Race Matters: Change, Choice, and Family Law at the Millennium

Family Law Quarterly

Volumn 33, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 461-474

  Perry, Twila L ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0033268795     PISSN: 0014729X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (64)

1. 410 U.S 113 (1973).
2. 381 U.S. 479 (1965).
3. 405 U.S. 438 (1972). But see Bowers v. Hardwick, 478 U.S. 186 (1986).
4. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF THE UNITED STATES 472 (118 ed., 1998) [hereinafter CENSUS].
5. Id. at 425.
6. Id. at 476.
7. Id. at 478.
8. Id. at 478.
9. Id. at 14. Statistics reveal that in 1996, there were 510,900 white male sentenced federal and state prisoners. The figure for black males was 528,200. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, SOURCEBOOK OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE STATISTICS 494 (1997) [hereinafter CRIMINAL JUSTICE STATISTICS].
10. CENSUS, supra note 4, at 99.
11. Id. at 98.
12. 163 U.S. 537 (1896).
13. 557 P.2d 106 (Cal. 1976).
14. William A. Darity, Jr. & Samuel L. Myers, Family Structure and the Marginalisation of Black Men: Policy Implications, in THE DECLINE IN MARRIAGE AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICANS: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS 265 (M. Belinda Tucker & Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, eds. 1995) [hereinafter DECLINE IN MARRIAGE].
15. CENSUS, supra note 4, at 57.
16. See generally YOUNG BLACK AND MALE IN AMERICA: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES (Jewelle Taylor Gibbs, ed. 1988); JOSEPH L. WHITE & JAMES H. CONES III, BLACK MAN EMERGING: FACING THE PAST AND SEIZING A FUTURE IN AMERICA (1999).
17. See generally YOUNG BLACK AND MALE IN AMERICA: AN ENDANGERED SPECIES (Jewelle Taylor Gibbs, ed. 1988); JOSEPH L. WHITE & JAMES H. CONES III, BLACK MAN EMERGING: FACING THE PAST AND SEIZING A FUTURE IN AMERICA (1999).
18. Darity & Myers, supra note 14, at 263, 265.
19. M. Belinda Tucker & Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, Trends in African-American Family Formation: A Theoretical and Statistical Overview, in THE DECLINE IN MARRIAGE, supra note 14, at 12 (noting lower rates of marriage and higher rates of divorce for Black women); M. Belinda Tucker & Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, Marital Behavior and Expectation: Ethnic Comparisons of Attitudinal and Structural Correlates, in THE DECLINE OF MARRIAGE, supra note 14, at 167 (noting lower rates of remarriage for Black women).
20. M. Belinda Tucker & Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, Trends in African-American Family Formation: A Theoretical and Statistical Overview, in THE DECLINE IN MARRIAGE, supra note 14, at 12 (noting lower rates of marriage and higher rates of divorce for Black women); M. Belinda Tucker & Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, Marital Behavior and Expectation: Ethnic Comparisons of Attitudinal and Structural Correlates, in THE DECLINE OF MARRIAGE, supra note 14, at 167 (noting lower rates of remarriage for Black women).
21. Darity & Myers, supra note 14, at 263-89.
22. Id. at 263-289.
23. HOMER H. CLARK, THE LAW OF DOMESTIC RELATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES 513-21 (2d ed. 1987).
24. See, e.g., Twila L. Perry, No-Fault Divorce and Liability Without Fault: Can Family Law Learn from Torts, 52 OHIO ST. L. J. 55 (1991).
25. Twila L. Perry, Alimony: Race, Privilege and Dependency in the Search for a Theory, 82 GEO. L.J. 2481 (1994).
26. Black women divorce at a rate that is twice as high as that for white women. In 1990, for white women the divorce rate was 153 per 1,000 married women. The figure for Black women was 358 per 1,000 married women. See M. Belinda Tucker & Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, Trends in African American Family Formation: A Theoretical and Statistical Overview, in THE DECLINE IN MARRIAGE, supra note 14, at 10, 12.
27. The 1980 census revealed 1,589,000 unmarried couples of the opposite sex sharing the same household. By 1997, that figure had risen to 4,130,000. CENSUS, supra note 4, at 60.
28. CLARK, supra note 21, at 45, 59 n. 86 (citing treatises in the 1940s and 1950s noting the prevalence of common law marriage among Blacks and lower class whites).
