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Black Families In White America
A number of American Negro families managed to escape the more crippling consequences of poverty and racism. What are the sources of their achievement? What are the barriers they still face as they struggle for equality with the white middle class? And what about those families who still languish in the black ghettos of America? How do they break out of the ghetto and into decent housing, jobs, and schools? In Black Families in White America, Andrew Billingsley, Negro social scientist, provides answers to these and other questions. The author presents a bold, reasoned analysis of the history, structure, aspirations, and problems of black families in a white-controlled society. The goal for the Negro family, says Bilingsley, is to break free from white institutions. Blacks first must "manage and control their own institutions" before they can make a "maximum contribution to their own community and the larger community." Refuting the Moynihan report that "concluded, quite incorrectly, that the Negro family in this country is falling apart," Billingsley "Negro families have shown an amazing ability to survive in the face of impossible conditions. They have also shown remarkable ability to take the barest shreds of opportunity and turn them into the social capital of stability and achievement." -- from book's back cover
- GenresNonfiction
218 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1968
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June 25, 2024
A SOCIOLOGIST LOOKS AT AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES (as of 1968)
Andrew Billingsley (born 1926) is a sociologist who was a professor at campuses such as Howard University, UC Berkeley, the University of Maryland and the University of South Carolina. He also served as the President of Morgan State University from 1975 to 1984.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1968 book, “The family is the most basic institution of any people, the center and source of its civilization… Yet the family is not an independent unit of society. It is not the causal nexus of social behavior… The Negro family, then, cannot be understood in isolation or by concentration on its negative functions. The Negro family can best be understood when viewed as a varied and complex institution within the Negro community, which is in turn highly interdependent with other institutions in the wider white society. This is the central theme of [this book].
“This book is essentially descriptive in nature. We describe some of the major dimensions of Negro family life, so that some of the problems and potentials associated with different patterns can be more clearly understood and more accurately perceived. We also seek to trace the implications of those approaches which may be taken by Negroes themselves, by other individuals and organizations interested in Negro life and affairs, as well as by the governmental agencies whose responsibility it is to provide leadership in the development of a viable interracial, pluralistic, and democratic society.”
He notes, “It is important to stress, however, that social class does not obliterate the differences between Negroes and whites, not even on so simple a dimension as the sex of the family head. There are several reasons for this. Perhaps the most important is the fact that even when the two groups, Negroes and whites, are in the same income range, they do not have the same incomes. Middle class Negro families do not have the resources available to them that middle class white families do.” (Pg. 14)
He points out, “It is not at all uncommon for Negro men to engage in expressive functions with respect to the maintenance of family solidarity and to help with child rearing and household tasks. Researchers have found Negro men to be more helpful around the house than a sample of white men, but they have chosen to give this fact a negative reading. These men are considered to be henpecked or under the domination of their strongly matriarchal wives.” (Pg. 25)
He observes, “unlike Moynihan and others, we do not view the Negro family as a causal nexus in the ‘tangle of pathology’ which feeds on itself. Rather, we view the Negro family in theoretical perspective as a subsystem of the larger society. It is, in our view, an absorbing, adaptive, and amazingly resilient mechanism for the socialization of its children and the civilization of our society.” (Pg. 33)
He comments, “The transportation of slaves from Africa to the New World completely disrupted the cultural life of the Africans and the historical development of the Negro people… First… the Negroes were confronted with an alien culture of European genesis… Secondly, then came from many different tribes with different languages, cultures, and traditions. Thirdly, they came without their families and often without females at all… In the fourth place, they came in chains… they were not free to engage in the ordinary process of acculturation… in ways that were unfettered and similar to the opportunities available to other immigrant groups.” (Pg. 49)
He adds, “there was the absence … of societal support and protection for the Negro family as a physical, psychological, social, or economic unit. This crippled the development … of families, and hence of the whole society of Negro people. The consequences… under the slave system were direct and insidious.” (Pg. 68-69)
He suggests, “It would seem, then, that among the major causes of the concentration of Negro youth in the urban ghettos are those factors associated with preference, poverty and prejudice, but that chief among these is prejudice.” (Pg. 93)
He proposes, “The Negro people must be viewed, not as carbon copies of white people, but as a people with a distinctive history, a distinctive place in American society, a distinctive set of life chances, and a distinctive set of contributions to make to the wider society.” (Pg. 149)
He argues, Racism, the oppression, exclusion, and discrimination of Negro people on the part of white people and white institutions, infests our whole society and operates as a barrier against the freedom, opportunity, and manhood of al the Negro people, whatever their level of achievement or socioeconomic status. It is the most important obstacle to the progress of the Negro people and the aspect of the American value system which needs most to be changed.” (Pg. 155)
He observes, “we must abandon the illusion that a major share of wisdom lies with white people, especially white liberals and professionals, when it comes to designing programs to benefit the Negro people. The circumstances surrounding the Moynihan report are a good example of this illusion.” (Pg. 160)
He states, “Special efforts to indemnity the Negro people are not a matter of guilt price or charity, they are a simple matter of back pay.” (Pg. 185) Later, he adds, “the society should provide the strategies, resources, and facilities which will enable Negro families to exercise increasingly more mastery, control, and ownership over the conditions which affect their lives and the administration of the specialized services they need.” (Pg. 190) He continues, “We also argue that Negro-owned, managed, and controlled institutions must be developed and strengthened within the Negro community itself… The alternative to reconstruction will be chaos and stagnation for the Negro family, the Negro community as an ethnic subsociety, and the general society of which these institutions are an inextricable part.” (Pg. 196)
This book will be of great interest to those studying the sociology and economics of African-American families.
