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| Law professor R. Richard Banks thinks educated black women are to blame for the failure of the black family. |
In this problematic article, Ralph Richard Banks raises the alarm - far more white people are getting married than black people; the black family is in jeopardy. The number of unmarried black women supposedly hasn't been so high since slavery. Why are black marriages failing? In answer to that question, Banks refuses to take into account that it takes the efforts of both the man and woman to make a straight marriage work. In a counter-intuitive "solution" that works against the economic and educational progress of black people, Banks proceeds to blame the economic and educational advantage black women have for the failure of many black marriages instead of encouraging black men to empower themselves, stay in school and stay out of crime.
Banks begins the interview by taking swipes at "white feminists" as if 1) all feminists are white or feminism is something only privileged white females can afford to have, passing over the reality that many black women identify as feminists or subscribe to feminist views and more importantly, have every right to be feminists 2) as if feminism is somehow responsible for tearing apart the black family and not absent fathers, teen pregnancies and crime.
Banks argument has some good points: in the interview, he tries to discuss what is mainly a heteronormative narrative in gender-neutral terms. His best argument for marriage not being oppressive is that human beings naturally seek other people to be their life partner or spouse- why else is the marriage equality movement so strong? Also Banks is right in pointing out double standards of race and gender that go into interracial relationships - stereotypes surrounding the femininity and perceived beauty of black women make black women seem less attractive to white and other non-black suitors than black men. But overall his argument on black women and black marriages capsizes under the weight of all its fallacies. As good as Banks' intentions are, you can't fight bigotry with bigotry or stereotypes with stereotypes.
Banks claims to represents antiquated ideas on marriage, gender, gender roles and breadwinners that haven't died out, saying that's OK because "regular people" don't believe some aspects of "traditional" marriage are geared towards gender oppression. But if the antiquated ideas are OK to have if they haven't died out yet, who's to say that antiquated ideas on race and racial stereotypes should be frowned upon? I would argue that when the PC buffers go down, many people still carry around antiquated ideas on race. Is that OK too? Just because "regular people" still think it's OK doesn't mean it's right. His argument on improving marriage for the black community is already flawed if he already seeks to "settle for less" instead of encouraging "regular people" to change their mistaken views on marriage and striving to better gender relations.
The argument of Banks book is just one of those seemingly progressive ideas that are quietly built on erroneous arguments and bigotry but then get touted as forward-thinking because a member of the minority in question wrote them. This makes these supposedly progressive ideas very dangerous to the views of the general public. Such ideas threaten to set the public consciousness back decades if taken at face-value. I already covered a female writer whose arguments for women being tired of men supposedly acting like boys actually smacked of old-fashioned sexism. Banks' stance against feminism not only places the blame for the breakdown of the black family in the wrong place but his argument also hides behind multiple types of bigotry whitewashed as outcry against the oppression of black Americans.
The oppression of black Americans is very real but that oppression does not preclude the existence nor diminish the occurrence of the oppression of black women by black men. Banks' attack against black female empowerment while ignoring the faults of black males smacks of patriarchal oppression, even if black men themselves are oppressed. Finally, Banks refuses to realize that in addressing only one type of oppression - racial oppression and not gender oppression - he fails to effectively address all types of inequality and oppression maligning the black race.
Banks' double standards do not end there. By arguing that black women should not "sell out" on black men and the black family sounds sort of like a "race purity" or "continuity of the race" argument that would seem incredibly racist if it ever came out of a white person's mouth. But Banks thinks he is justified in his arguments for racial purity because African Americans are discriminated against and anyone who disagrees with him is a racist or an Uncle Tom calling for the genocide of the black race. I find this double standard absolutely fallacious.
Worse, Banks is not alone in the black community with such outlandish views. One rationale I heard for black homophobia was that homosexuality was an eugenic contagion sent over to the black community by white folks who hoped to neuter black women with lesbianism, so that they wouldn't produce black children or raise black families, thereby successfully ending the black race.This argument, of course, is absurd. Yes, racism still exists, but it shouldn't give black people the license to project their homophobia and sexism through their paranoia about the supposed fate of the black race.
