# African American Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015 "2003-06-01T22:44:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Major\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Major\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/1 "2003-06-01T22:44:57Z")
What percentage of African American are born to parents who are not married? Are there actually more African Americans behind bars in America then attend public and private Universities? Has percentage of African Americans living below the poverty line increased nearly every year? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/2 "2003-06-01T22:56:04Z")
Are these questions directed _at_ African-American board members, or are you just throwing them out to the general Peanut Gallery? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/3 "2003-06-02T00:10:31Z")
[Here are some statistics on illegitimacy and poverty.](http://hascall.colgate.edu/JWAGNER/Inequality%20in%20the%20U.S.%201997%20data.htm#Table%201) It’s an inequality/inequity comparison chart, so there may be an agenda there. Note that the average income percentage has been showing a recent upswing. And American blacks do have more babies out of wedlock than in, it seems. But [the trend has been reversing.](http://aspe.hhs.gov/2000gb/appenm.txt) > [@](#): > > Since 1991, birth rates have declined for white, black, > American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, and Hispanic > adolescents between the ages of 15 and 19. The greatest decline > in teen birth rates occurred among black teens, for whom rates > were down 26 percent over the period from 1991 to 1998. > Specifically, birth rates for black teenagers declined from > 115.5 per 1,000 in 1991 to 85.3 in 1998. For Hispanic > teenagers, birth rates declined by 12 percent between 1991 and > 1998, from 106.7 to 93.7. However, despite the general decline > in teenage birth rates for all races and persons of Hispanic > origin, birth rates for black and Hispanic teenagers continue > to be substantially higher than for other ethnic groups. As > compared with the black and Hispanic rates of 85.3 and 93.7 per > 1,000 respectively, non-Hispanic white teens gave birth at a > rate of only 35.2 per 1,000 and Asian or Pacific Islanders were > lower still at 23.1 per 1,000 (National Center for Health > Statistics, 1999). Don’t have any prison/higher ed numbers. I’m a little too poor, uneducated, incarcerated and overcome with pre-marital lust to look those up right now. [Fixed quote tags. – MEB] ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Major\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/4 "2003-06-02T00:43:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Are these questions directed at African-American board members, or are you just throwing them out to the general Peanut Gallery? Everyone should feel free to answer. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/5 "2003-06-02T00:47:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > \*\*Don’t have any prison/higher ed numbers. I’m a little too poor, uneducated, incarcerated and overcome with pre-marital lust to look those up right now. \*\* Te amo, **Biggirl**. I’m curious about the motivation to ask these questions. I would suggest Farai Chideya’s Don’t Believe the Hype for stats. She has an agenda, so be careful. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Major\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/6 "2003-06-02T01:12:40Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m curious about the motivation to ask these questions. My motivation was to find the answers. ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/7 "2003-06-02T04:06:33Z")
The commonly mentioned 3 is more blacks involved in the criminal/justice system than in higher ed. However, even if true, which I would see very hard to investigate- ie, is 5% black African American etc… Also not all “Negroes” consider themselves AA. I know 1 ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/8 "2003-06-02T04:09:51Z")
(cont of above, noy my bad) 100’s of Jamaicans: they do NOT consider themselves AA. But, also probation & parole is added to prisoners-that would have to be separated out. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Major\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/9 "2003-06-02T05:03:37Z")
Slight Hijack: Should I have used the term African American or Black? ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/10 "2003-06-02T05:18:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > **Don’t have any prison/higher ed numbers. I’m a little too poor, uneducated, incarcerated and overcome with pre-marital lust to look those up right now.** Can I be you when I grow up? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/11 "2003-06-02T09:39:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > \*\*I’m a little too poor, uneducated, incarcerated and overcome with pre-marital lust to look those up right now. \*\* Admit it – you’re actually Queen Latifah. Or at least QL’s character in that Steve Martin film. To continue the hijack, IANA African-American/Black/whatever but the use of AA is something that should definitely not be applied outside of the US for obvious reasons. In the UK, the racial grouping is “Black”, regardless of whether the people in question came to the UK from the Caribbean, directly from Africa, or from elsewhere (except, of course, the US). It’s a cultural difference. ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/12 "2003-06-02T16:14:24Z")
Correct- Jamaicans,no I’m not Jamaican, whether in US or elsewhere, do not like the AA term. Most Cubans are now “black”- per my travels there & books I read- about 30% black & over 50% mixed. I never heard any referances to Africa there,either. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/13 "2003-06-02T18:01:13Z")
Welfare has given me some money, I got my GED, and had sex with my parole officer so. . … [Here’s an interesting bit of info from Frontline.](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/race/economics/vital.html) > [@](#): > > The number of black men enrolled in higher education in 1995: 556,000 > > The number of black men incarcerated in federal or state prison or local jails in 1995 : 711,600 > > The number of black women enrolled in higher education in 1995: 918,000 > > The number of black women incarcerated in federal or state prison or local jails in 1995: 55,300 (U.S. Dept. of Justice and U.S. Dept of Education) P.S. Thanks Mr B., sir ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/14 "2003-06-02T18:35:38Z")
> [@](#): > > but the use of AA is something that should definitely not be applied outside of the US for obvious reasons. Indeed. I’ve seen Black History Month materials which listed Nelson Mandella as a famous “African American”. And am I the only one who finds it surprising that black women so greatly outnumber black men in higher education? Were those statistics ultimately from the same source, using the same standards for definitions? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/15 "2003-06-02T18:47:40Z")
Frontline does say that they got this information from US Dept of Education. I’m not surprised. Black women’s magazines (Essence being the most famous, I think) have been up in arms about black women leaving black men behind for some time now. There have been a number of articles about the shortage of college educated black men and the resultant rise in interracial marriages for college educated black women. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/16 "2003-06-02T18:53:01Z")
[hijack] Biggirl, you rock. You often find a way to say something I’d love to say but can’t get past my **blinding rage** to type. :)[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_E\_Dec\_Esq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@Francis\_E\_Dec\_Esq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_E_Dec_Esq)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/17 "2003-06-02T18:53:42Z")
The statistics about wedlock and prison vs. education have more to do with poverty than race. If there is a correlation between race and bastards or race and prison, I’m certain you would find an even stronger correlation between poverty and bastards/prison while ignoring race (since you’ll be including the poor non-blacks and excluding the wealthy blacks). ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Major\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/18 "2003-06-02T18:57:04Z")
Ok, did I do something wrong asking these questions? ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/19 "2003-06-02T19:13:35Z")
The percentage of black americans in poverty is not going up. In 1997 it was 26.5 and in 1999 it was 23.6 and in 2000 it was 22.1. [http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02ff01.html](http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/2002/cb02ff01.html) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015/20 "2003-06-02T19:20:31Z")
No, you didn’t do anything wrong. Personally, I’m wondering why you’re interested in such stats, but it’s not really any of my business. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/african-american-questions/179015.md?page=2)