Wednesday, October 2, 2002

A story published today by the Washington Times reports that in July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics released an unprecedented report on American love relationships, which shows that black women's woes are not fictional.

The report, "Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the United States," indicated that black women, when compared with other racial groups, were:
- Least likely to marry.
- Most likely to have their marriages end in separation or divorce.
- Most likely to stay separated (neither reconcile nor divorce).
- Least likely to remarry.

The report is based on "very strong data" from the National Survey of Family Growth, said center statistician and report co-author William D. Mosher, which supplies complete marriage histories, complete cohabitation histories, and details on separation and divorce.

Lorraine C. Blackman, who teaches black family life studies at Indiana University, said the troubles in black male-female relationships include personal responsibility but go a lot deeper, into attitudes of the sexes and "marriageability."

Many black women are achieving high educational and professional goals and seek mates with similar standards, she said. However, far fewer black men are going to college or getting professional jobs. Although many black men have good-paying blue-collar jobs, she said, others seem to bounce between low-paying jobs or are in and out of jail.

As a result, some women say, "I can do bad by myself, so I'd rather stay single and climb the ladder of success than burden myself with someone who may not have the same aspirations and goals that I have," said Louisiana State Rep. Sharon Weston Broome, who was in her 40s when she became a first-time bride in 1999.

Marriage may not make sense in some of these cases, said Dianna Durham-McLoud, a child-support specialist who now works with the National Center for Strategic Nonprofit Planning and Community Leadership, which seeks to strengthen families and neighborhoods.
"Poor women do not need another dependent," Mrs. Durham-McLoud said. "Women want someone in their lives who can, in fact, add something to the table."