The News Argus, February, 2004
Men and Women battle with gender imbalance
By Larry E. Davis
(KRT)
As we celebrate Black History Month and, with
it, Valentine's Day, it is a fitting time to ponder
this sobering fact: BOtogether.
Moreover, when social and economic factors are
thrown into the mix, finding a suitable partner
becomes even more difficult for black women,
who are graduating from college at twice the rate
of black men and subsequently accruing incomes
and professional positions consistent with their
higher rates of educational attainment.
As a woman reporter told me in the '90s, "Black
women have become the men that their mothers
wanted them to marry."
The compounded result of all this? A double
whammy for eligible black women -- too few
black men with too few resources. These facts
may explain why there is so much emphasis
devoted to the fostering of opposite-sex relation
ships at formal gatherings of blacks, even at pro
fessional black business and civil right confer
ences.
Of course, some will immediately think, "Why
don't black women date afid marry non-blacks?"
Well, this sounds like a good idea in principle,
but it must be kept in mind that there is actually a
shortage of white males, too, albeit not nearly to
the extreme of the shortage among blacks.
Moreover, relations between blacks and whites
remain contentious; just think of the repeated
instances of police brutality reported in the news
media and of poor intergroup race relations gen
erally.
And it is true also that despite some lessening of
racial antagonisms toward interracial marriage,
societal prohibitions against such unions still
remain strong both within white and black com
munities.
Of course, it is likely that romantic unions
between blacks and other non-whites such as
Hispanics and Asians will increase, but these
groups don't have a surfeit of marriageable men,
either -- certainly not one that would supplant the
Finding true love this Vaientine’s Day might be a challenge with statistics like this: There are about eight
black men for every 10 black women.
File photo
gender imbalance currently being experienced by
black America. Hence black women are foremost
left to find marriage partners among the few eligi
ble black men who often have too little to offer.
What to do, then, about this profound social prob
lem? We now recognize that the presence of respon
sible married men within the black community is
key to exercising social control over youth: These
men can prevent crime and raise boys to be respon
sible fathers who will then, in turn, provide finan
cial as well as social support for their children.
One possible approach to solving this national
dilemma comes from an unexpected source:
President Bush's recently announced $1.5 billion
drive for the promotion of marriage. Reportage on
the Bush proposal mentioned federal officials
favoring, among other things, premarital educa
tion programs focused on high school students,
young adults and unmarried new parents that
o ffer instruction in marriage skills and mentoring
p rograms using married couples as role models.
This would be a sterling chance for Resident
Bush, during Black History Month, to prove to
one and all that, by marrying his newly
announced marriage initiative to his oft-voiced
commitment to education, he sincerely means it
when he says that in America no child should be
left behind.
Argus Photo by Janell J. Lewis
This security gate has been installed In front of Wilson Hall to block cars
from driving through on to Vargrave Street.
GATES, from cover
for traffic to go through on to
Vargrave Street, and now you have to
get on MLK just to get to Vargrave
Street. It is a waste of time." While try
ing to figure out other ways to keep
the cars out of the fire lane Chief Bell
said, "The only way to fix this was to
gate up this lot." So that is exactly
what was done. The gate is up there to
control the fire lane."
Zenobia Argentin, sophomore math
ematics major said, "When there is an
emergency, how are the emergency
vehicle supposed to get through? "
Bell responded by saying, "If there is
an emergency situation an officer
could open the gates and emergency
vehicles enter at ease."
The only vehicles allowed to park in
the gates right now are Rams
Commons and Wilson Hall staff and
that is only on the right-hand side.
The gates are actually very valuable
even though they are an inconve
nience - safety is the main reason for
them. Bell said, "We are just looking
out for the safety of the students."
"TmoenT*
PROFCRTIKS\
Checl( out
this great
investment
opportunity!
2731 REYNOLDS PARK ROAD
Two bedroom, one bath townhome at Salem Village, new
carpet, fresh paint, all appliances including washer and dryer.
Amenities include pool, water and trash pickup. $62,500
TRIDENT PROPERTIES
(336) 669-5159
mi
m
s
mm
mu.
Everyday discounts for students
I-Topping Pizza
$J99
99
Medium
Large
©2003 Rzza Hut, Inc.The Rzza Hut^ name, logo and related marks are
trademarks of Rzza Hut, Inc. Delivery where available: charges may apply.
Delivery drivers carry no more than $20 cash.
IMaoS
3069 Kernersville Road
788-9052
Dine-ln or Carryout
VSM3N jeeooo