According to an online article by Anneli Rufus, an American marriage is forty to fifty percent likely to end in divorce due to not one, but several different variables. Upon researching authors Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian in their article, “The Color of Family Ties”, Gerstel and Sarkisian state, “Commentators often emphasize the disorganization and dysfunction of Black and Latino/a family life. They suggest that if we could “fix” family values in minority communities and get them to form married-couple households, all their problems would be solved” (51). This problem would easily be solved if policymakers recognized family support as more than just economic disadvantages outside of marriage. Authors Gary Soto, Roger Jack, and Melvin Dixon create a narrative on the …show more content…
In their articles “Looking for Work”, “An Indian Story”, and “Aunt Ida Pieces a Quilt”, respectively, we can see nontraditional, dysfunctional, blended, and supportive types of families. With repeated false accusations and claims from political commentators stating that traditional nuclear families are the only ones capable of supportive relationships and strong family connections, we find evidence that proves the contrary.
Gerstel and Sarkisian share with us in their article “The Color of Family Ties” that politicians and social commentators typically focus on married couples and their children, while avoiding confronting facts such as social and cultural change. Political correctness is shown all too often in a demographic some fall for, with talks of statistics and comparisons, and Gerstel and Sarkisian state, “We often hear that Black and Latino/a, especially Puerto Rican, families are more disorganized than White families, and that their family ties are weaker, because rates of non-marriage and single parenthood are higher among these minority groups” (45). They claim the focus should be on providing support to an existing family arrangement by improving economic conditions for