I
men
·anxiety 0 ver
10 provide
emotionally tisfied of fulfilled .
by the marriage. I .
The husband's father is well­
educated.
The wife has very stroH kin- .
ANN ARBOR - The mar- . hip ti with r own' family
of B ack men ho are and fee her in-la are in-
deeply concerned about their trusive.
ability to provide for their The wife ways there is not
famili are t greatest risk for enough role flexibility in ign-
separation or divorce, accord- in of household t .
ing to a Uni rsity ofMichipn e husband and wife each
study of the first four years of have separ te groups of friendS.
marriage. The wife is very young.
"No matter h t their in- "All of these f ctors can af-
co , young B ck men are ub- feet any marriage but we found
jed to cute anxiety bou their t t they were much more like­
ro pr iders," the U-M re- Iy to have an imp ct on the
earc er note. . anxiety st bility of BI c marriage "
. may lead them to be leery of the U-M researchers stress.
marri e in the first p ce, and Sharing decision-making
once m rried, it may continue power ] a difficult for Blac
to cloud their marital commit-men, the researcher explain,
ment. beca , for hi torical reaso ,
"White husban in our study power in the home is particular-
orried bout falDily finan- Iy impo to them.
ce , but th t co cern didn't "American Bl men a
seem to predict marriage women tr ditionally have been
problems." 'out of sync' ·th mainstream
The U-M research team also gender roles. In the p t, BI c
found that marri es i . ch lived in a world where men were
B ck men do not have more upposed to be powerful and
. de" on-making po r in the women were supposed to be
family than their wi are Iite- protected. In reality, however,
Iy to be u t ble. Black men were not po rful
"Thes issu of economic d B women could not be
curity, g nder re tio and protected.
person I po er ppear to be- "And even though
closely tied to p t andd present mainstream ociety is more
eco omic nd social conditio egalitarian now, the longing of
(or Blacks in America," the re- Black men for the po rful role
rcher y. 0 10 g denied them h not
The U - M re diminished. Indeed, it seems to
Shir�y Hatchett, t t re- be a part of their larger quest for
sear scientist the U-M loJ equal opportunity."
stitute for Sod I Re earch The i ue of flexibility over
(ISR)� Elizabeth M. Douvan, househol4 t relates to shar­
professor of p ychology and re- decision-making and power
search scientist at ISR; and In the family, the U-M re­
Jo eph Veroff, profes or of searcher say.
p ychology and faculty a � "Flexibility' oeccasaryiftwo
sociate t ISR. income families are to sum
The four-year udy i in i . today, b the Black hus-
year. Data has been col- band feel powerful in Qther
lected during aDDual interne aspects of the family domain,
in 1986, '87 and '88 ·th 199 his ife' dem ad for thi
BI c� and 174 white couple flexibility may UDdennine his
randomly elected in the sease of cu1inity. Perhaps
Detroit metropolitan area. All th . why youn . wives are
th brid were under e 36 more likely to be in unsta
and all couples were in their marri es. Y OUDI wive m y
fir t m rriages, The data on lack the maturity to deal with
white m rriage will be these complex gender is ue
reported in future p pe . t are rooted in history and
The separat' 011 and divorce tJie American economic ys-
r e for B coup . about tem,"
two de-half times greater The researche report that
than the r te for ite couple. they were uprised at first' to
Accordin to e U- study, find that the so of educated
Black marri ges Blac L thers re likely to have
likely to be at risk if: unst hie marriages. However,
The husband says he is not like the economic and power is-
r
u
sues, this finding is less surpris­
ing when we consider the
educated Black male in an his­
torical d social context," they
say.
Educated B men always
have f ced unusual pressures
. ch put tress on their mar­
na, and their children, the U­
M team explains. Many of the
f thers of the men in the study
entered dulthood before the
civil rights movement when
well-educ ted Blacks were
lucky" to get jobs as railro d
porters-or postal worker. That
la of opportunity d mobility
led to resentment and frustra­
tion.
