"I think that in any family -- black, white, Chinese, Spanish, whatever -- family is family. You know that there's dysfunction, and that there's this cousin who doesn't like this auntie. But, at the end of the day, like I say, love brings everybody together." - Lauren London.
Classical notions of class are related to economic stratification. Because racism has historically relegated much of the African American population to poverty, blacks employed other noneconomic bases for stratification. Read More.
Slaves were oftentimes separated from family members and friends for a variety of reasons. For example, they could be sold to liquidate estates, to settle debts, or because they were considered incorrigibly defiant, or they could be given as wedding presents. Read More.
Stereotypes are the cultural prisms, shaped over time and reinforced through repetition, that predetermine thought and experience. Although based on a semblance of historical reality, once implanted in popular lore, such images penetrate the deepest senses and profoundly affect behavioral actions. Read More.
Historians have argued about the slave family and the slave community, especially since the 1960s. The black family has especially been an area where historical interpretation has intersected with the public policy and reached into popular literature and public discussions. Read More.
A child of one white parent and one black parent is called a mulatto. A mulatto may have a very light complexion and appear white, or have darker skin and appear black. Through U.S. history, the mulatto has never fit neatly into America's racial categories. Read More.
The majority of slaves lived together in nuclear families. Yet, these families, however stable, were far from secure, for Southern law did not recognize slave marriages. Husbands and wives could be separated by sale, and masters rather than parents exercised legal authority over slave children. Read More.