29. Walter O. Weyraugh, Informal and Formal Marriage: An Appraisal of Trends in Family Organization, 28 U. CHI. L. REV. 88, 98-99 (1960).
30. For a discussion of the long history of common law marriage in this country, see CLARK, supra note 21, at 48-62.
31. Beginning in the 1970s, many state courts began to uphold the validity of ante-nuptial contracts. See, e.g., Posner v. Posner, 233 So. 2d 381 (Fla. 1970); Osborne v. Osborne, 428 N.E.2d 810 (Mass. 1981).
32. See, e.g., Henrikson v. Cameron, 622 A.2d 1135 (Me. 1993); Davis v. Bostick, 580 P.2d 544 (Or. 1978).
33. See, e.g., Warren v. State, 336 S.E. 2d 221 (Ga. 1985); People v. Liberta, 474 N.E.2d 567 (N.Y. 1984).
34. In 1994, for example the federal government enacted the Violence Against Women Act, Pub. L. No. 103-322, Title IV, 108 Stat. 1902-55 (codified in scattered sections of 8 U.S.C.A., 18 U.S.C.A. & 42 U.S.C.A), intended to be a major initiative against domestic violence.
35. See generally Kimberle Crenshaw, Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color, 43 STAN. L. REV. 1241 (1991).
36. See, e.g., John E. Yang & Ann Devroy, Quayle: "Hollywood Doesn't Get It," Adminstration Struggles to Explain Attack on TV's Murphy Brown, WASH. POST, May 21, 1992, at A1.
37. See generally MARTHA ALBERTSON FINEMAN, THE NEUTERED MOTHER, THE SEXUAL FAMILY AND OTHER TWENTIETH CENTURY TRAGEDIES 100-25 (1995).
38. Census data reveals that in 1980,48% of births were to unmarried white women. By 1995, that figure had risen to 62.6%. CENSUS, supra note 4, at 81.
39. See Perry, supra note 23, at 2500-2502.
40. 388 U.S. 1 (1967).
41. See Twila L. Perry, The Transracial Adoption Controversy: An Analysis of Discourse and Subordination, 21 N.Y.U. REV. L. & Soc. ch. 33 (1993-94) [hereinafter Transracial Adoption].
42. Id. at 57-65.
43. Id. at 72-77.
44. Id. at 65-72.
45. Id. For a discussion expanding this analysis, see R. Richard Banks, The Color of Desire: Fulfilling Adoptive Parents Racial Preferences Through Discriminatory State Action, 107 YALE L.J. 875 (1998).
46. Transracial Adoption, supra note 39, at 46-47. For an example of criticism of the National Association of Black Social Workers and criticism of Black opposition to transracial adoption generally, see Elizabeth Bartholet, Where Do Black Children Belong? The Politics of Race Matching in Transracial Adoption, 139 U. PA. L. REV. 1163 (1991).
47. See, e.g., Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).
48. DOROTHY ROBERTS, KILLING THE BLACK BODY: RACE, REPRODUCTION AND THE MEANING OF LIBERTY 136-243 (1997).
49. See, e.g., Stacey L. Arthur, The Norplant Prescription: Birth Control, Woman Control or Crime Control?, 40 UCLA L. REV. 1 (1992); Julie Mertus & Simon Heller, Norplant Meets the New Eugenicists: The Impermissibility of Coerced Contraceptives, 11 ST. LOUIS PUB. L. REV. 359 (1992).
50. See, e.g., Stacey L. Arthur, The Norplant Prescription: Birth Control, Woman Control or Crime Control?, 40 UCLA L. REV. 1 (1992); Julie Mertus & Simon Heller, Norplant Meets the New Eugenicists: The Impermissibility of Coerced Contraceptives, 11 ST. LOUIS PUB. L. REV. 359 (1992).
51. See generally Dorothy E. Roberts, Punishing Drug Addicts Who Have Babies: Women of Color, Equality and the Right of Privacy, 104 HARV. L. REV. 1419 (1991).
