The Family Costs of White Racism: The Case of African American Families

For most people there is a collective memory of the family, one that is revived in the present through contact with others. Insights into this memory, and knowledge of the ways it is transmitted, can unveil the impact of White racism on the family lives of African Americans. If, as Halbwachs (1992:56) writes, "there operates a feeling, both obscure and precise, of kinship, which can arise only within the family and which can be explained only by the family," then memories of an unjust past, together with new experiences of racial discrimination, are likely released in this family haven of"unconditional acceptance" (Bellah et al., 1985:87). The greater the sense of injustice, the more likely that pain suffered will be shared in a setting where family members "can count on other members" (Bellah et al., 1985:87). It is precisely this unselfish nature of family life that can make the impact of racism even more damaging. Whenever the feeling of kinship is present, the brutal effects of racism can be more widespread. Eased by acceptance, past family sufferings will flow into present situations, validating a family language and heritage. From present situations, a family past can more easily be reconstructed. This remembrance of things past is a key to appreciating the totality of the family experience and to entering the "family spirit." For example, Grier and Cobbs ( 1968) suggest that "the problem of the Black family is a latter-day version of the problem faced by the slave family." Drawing from Gutman (1976) and McAdoo (1988), Feagin and Sikes ( 1994) encourage the "remembrance of things past," stressing the continuity of the Black family through time as protector and supporter, but also noting the potentially taxing effects of sharing a memory of oppression with other kin. Familial memories are dynamic "models, examples, and elements of teaching . . . express[ing] the general attitude of the group" (Halbwachs, 1992:59). Memories are a family's "traditional armature," its "vision of the world" (Halbwachs, 1992; Namer, 1993). Memories are unique because they precede the present and have the ability to outlive every member of a family. Despite the fact that "we live in a society that encourages us to cut free from the past" (Bellah et al., 1985:154), a family's memory is crucial to its identity and to its members' identities. There is a well-documented and direct relationship between dissatisfaction at work and family dissatisfaction (Staples and Johnson, 1993; Jackson, 1991). Since for most African Americans, current discrimination in the workplace and in other sectors of the society mirrors a tragic past, understanding the collective memory of the Black familywhere racialized pain is presentized (Halbwachs, 1992)-helps trace the impact of racism on families. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM With two-parent households in decline since the 1960s (Edwards, 1992), the Black family is often said to be very troubled. In 1997 just under half (45.5 percent) of all Black families were married couples, a decrease of 10 percent since 1980 and 23 percent since 1970 (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1998:2, 1995:xiii). In 1997 about 47 percent of Black family households were female-headed, an increase of 7 percent since 1980 and 19 percent since 1970 (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1998:2, 1995:xiii). This trend, which is also evident for White families (Dickson, 1993), is so much more pronounced for Black Americans that many social scientists have long concluded that there is cause for alarm. Despite these gloomy forecasts, a view from inside suggests that most families at all class levels remain strong and central to Black communities. Men and women rely on kin when affected by the brutality of racism. They receive support from families, described as sounding boards, as frames for interpreting their world and as easing encounters with humiliation. This view is a sharp contrast to the traditional portrayal of the Black family as a "tangle of pathologies" (U. …