Andrew Billingsley (born 1926) is a sociologist who was a professor at campuses such as Howard University, UC Berkeley, the University of Maryland and the University of South Carolina. He also served as the President of Morgan State University from 1975 to 1984.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1968 book, “The family is the most basic institution of any people, the center and source of its civilization… Yet the family is not an independent unit of society. It is not the causal nexus of social behavior… The Negro family, then, cannot be understood in isolation or by concentration on its negative functions. The Negro family can best be understood when viewed as a varied and complex institution within the Negro community, which is in turn highly interdependent with other institutions in the wider white society. This is the central theme of [this book].
“This book is essentially descriptive in nature. We describe some of the major dimensions of Negro family life, so that some of the problems and potentials associated with different patterns can be more clearly understood and more accurately perceived. We also seek to trace the implications of those approaches which may be taken by Negroes themselves, by other individuals and organizations interested in Negro life and affairs, as well as by the governmental agencies whose responsibility it is to provide leadership in the development of a viable interracial, pluralistic, and democratic society.”
He notes, “It is important to stress, however, that social class does not obliterate the differences between Negroes and whites, not even on so simple a dimension as the sex of the family head. There are several reasons for this. Perhaps the most important is the fact that even when the two groups, Negroes and whites, are in the same income range, they do not have the same incomes. Middle class Negro families do not have the resources available to them that middle class white families do.” (Pg. 14)
He points out, “It is not at all uncommon for Negro men to engage in expressive functions with respect to the maintenance of family solidarity and to help with child rearing and household tasks. Researchers have found Negro men to be more helpful around the house than a sample of white men, but they have chosen to give this fact a negative reading. These men are considered to be henpecked or under the domination of their strongly matriarchal wives.” (Pg. 25)
He observes, “unlike Moynihan and others, we do not view the Negro family as a causal nexus in the ‘tangle of pathology’ which feeds on itself. Rather, we view the Negro family in theoretical perspective as a subsystem of the larger society. It is, in our view, an absorbing, adaptive, and amazingly resilient mechanism for the socialization of its children and the civilization of our society.” (Pg. 33)
He comments, “The transportation of slaves from Africa to the New World completely disrupted the cultural life of the Africans and the historical development of the Negro people… First… the Negroes were confronted with an alien culture of European genesis… Secondly, then came from many different tribes with different languages, cultures, and traditions. Thirdly, they came without their families and often without females at all… In the fourth place, they came in chains… they were not free to engage in the ordinary process of acculturation… in ways that were unfettered and similar to the opportunities available to other immigrant groups.” (Pg. 49)
He adds, “there was the absence … of societal support and protection for the Negro family as a physical, psychological, social, or economic unit. This crippled the development … of families, and hence of the whole society of Negro people. The consequences… under the slave system were direct and insidious.” (Pg. 68-69)
He suggests, “It would seem, then, that among the major causes of the concentration of Negro youth in the urban ghettos are those factors associated with preference, poverty and prejudice, but that chief among these is prejudice.” (Pg. 93)
He proposes, “The Negro people must be viewed, not as carbon copies of white people, but as a people with a distinctive history, a distinctive place in American society, a distinctive set of life chances, and a distinctive set of contributions to make to the wider society.” (Pg. 149)
He argues, Racism, the oppression, exclusion, and discrimination of Negro people on the part of white people and white institutions, infests our whole society and operates as a barrier against the freedom, opportunity, and manhood of al the Negro people, whatever their level of achievement or socioeconomic status. It is the most important obstacle to the progress of the Negro people and the aspect of the American value system which needs most to be changed.” (Pg. 155)
He observes, “we must abandon the illusion that a major share of wisdom lies with white people, especially white liberals and professionals, when it comes to designing programs to benefit the Negro people. The circumstances surrounding the Moynihan report are a good example of this illusion.” (Pg. 160)
He states, “Special efforts to indemnity the Negro people are not a matter of guilt price or charity, they are a simple matter of back pay.” (Pg. 185) Later, he adds, “the society should provide the strategies, resources, and facilities which will enable Negro families to exercise increasingly more mastery, control, and ownership over the conditions which affect their lives and the administration of the specialized services they need.” (Pg. 190) He continues, “We also argue that Negro-owned, managed, and controlled institutions must be developed and strengthened within the Negro community itself… The alternative to reconstruction will be chaos and stagnation for the Negro family, the Negro community as an ethnic subsociety, and the general society of which these institutions are an inextricable part.” (Pg. 196)
This book will be of great interest to those studying the sociology and economics of African-American families.
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