52. Some conservatives have sought to link adoption with welfare reform. See, e.g., Charles Murray, Stop Favoring Unwed Mothers, N.Y. TIMES, Jan. 15, 1992, at A3 (contending that welfare removes the financial incentives for poor women to give their children up for adoption.) In congressional testimony in connection with welfare reform legislation, William J. Bennett stated: I believe that making adoption easier is an essential and compassionate part of welfare reform. Adoption is the best alternative we have to protect a child's interest in a post-welfare world. . . . Lifting restrictions on interracial adoption and easing age limitations for adoptive parents will help to insure that large numbers of children will be adopted into good, stable, loving homes. Welfare Revision: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, 104th Cong. 1995 (Testimony of William J. Bennett, CoDirector of Empower America).
53. Some conservatives have sought to link adoption with welfare reform. See, e.g., Charles Murray, Stop Favoring Unwed Mothers, N.Y. TIMES, Jan. 15, 1992, at A3 (contending that welfare removes the financial incentives for poor women to give their children up for adoption.) In congressional testimony in connection with welfare reform legislation, William J. Bennett stated: I believe that making adoption easier is an essential and compassionate part of welfare reform. Adoption is the best alternative we have to protect a child's interest in a post-welfare world. . . . Lifting restrictions on interracial adoption and easing age limitations for adoptive parents will help to insure that large numbers of children will be adopted into good, stable, loving homes. Welfare Revision: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, 104th Cong. 1995 (Testimony of William J. Bennett, CoDirector of Empower America).
54. For a racial critique of surrogacy, see Dorothy E. Roberts, The Genetic Tie, 62 U. CHI. L. REV. 209 (1995).
55. Id. at 244-45.
56. Since the 1960s, the Supreme Court has invalidated most statutory distinctions between children born within and children born outside of marriage. See, e.g., Trimble v. Gordon, 430 U.S. 762 (1977).
57. Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1925); Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925).
58. CHILD WELFARE: AN AFRICENTRIC PERSPECTIVE 2-3 (Joyce E. Everett, Sandra S. Chipungu & Bogard R. Leashore, eds.1991).
59. In 1990, there were 19,700 Black women sentenced prisoners in state and federal prisons. In 1996, that number had risen to 33,900. CRIMINAL JUSTICE STANDARDS, supra note 9, at 494.
60. W.E.B. DuBois, "To the Nations of the World," in REPORT OF THE PAN-AFRICAN CONFERENCE, reproduced in WRITINGS IN NON-PERIODICAL LITERATURE 11-12 (Herbert Aptheker, ed. 1982), cited in DAVID LEVERING LEWIS, W.E.B. DUBOIS: BIOGRAPHY OF A RACE 1868-1919 251 (1993).
61. W.E.B. DuBois, "To the Nations of the World," in REPORT OF THE PAN- AFRICAN CONFERENCE, reproduced in WRITINGS IN NON-PERIODICAL LITERATURE 11- 12 (Herbert Aptheker, ed. 1982), cited in DAVID LEVERING LEWIS, W.E.B. DUBOIS: BIOGRAPHY OF A RACE 1868-1919 251 (1993).
62. For extensive discussion of the history and evolution of the Black family, see ANDREW BILLINGSLEY, CLIMBING JACOB'S LADDER; THE ENDURING LEGACY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES (1992); HERBERT G. GUTMAN, THE BLACK FAMILY IN SLAVERY AND FREEDOM 1750-1925 (1976); NIARA SUDARKASA, THE STRENGTH OF OUR MOTHERS: AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN & FAMILIES: ESSAYS AND SPEECHES (1996).
63. For extensive discussion of the history and evolution of the Black family, see ANDREW BILLINGSLEY, CLIMBING JACOB'S LADDER; THE ENDURING LEGACY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES (1992); HERBERT G. GUTMAN, THE BLACK FAMILY IN SLAVERY AND FREEDOM 1750-1925 (1976); NIARA SUDARKASA, THE STRENGTH OF OUR MOTHERS: AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN & FAMILIES: ESSAYS AND SPEECHES (1996).
64. For extensive discussion of the history and evolution of the Black family, see ANDREW BILLINGSLEY, CLIMBING JACOB'S LADDER; THE ENDURING LEGACY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES (1992); HERBERT G. GUTMAN, THE BLACK FAMILY IN SLAVERY AND FREEDOM 1750-1925 (1976); NIARA SUDARKASA, THE STRENGTH OF OUR MOTHERS: AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN & FAMILIES: ESSAYS AND SPEECHES (1996).