These newly freed African Americans families, especially those of single parents, had a hard time adjusting to society and were trapped in what William E Du Bois calls "The Veil" in his book The Souls of Black Folk. He describes the veil as a place where only African Americans existed and viewed the world from. It was within this veil that the black population experienced oppression and were subjected to discrimination. It was a place of injustice where African Americans were stuck in their socioeconomic status and unable to progress. A study done by Steven Ruggles at the University of Minnesota may explain how the “stuck” socioeconomic status of African Americans was a key factor that contributed to their unstable family structure. In his article, “The Origins of African American Family Structure,” Ruggles used the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series to trace race differences in family structure between 1880 and 1980. He concluded that African American single parent households increased sharply throughout this period. In his argument, he uses economic data to explain the dramatic increase. Socioeconomic conditions such as extreme poverty caused these single parent families to grow rapidly.
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During slavery, because of the required labor, males and older children were mostly the ones who were sold and separated. This destroyed all family bonds with the exception of those between mother and child, leading to a pattern of black families centered on the mother. In the “Origin of Black Female-Headed Families”, Erol Ricketts provides data from 1890 to 1985 to present evidence of the growth of African American female-headed families. His research suggests that during this period, more than all black families were headed by woman. Ricketts also theorizes on the reasons that these single mother families remained single. Ricketts describes how black males avoided marriage and family unions, leading further to the breakdown of the black nuclear family. Non-marriage and divorce would occur because of black males’ economic uncertainties as they struggled to find careers and occupations. Throughout this period of struggle, largely due to the destructive culture in the American south under Jim Crow, there were very few marriageable black men who were able to provide the economic support needed to sustain a family. Through Ricketts’ research, it appears that the matriarchal black families were a response to the socioeconomic difficulties that African Americans confronted in a racially divided
During slavery, because of the required labor, males and older children were mostly the ones who were sold and separated. This destroyed all family bonds with the exception of those between mother and child, leading to a pattern of black families centered on the mother. In the “Origin of Black Female-Headed Families”, Erol Ricketts provides data from 1890 to 1985 to present evidence of the growth of African American female-headed families. His research suggests that during this period, more than all black families were headed by woman. Ricketts also theorizes on the reasons that these single mother families remained single. Ricketts describes how black males avoided marriage and family unions, leading further to the breakdown of the black nuclear family. Non-marriage and divorce would occur because of black males’ economic uncertainties as they struggled to find careers and occupations. Throughout this period of struggle, largely due to the destructive culture in the American south under Jim Crow, there were very few marriageable black men who were able to provide the economic support needed to sustain a family. Through Ricketts’ research, it appears that the matriarchal black families were a response to the socioeconomic difficulties that African Americans confronted in a racially divided