Black Male-Female Relationships

This article examines the relationships that exist between black females and black males and offers suggestions as to how the rich religious traditions and familial principles that undergird the black heritage can be re-created and adapted for use by black children today and in the years to come. This effort has become necessary in light of the increased sociological attention given to the problems that exist in black male-black female relationships and the crisis that exists within the black family today. Overall there seems to be general agreement about the existence of unhealthy conflicts between black males and black females. Problems in the relationships are largely discussed in terms of such factors as institutionalized racism and sexism (Karenga, 1979; Madhubuti, 1980; Staples, 1979a; Wallace, 1979, 1982), the scarcity of black men (Jackson, 1978; Braithwaite, 1981), the dating game on the part of both black men and women (Staples, 1978a), and the stresses and strains that confront individual partners in their day-to-day activities (Staples, 1981a). This study briefly discusses these explanatory variables and suggests ways by which