The Black History Month Vanguard

Naturally most would think of the womb as a place of peace, creation, and the epicenter of the miracle of life. While I’m sure that some of us have been in life-threatening positions during our lifetime whether it be the obvious like a car accident or surgery, or something with a more discreet possibility of danger, such as jet skiing or an extreme sport. Under normal circumstances most wouldn’t imagine their lives being threatened between conception and birth. So why would a company place a billboard in New York City stating that “The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb”? Why would someone want to provoke such controversy by implying and blatantly stating that black women are committing genocide through abortion?

By means of an organization coined “Life Always”, Reverend Stephen Broden, an African-American man, proceeded to place billboards containing those words and a picture of a little black girl in SoHo right around Black History Month last year. He wanted to show how our future is progressing through this cherished month, yet, “is in jeopardy as a genocidal plot is carried out through abortion,” he stated. In his opinion, abortion is a wiping out of the black race, but to imply that black mothers are cold-blooded killers is absurd.

There are many different reasons why young women choose to terminate a pregnancy, all are personal and unique. What another person does to and with their body is not for someone else to judge but, just as with outward appearance, judgment will be cast regardless.

Insensitivity about abortion can range from the father of the child treating the mother as if the baby is her “problem” to the media trying to control the female body. Thisisabortion.com, the website run by Life Always, has a banner stating as a woman who has terminated her pregnancy, you will “spend your nights crying like a baby, with no baby to comfort you.” To further the argument, statistics show that 30% of abortions are by African-American women. You can either that as 70% of every other race completes the spectrum, or the fact that one in four sexually active Black women you know may have had an abortion. Regardless of the statistics and the alarming rate at which all races choose to endure this life-changing process, it is important for us to examine the potential reasons for so many abortions in the black community.

First, we must remember that embryos, fetuses, babies, do not get here by the means of just one person.

“It takes two to tango”. Except for the case of rape, which definitely is a factor in some abortions, both parties willingly engage in intercourse, unprotected, to conceive the child. Secondly, it is important to examine the dynamic between black men and women and to take note of how casual relationships and sex have become over the past generations. Thirdly, there are other relationships like parent-child relations in which sex and the need for birth control or condoms may not be spoken about candidly. Lastly, and most unfortunately there are people almost validate this “dangerous womb” stereotype. There are ladies out there who have had multiple abortions, disregarding their womb as a precious space and their body as a temple. Some find abortions as a form of contraception and are in and out of Planned Parenthood to the point where if they choose to bear children later, the damage to their uterus may not allow them to do so.

With all of these factors accounted for and with our own experiences and that of loved ones and friends, we can better perceive why some women do make the decision to abort. Yet, if we want statistics to change we must change how we think about sex and conception in our culture. More often than not it seems sex is just something to do. People may have become more emotionally guarded through various experiences and past hurts or just feel that they have too much schoolwork, outside work, etcetera to be bothered with a monogamous, committed, serious relationship. For whatever reason it may be, friendship and love no longer seem to be prerequisites to sex.