The problem isn't so much Banks' book and it's alarmist title but that he incorrectly tries to tap into the black communal paranoia surrounding "selling out" and destroying the black family and then claims he's right because racism still exists and white feminists are destroying the black family. Banks argument only highlights a bigger problem in the black community today: passing off problems in the black community and proposing bigoted solutions for these problems while hiding behind the excuse of white racism. Instead of looking for constructive solutions for the black male incarceration rate or low levels of black male educational achievement he blames white feminists and a supposedly racist prison system.
I'm not saying there is absolutely no racism involved in the high levels black male incarceration rates we see today. But to say that the great majority of non-white criminals are in jail because the system is inherently racist would be making a huge mistake. The court system is not inherently racist and to believe it is constitutes a dangerous and erroneous attitude that sets black people up, particularly black males, to believe that anytime a black person does something wrong, the police or the courts are racist. This is simply not true. If black people are to benefit from the courts they cannot immediately believe the courts are set up to their detriment. Of course there is a historical precedent of racism in the courts but black people must help change that perception by not buying into it and more importantly encouraging black youth not to get involved in crime. Black people must not set themselves up as a force working against the court system but see the law as working in their favor. To digress, Banks blames a the court system instead of encouraging black men to stay off the streets. As stated earlier, Banks' deflection is symptomatic of a greater problem in the black community. It's time the black community own up to its faults and stop blaming white people for their problems. It's the only way the plight of the black family and the black community is going to improve - not by lambasting feminists.
Instead of claiming black women should earn less why doesn't Banks encourage black men to stay in school and earn more? Instead of claiming the entire prison system is racist, why doesn't Banks encourage black men not to get into crime and become "hustlers"? Instead of claiming high earning black women are tearing the black family apart why doesn't he teach black men to respect black women and appreciate fatherhood instead of "bouncing out" on their knocked up "baby mamas"? If Banks is so worried about empowered black women, why doesn't he advocate the solution for the record rate of single mothers in the black community - charging black men with staying in the home at whatever cost and raising well-adjusted black children who are primed for success, black children who will be more likely to stay in school, not get pregnant or get involved in drug crime?
I have nothing against single mothers and their capacity to raise children but society seems to have this double standard when it comes to parenting. The mother is always somehow to blame for the break-down of the family. The pros and cons of a single mother raising a family have been debated in academia for years - only recently are families with single mothers beginning to be seen as normal. Yet, society doesn't seem to realize that the father must pull his weight too. Banks letting the black man get off scotch free in his argument just exemplifies this societal double standard.
Having a father or second parent in these families has been known to increase the welfare of the children, particularly in at-risk environs plagued by crime, poverty and poor schools. Where are the black fathers? Why do they leave the home? Or if they stay in the home why do they become distant or abusive (as seen in the new film on race "The Help")? Why do they not go to school and become breadwinners instead of leaving an education to black women? Banks admits that black women have far higher graduation rates than black men, but instead of celebrating the success of the black women as a step in the right direction for the black community, Banks downgrades their achievements and refuses to demand more responsibility from black men.
Again I ask, where are black fathers? And why have they been allowed to become a non-renewable resource in the black community? This is the question the black community must ask itself - not why black women aren't settling down. Perhaps they're not settling down because too many black men just aren't husband or father material. The failure of black men by large is the black community's inconvenient truth - not that "regular people" prefer the stereotype of male breadwinners. Everyone knows the gender stereotypes but pandering to them isn't going to solve the problem of black men as a whole not being there for their families.
How can black men complain that black women are "too educated" when they refuse to become educated themselves and earn more? Do black men expect black women to regress and make less in order for them to be better brides? If both parents have little education and little chances of employment, whom do they expect to pay for their children's needs? The government? Welfare? I'm not opposed to welfare helping those down on their luck. But generational dependence on welfare in the black community shows more of a breakdown in values, work ethic and an understanding of responsibility than oppression. Black men as a whole are not being responsible fathers. Black men are also being unreasonable if a high-earning wife constitutes a divorce when they themselves don't have an education. The literal or figurative absence of black fathers deprives black children of an invaluable anchor in their lives - another source of love and discipline in the home. And then people wonder why black children are so troubled and struggle in school.
