The myth of Black matriarchy

¶ … Myth of Black Matriarchy

The media is a very powerful entity in our nation, and many people believe what they see and hear, without questioning where the information came from and if it might be inaccurate for various reasons. Because of this racism and other stereotypical behaviors prevail in many media outlets, and these beliefs find their way into the culture of the nation and become commonplace, whether they are accurate and true or not. This is particularly true of black economy and black education, as well as black families and how they are operated. Most of what the media shows is stereotypical behavior when it comes to blacks and other minorities, and because of this, blacks continue to struggle in financial and educational circles.

The article "The Myth of Black Matriarchy" deals with the misguided opinion that black families are generally run by women and therefore women are dominant. The truth, based on studies, indicates that it is usually white homes which are operated this way more frequently. A larger percentage of black homes are egalitarian - meaning that the man and the woman agree on most things or make decisions together, instead of only having one person make the decisions. This is very important, because it indicates a shift in thinking. It also indicates that there are false assumptions regarding many black women and their households, and that these assumptions have been around for some time.

While home life for most black individuals in society today is largely focused on working together in order to survive, the stereotype of the black matriarch remains. It is likely that much of this came about from the women's movement of the 1920s and its resurgence in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Despite this, most black women were not even part of that movement, which was largely controlled by white women who decided that it was time for a change. It is not certain where the stereotype of the black matriarch actually came from, however, because there is no hard evidence to indicate that it was created in a certain area of the country or in a certain time period. Some of it may also have evolved from people seeing black women taking care of a lot of children. Many of them had large families, and this could have been a contributing factor when it came to an opinion of who 'ran the household.'

What black families really do, though, is manage diversity and change together so that they can survive in society. Black men tend to make less money than white men, and black women tend to make less money than both black men and white women. Because of this there are compromises that often have to be made and this brings black families closer and tends to keep them there. They are capable and they are willing to change and adapt the roles that they have in society and in their homes so that they can continue to succeed and not slip back into the poverty that many of their ancestors grew up in. Most people want something better for themselves than their parents had, and something better for their children than they had. This being the case there are a lot of black families that are working for hopes and dreams for themselves and their children. They know that working together is the only way to attain this, because they often cannot do it on their own.

The diversity that is seen even in the typical black family in America today is very strong. This is because they have to change and adapt so much, and also because they often have large families where people have many different jobs both inside and outside of the home. This diversity is usually not seen within the media today, and that helps to perpetuate the stereotype and keep people from seeing what is really taking place. Some of this is starting to improve, but there is still much work to be done. The media must play its part or the black family will continue to be hindered by beliefs that are held by some and advanced through media outlets until they are held by many others. This is unfortunate, but black people today must work with the media when it will advance their cause, and work against the media when there are difficulties that will hold up their advancement.

With the economy in general very poor right now, many black people will have trouble finding jobs that are as high paying or secure as the jobs that they might have had in the past, and they will also be competing with many white people who are looking for jobs in a world where discrimination is often subtle but still very real. This will present many difficulties that many of these people did not think they would have to worry about, and many of them will blame the media in some way. There are still businesses that view blacks as very important, however. One of these, a radio station in Tennessee, caters to blacks in many ways.

This station pays attention to the kind of music and the kind of news that black people are assumed to want to hear, because they recognize the significance of the fact that blacks have spent about $12 in Tennessee in 2002. This was despite the fact that blacks in Tennessee had a higher-than-average rate of unemployment. They were giving a great deal to the community and spending much of their money in the community despite the fact that the community was not giving much back to them. Media such as this radio station helps the black economy and the cohesiveness of the black family because they show how much blacks can do and they remind the black people of Tennessee that there are those out there that have appreciation and respect for them.