Title Pages (continued from previous page)
now propelling him into the discussion about boys. Though plenty has been written about family breakdown in the inner city, he’d seen next to nothing about family life in the black middle class, which is much larger than in the past. “I wanted to figure out why there was this marriage decline even among the affluent, educated African-Americans — and I also found there’s this continuity between the African-American experience and the more general American experience,” Banks said. Though reviewers widely praised the book, readers’ responses were polarized between those who deplored Banks for airing “family secrets” and those who thanked him for prying open an important conversation. Members of a Stanford alumni group of African-Americans said they’d like to discuss the book — but not in a racially mixed setting. The mainstream Stanford alumni group wanted to discuss it — but only in a racially mixed setting. When he participated in radio talk shows around the country, Banks said, “invariably someone would call in and say, ‘this guy’s promoting genocide.’ “This issue of black women expanding their options and looking beyond black men, that’s just a really loaded topic,” he said.
Andy Harader Tennis Camp @ Palo Alto High School JUNE 11 - AUGUST 17
}iÃÊÇ £ÈÊUÊ ÊUÊ a small, fun, very educational camp
(650) 364-6233
ÜÜÜ°> `ÞÃÌi ÃV> «°V ÓääÇÊ ", Ê1-*/ Ê } Ê-V Ê >V Ê vÊÌ iÊ9i>À
“You’d think it’s kind of a feminist approach in a way, arguing that women should do what’s best for them — that it’s not their responsibility to lift the men up and bring them along — but in fact that message is one many black women are uncomfortable with.” Polling suggests that for black women, racial identity is more central than gender identity, he said. So opening the conversation has been slow at best. “We’re still working on it. This is just one of those issues where it’s
‘I transformed his statement into a question to match the sense of exploration and curiosity that pervades the book. I hope for the book to open a conversation, not to end one.’ —Ralph Richard Banks very difficult to have a conversation in a mixed-race setting in particular,” he said. Sometimes lost in the crossfire was another central theme of Banks’ book: Trends that began showing up in black families decades ago have become, over time, increasingly the norm among whites. “You see society-wide developments that are starkest among African-Americans,” he said. “In a sense, the black experience is emblematic of the American experience. I think that’s cool and interesting.” As a vulnerable group, he said, African-Americans tend to be on the front lines of change: when black women entered the workforce in the 1950s that was thought to be
atypical for white women, who later followed. Later, black women began having children outside of marriage. Today, more than a quarter of births to white, non-Hispanic women are outside of marriage. Similarly, Banks sees possible parallels in terms of academic and economic struggles for men and boys. “The changing labor market affected black men first because they’re the most vulnerable, but now men across the board are experiencing some of the same struggles black men have endured for decades, so I think it’s really interesting to trace that. “It’s interesting to understand the commonality of people’s experiences rather than to imagine, as we often tend to do, that what happens to some racial group is somehow distinctive.” Banks said he started the book as an academic treatise, but was prompted to switch gears when it came to the title after a comment by an African-American boy in Washington, D.C. When a journalist visited his sixth-grade class, another boy in the class said he wanted to learn about being a good father, and the journalist volunteered to bring some married couples in to talk. But the boy said he wasn’t interested in learning about marriage and his friend interjected, “Marriage is for white people.” Banks said he adapted the quote for his title “because it confronted directly the sort of unpleasant reality that adults often seek to avoid. “I transformed his statement into a question to match the sense of exploration and curiosity that pervades the book. I hope for the book to open a conversation, not to end one,” he wrote. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly. com.
VOTED BEST AUTO REPAIR 2011 Did you know that your new car’s maintenance schedule can be fulfilled here at Dean’s Automotive as well as the dealership? (Read about it in your owner’s manual!) More importantly, personal, one-on-one attention is our speciality, including free shuttle service. SERVICE EXCELLENCE WITH A PERSONAL TOUCH
“
I am just so happy to find such a honest auto repair shop so close to home. They explain everything .... anyone can understand what was done with your car. I felt so comfortable with how I was treated, I would recommend Dean’s to all my friends. C. J., Los Altos
”
s ASE-certified technicians committed to on-going training programs s The latest shop equipment and software
2011 2010 RUNNER-UP
s ! 2 year/24,000 mile warranty on parts and labor
2009
We’re here to help.
To schedule your appointment, please call us today at 650-961-0302
2037 Old Middlefield Way Mountain View, CA 94043
Open Monday-Friday 8am-5:30pm
Visit us at: www.deansautomotive.com Page 16ÊUÊ >ÞÊ£n]ÊÓä£ÓÊUÊ*> Ê Ì Ê7ii ÞÊUÊÜÜÜ°*> Ì " i°V
Find us on Facebook
650-961-0302
Support Palo Alto Weekly’s coverage of our community. Memberships begin at only 17¢ per day Join today: SupportLocalJournalism.org/PaloAlto