It is not that so much that black people are oppressed - they are - but more so that the generational problems of the black family and black community - having children out of wedlock, record rates of incarceration, generational unemployment - are vicious cycles of oft-ignored, oft-repeated problems in the home and worse, that the actual sources of these cyclical problems are not being effectively acknowledged or rectified by black leaders or the black community at large.
No black intellectual seems willing to say it, but it is these broken homes that are dooming the black family and future generations of black people, not the earnings of black women. Black women as a whole should be lauded for their success and sought out as wives, not punished for doing what black men should also be doing - staying in school and getting the degrees needed to get better jobs. But instead of placing the blame where it belongs, Banks skirts a major touchy issue of shame for the black community - the immaturity of most black men. He decides to blame feminists and successful black women who have "sold out" by basically "becoming white." It's the old argument that says blacks who succeed are somehow no longer black - because as this stereotypical logic follows, blacks don't succeed, right? Only whites do that, right? Wrong.
I'm not saying that all black men are immature. My own father, who happens to be black, has his degrees and has supported my education every step of the way. What I'm saying is that black leaders like Banks, seem unwilling to advocate that more black men should be like my dad - i.e. get an education and stick around to raise a family. In the article, there is an paragraph where Banks puts forth his "solution" to failing black marriages. This paragraph is like a black box - logic goes in but I'm sure no logic comes out. His logic works along some invented economy of sex. As I've already written on, such "economies" are dehumanizing, insulting to both genders, stereotypical, harmful, unrealistic, alienating and finally espouse a logic that is too full of holes to work. More importantly, Banks does not mention black men anywhere in his solution, as if black men are saints in this situation. But any solution for failing straight marriages must include men in the picture - it takes two to make a marriage work. Instead, Banks stoops to deflecting the blame to black women, white people or anything really to shirk the responsibility of black men. Everybody seems to be responsible for the failure of black men, except for said black men. Black men need to take their destiny in their own hands and empower themselves as black women already have.
We also need debunk the myth that black men need to empower themselves at the expense of black women. Black men need not oppress or abuse black women in order to get their share or feel power and control in some area of their lives. Black men trying to gain respect from their wives through oppression is another inconvenient truth that leads to the breakdown of black marriages and black families. Banks should speak to this psychological problem of pride and shame in the lives of black men instead of ignoring this major issue and claiming black women are "too educated."
The low standards Banks, society and the black community all have for black men are the key issue here. These low standards are one of major indications that we do not live in a post-racial world, that the success of President Obama, unfortunately, is more of an exception than the rule. But society needs to learn to expect more from black people, particularly black men. Most importantly, black men must learn to expect more from themselves - no one can do it for them. Black men simply need to do what society expects of everyone, black or white, male or female - to work hard, study hard and not get involved in crime Banks asks why only white people seem to be getting married. What he should be asking is why white men as opposed to black men, in general seem to be becoming fathers and sticking around to raise their children.
- Ryu
Recent articles I've written on race:
Succeeding Where Merit Fails or Acceptance, White Women and "Glee"
What Black People Must Do - Perception & Identity
Earth's Unspoken Caste System
Black People vs. Asian People? - A Discussion Concerning Race
In order to not judge Banks solely on this article, I took a look at some of his other works to get a better, more well-rounded picture of him. However, from what I've read, I feel my judgement of his understanding of black marriage is accurate.
On the fence on marriage equality:
Will Gay Marriage Ruling Be A Ripple Or Tsunami? NPR
At Heart of Prop. 8 Trial, a Clash Over Motives
Appellate court asks California Supreme Court to weigh in on gay-marriage ban
Marriage: How Moral Norms Evolve - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com
Still propagating the erroneous and frankly, dangerous idea that educated black women are to blame for problems in the black family:
The Marriage Decline | Stanford Law School
Black Women Least Likely to Marry, but Overall Interracial Marriage More Common Than Ever - ABC News
Alpha Wives: The Trend and the Truth - NYTimes.com
Interesting comments on interracial marriage
An Interracial Fix for Black Marriage - WSJ.com
Author Tells Black Women: Marry "Out" Not "Down" : NPR
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