Summary:
African-American families in the United States face a crisis largely because the state of African-American faithhood has become worse. The roots of the problems in black families lie in the legacy of slavery, discrimination in education and employment, and tradition of matriarchy. Divorce, employment and AIDS rates are worst for African-American fathers than for white fathers.
African American Fatherhood
Black families in the United States are in crisis due to many factors, and the state of African American fatherhood has become worse. My research includes "Smart Library on Children and Families", which has very helpful information, including the causes of the crisis in black families, and how they affect family stability. As well, I have obtained information on the increase infection rate of HIV and AIDS in black population. The site, "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention", contains a lot of facts and percent rates showing a dramatic rise in the number of diagnoses of HIV and AIDS among African Americans.
From all the information that I have gathered, I have learned that different factors have caused the breakdown in black families in the last half-century, and therefore leading to the absence of African American fathers. The roots of the problems in black families lie in the legacy of slavery, discrimination in education and employment, and tradition of matriarchy. Slavery in the U.S. had a great impact on African American males. They were dehumanized by the whites, and could not develop into strong black leadership figures. Husbands are absent or divorced in 22.9% of non-white families. Due to declining unemployment, rates of illegitimacy, welfare dependency, school dropout, and crime rise quickly. Illegitimacy rates has increased from seventeen percent to twenty-four, and over 50% of black children receive AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) benefits at some point during their childhood years. As well, black families are more likely to be headed by a single mother, but even in a married couple the wife seems to have a stronger presence. This matriarchal structure causes black women to have greater achievements and tend to be better educated than black men. A growing proportion of black men are leaving their wives and divorce rate for blacks has once rose to 40% higher than whites. Very few black children live in an environment with both parents present, and they often experience academic difficulties. Not only are poverty, broken homes, and education failure major issues, yet it is clear that crime rates among U.S. blacks have increased. As much as half of all urban arrests are black suspects. Fathers seem to have been replaced, and the hardships of the crisis cause them to leave their homes, for they can't seem to be able to support the family. Thus, people are given the impression that African American fathers are irresponsible and unwilling to raise their families.
As well, statistics show that African Americans are more likely affected with HIV infection. The HIV/AIDS epidemic affect both black men and women of every age and sexual orientation. In 2002, African Americans were accounted for 21,000, or 50%, of the more than 42,000 estimated AIDS cases diagnosed in the United States. Black women had a 23 times greater diagnoses rate than white women, and black men had almost a 9 times greater rate of Aids diagnosis than white men. As for HIV, sixty-two percent of children born to HIV-infected mothers were African American. For one in four blacks lives in poverty, they have limited access to quality health care and HIV prevention education. Also, some are reluctant to acknowledge issues such as homosexuality and drug use, which are associated with HIV infection. It is likely that African American women are infected as a result of sex with men. They may not be aware of their partners' possible risks for HIV infection, such as unprotected sex with other partners, injection drug use, and bisexuality. The numbers are definitely shocking, and the disease will spread continuously if prevention does not take place. HIV and AIDS are major reasons as well for the absence of fathers in African American families.
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