How do African American marriages in the 19th century relate to African American marriage today?
Well, I am most interested in dispelling some of those wrong assumptions people make about black marriage. For instance, some have drawn a straight line to make the argument that slavery is responsible for marriage patterns or that it is related to the diminishing rate of black marriages today. But, by the beginning of the 20th century, African American marriage is widespread and they are also marrying at a slightly higher rate than whites. It’s not until post 1940 that a racial gap in marriage occurs. However, in the post 1960s period marriage patterns are changing for everyone in the western industrialized nations of world. Thus the decline in African Americans marriage, has more to do with what is happening in that period than with slavery. Do you see any other connections to contemporary discourse and debates on marriage? Part of the work that I am doing amplifies the fact that marriage has always been considered a civil right in the United States. So I am interested how we’ve thou