The fathers who bee me
adults during and after the civil
rights movement f ced dif­
ferent but equally stres ful
situation, for now they were get­
ting jo never held by Blacks
before, the U-M re earchers
say.
"In both periods, the father
may have taken out their
spou , and the e frustr ted,
anxio distressed father were
th role mode for the sons who
. are now getting married."
The researchers al 0 dis­
covered th t, contrary to the
popular notion that BI c kin-
hip tie are a trength in BI ck
marriage , wive who were
firmly attached to their own
families, and who reported
problems with their in-I ws,
were likely to have troubled
m rriages. .
"M ny of these wive h d
. been ingJe p rents before mar­
ri and may have received a
great deal of support from their
families. Those ties, however,
event\}8lly may have hampered
the development of integrated
family networ with the couple
at the center; the researchers
say.
It i not uprisiag. the U:M
re earchers conclude, that
other than the husband'
of «on . ll-being - the
most critical factor in BI c
marital stability· the husband's
att chmen to his wife and the
fullfillment e derives from the
marital relationship.
"The feelin are not
critical to ite husbands," they
dd. . e hush ds seem to
be more tta ed to the institu­
tion of marriage and more like­
ly to continue an uafulfilling .
marital relationship." .
Save
the
suffer
.ability
t) Vice
Children
We k long program
points the ay
The United Generation
Council and the Concerned
Citizens of Metro- Detroit are
proud to announce the
scheduled Save The Children"
activity week celebration which
will begin on Sunday, July 30
thru.Sunday, August 6,1989.
- Some of the featured ac­
tivities will include:
ItS ve The Children" Bre -
fast nd Community Service
Awards Presentation
- Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu,
author of "Developing Positive
Self 1m es and Discipline in
Black Children," in addition to
"Conspir cy to Destroy Black
Males," Vol. I. and II.
- Fashion Sho .
- Children' Pizza Party.
- Marathon Gospel-Fest.
- Anti-Drug Peace March
and
Annual Picnic and Fun
Defl
ollc Church
WASHINGTON, D.C.
De pite hi uspen ion last
wee B Washington, D.C.
priest George St.JJin., Jr. ys
he will continue with plans to es­
tablish an independent African
American Catholic congrega­
tion known., s the 1m ni
Temple.
Stallinp sa . determina- .
tion i prompted by the failure
of the C tholic Church to
respond properly to the cultural
and spiritual eeds of Blac
A recent L TNS poll found a
majority of WHhington Black
Catholics upporting Stallings
while a sub tantial minority
(around 35%)' feel an inde­
pendent Blac Catholic Church
ould repre nt a form 0 self­
egregation.
Day.
These ctivities are open to
the entire community. For more
information regarding the Save
. The Children activity wee
celebration, please call: (313)
961-2525 or 863-3880.
"Education, Economic
Growth and Development, and
Entrepreneurship in the BI ck
Community. "
This session will focus on the
overall future outlook of the
philosophical, educational, en­
vironmental, soci I and r cial _
issues will be discussed to deter­
mine how opportunities have -
been created, avoided, delayed,
and 10 t. In ddition, a brief
100 at ome of the ways the
Black male/female can become
economically self-sufficent will
be ddressed panelis include:
R .1 Petty, Student Govt,
Representative, Highland Par
Community College.
Bill Griffin, Vice Pr . dent
for Sibley Shoe Corporation
and Concerned Citizen.
Willie Horton, Deputy
Director for the Detroit Police
Athletic League and
Entrepreneur.
Moder tor: Dr. Verona
Morton, Educator/Reading
Specialist, Highland Par Com­
munity College.
The p el will disc these
ues:
How important' the educa­
tional process it rei tes to
.economic growth/develop­
ent?
What pecific skills will be
required to uce fully p r­
ticipate in the changing
economic market?
What can we do individual­
. Iy/collectively to strengthen the
economic base in the Black
. omm unity?