Drop in Black Marriages Hurts Families/Atlanta Constitution-JOurnal

Drop in Black Marriages Hurts Families
By BENIN DAKAR
Atlanta Constitution-Journal 12/12/05

Marriage is the most enduring present that Otis and Elaine Dickerson
of Duluth have given themselves and their four children.
On Dec. 18, 1953, on the first birthday of their baby boy Eric, the
young and determined African-American couple were married in the modest
home of Otis' mother in a working-class Baltimore neighborhood. Their
commitment to rear their children-son Eric (now known as Sitawi Jahi),
of Baltimore; and daughters Marcia Dickerson, 50, of Duluth; Sheila
Conway, 44, of Columbia, Md.; and Leslie Pickett, 43, of Alpharetta — as
a faithful husband and wife provided the emotional support and economic
wherewithal for the couple and their offspring to find their way into
the middle class. Although the Dickersons' marriage had some of the
usual rough spots that even good marriages are certain to experience,
Otis and Elaine remain steadfast in making it work, not just for
themselves but as an example to their children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. Otis, a 73-year-old naval veteran and a retired
civilian courier for Naval Services in Washington, and Elaine, a
71-year-old retired cryptanalyst from The National Security Agency in
Fort Meade, Md., say their partnership enabled them to succeed in the
workplace, to become homeowners and to rear stable and productive
children.

What makes the story of Otis and Elaine Dickerson exceptional
is that fewer and fewer young black couples who find themselves in a
"family way" are following their lead to the altar. The decline of
marriage, especially in many low-income black communities, is cracking
the foundation of the black nuclear family and worsening poverty and
child welfare. According to The Brookings Institution, 70 percent of
African-American children are born out of wedlock and up to 85 percent
of African-American children will spend some or all of their childhood
in a single-parent home. This is important because the emotional and
economic security of children is greatly reduced in single-parent homes.
Of course, there are noteworthy exceptions to the rule, but by and
large, children from two-parent homes simply fare better.

The reasons for declining black marriage rates are varied and complex, said Lorraine
Blackman, associate professor of social work at Indiana University and
director of the African-American Family Life Education Institute. The
women's movement of the 1970s enhanced opportunities for many black
women and changed their expectations of marriage, Blackman said.
Simultaneously, because of a changing economy, job opportunities for
non-college-educated black men have decreased. Furthermore, Blackman
said, the government has inadvertently discouraged marriage among
lower-income black women by denying them such safety net supports as
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and food stamps if there is
evidence of a man in the household. Surprisingly, many black clergy who
stood at the forefront of opposing same-sex marriage are eerily quiet
when it comes to addressing the crisis of declining African-American
marriage rates. The irony is that while same-sex marriage has little, if
any, impact on the well-being of the black community, decreasing
marriage rates between a black man and a black woman threaten to erode
black social and economic progress. Despite the intricacy of
understanding and addressing the issue of declining marriage in the
black community and the fact that there are no quick fixes, we still can
hope that other young black couples will choose to emulate Otis and
Elaine. In a very real and unsentimental way, the future of an
empowered, effectual and enduring black America is wedded to our efforts
to increase black marriage rates.
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