Is Marriage For White People - 1401 Words

In Ralph Richard Banks’ book entitled â€Å"Is Marriage for White People?† the definition of marriage varies from different cultures and views. The most popular and idealistic notion is that marriage is a result of the unconditional love of two people wanting to share this union for the rest of their lives, in a long committed way. For some however, marriage is more of an economic arrangement, like a pact for two people to catch each other when the other one falls. And for others, it is only a piece of paper that can be thrown away if not needed, or by simple saying, marriage is not important. This book stretches out to a lot of questions and ideas to most readers. Does marriage only work out for white people? Are marriages of other races not†¦show more content†¦He is happily married to his childhood sweetheart, Jennifer Eberhardt, a prominent social psychologist, and together with their three sons they reside in San Francisco Bay area. Banks admits that his decision to write this book is partly personal. He grew up belonging to the middle black class and had observed many hues of matrimonial relationship among that group, its fragility and success alike. He then incorporated interviews from approximately 100 people to find out their views and opinions on black marriage, â€Å"marrying out† or interracial marriage, having biracial children, the shortage of good black men as possible spouse, and marrying down which means marrying a man who is not in the same economic or education class as his wife. He wants to unravel the reason behind Why are middle class African American men and women so much less likely than their white counterparts to marry or stay married? The first half of the book walks you through the process and experiences of married life among black people in the United States. Black people are known to be very religious which is disagreeing with their lack of judgement and foundation for marriage. In the November 2010 study conducted by the Pew Research Center, they found out that half of black couples divorce in contrast to less than a third of white couples to do so. Why blacks are less likely to get married and more likely to be divorced? The racial gap in marriage