understanding of marriage and family change among African Americans.
Andrew L. Slap
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780823245680
- eISBN:
- 9780823252664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823245680.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
For generations have insisted that after emancipation African American slaves quickly adopted legal and formal marriages. This essay analyses pension records to argue that the continuation of ...
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For generations have insisted that after emancipation African American slaves quickly adopted legal and formal marriages. This essay analyses pension records to argue that the continuation of informal marriage practices after the Civil War shows that emancipation had a more gradual than sudden effect on African American family structure. This in turn suggests that we should question to what extent the Civil War suddenly changed society and made the United States a “modern” nation.Less
For generations have insisted that after emancipation African American slaves quickly adopted legal and formal marriages. This essay analyses pension records to argue that the continuation of informal marriage practices after the Civil War shows that emancipation had a more gradual than sudden effect on African American family structure. This in turn suggests that we should question to what extent the Civil War suddenly changed society and made the United States a “modern” nation.
Aneeka Ayanna Henderson
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781469651767
- eISBN:
- 9781469651781
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469651767.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter uses film theory and visual culture studies to parse Malcolm D Lee's film The Best Man (1999) and Gina Prince-Bythewood's film Love and Basketball (2000) as well as the corresponding ...
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This chapter uses film theory and visual culture studies to parse Malcolm D Lee's film The Best Man (1999) and Gina Prince-Bythewood's film Love and Basketball (2000) as well as the corresponding soundtracks, screenplays, and publicity. It illuminates how the films unsettle genre boundaries as well as encode progressive and pernicious messages about the formation of African American marriage and Black love for its Black middle-class characters.Less
This chapter uses film theory and visual culture studies to parse Malcolm D Lee's film The Best Man (1999) and Gina Prince-Bythewood's film Love and Basketball (2000) as well as the corresponding soundtracks, screenplays, and publicity. It illuminates how the films unsettle genre boundaries as well as encode progressive and pernicious messages about the formation of African American marriage and Black love for its Black middle-class characters.
Aneeka Ayanna Henderson
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781469651767
- eISBN:
- 9781469651781
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469651767.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter concludes the book with an exploration of how African American book clubs and reading communities, gender reveal ceremonies, prom proposals or promposals, child marriage, reality ...
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This chapter concludes the book with an exploration of how African American book clubs and reading communities, gender reveal ceremonies, prom proposals or promposals, child marriage, reality television, Jagged Edge, and Steve Harvey will shape future representations of African American marriage and Black love in Black cultural production.Less
This chapter concludes the book with an exploration of how African American book clubs and reading communities, gender reveal ceremonies, prom proposals or promposals, child marriage, reality television, Jagged Edge, and Steve Harvey will shape future representations of African American marriage and Black love in Black cultural production.
Aneeka Ayanna Henderson
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781469651767
- eISBN:
- 9781469651781
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469651767.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter explicates Sapphire's novel 1996 Push, alongside the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, Farrakhan's 1993 book Torchlight for America, and Sweet Honey in the Rock's ...
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This chapter explicates Sapphire's novel 1996 Push, alongside the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, Farrakhan's 1993 book Torchlight for America, and Sweet Honey in the Rock's 1983 song Testimony in order to unmask the political burden placed on African American marriage and Black love. It illustrates the ways in which touting marriage and heteropatriarchal family as a political responsibility enables intimate partner violence or domestic abuse.Less
This chapter explicates Sapphire's novel 1996 Push, alongside the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, Farrakhan's 1993 book Torchlight for America, and Sweet Honey in the Rock's 1983 song Testimony in order to unmask the political burden placed on African American marriage and Black love. It illustrates the ways in which touting marriage and heteropatriarchal family as a political responsibility enables intimate partner violence or domestic abuse.