Define and discuss the differences between the “Strong-Family Theory” and the “Weak-Family Theory.” How have these theories influenced the manner in which African American families are viewed? Which of the theories would you support as valid interpretations of the African American family today?
According to the discussion that was held in class on 3/28/2013, the “Strong Family Theory” is a family that has 2 parents, extremely wealthy, loyal, and have great communication amongst each other. The class also said that a strong family honors their morals and values, trust, culture and family history. We agreed that a strong family is built on discipline and encouraging each other. A “Weak Family” is a family that is a single parent household. A weak family has a low income, lacks education, and has poor parenting skills. A weak family can also be defined by a family that has different views on religion. Some families have a hard time because its members are in different religions. This can put a strain on families because they will argue constantly, instead of agreeing to disagree. Because of the “Family Theory”, many African American families are viewed in a negative way in society. The way that society is built today, it is typically expected for Whites to always be more superior to African Americans. However, this is not true. Because of the current economic deficits, there are now more African Americans that are more superior to White Americans. Because of the mentality amongst the African American community, many African Americans are in fact, intimidated by White Americans. This psychological mishap was caused because of the way that blacks were treated many years ago. Blacks feel inferior to White because during the slave days, they were often degraded by White Americans. The blacks were constantly called horrible names such as: Stupid, Nigger, Trash…etc. Because of this, blacks were forced to believe those untrue aspects