A Research Brief Prepared for the University of Texas at Austin Population Research Center Research Brief Series Fatima Varner, Yang Hou, Tajma Hodzic, Noelle M. Hurd, Sheretta T. Butler-Barnes, and Stephanie J. Rowley Introduction Declines in academic engagement and psychological well-being, which are common for many adolescents, may be exacerbated among some African American […]
Topics of Expertise: African American Families / ChildrenAfrican American Families
Black Deaths Matter: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Racial Disparities in Relationship Loss and Health

A Research Brief Prepared for the University of Texas at Austin Population Research Center Research Brief Series Debra Umberson Introduction Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to experience the premature death of mothers, fathers, siblings, children, and other relatives and friends. These disparities begin in childhood and are repeated throughout life in […]
Topics of Expertise: African American Families / Aging / Health & Illness / Loss & Resiliency within Families / Trauma and DisasterCCF ADVISORY: Debra Umberson reports on African-Americans’ much greater exposure to the early death of close family members

AUSTIN, Texas — Black Americans are more likely than whites to experience the loss of a parent during childhood and to be exposed to multiple close family member deaths by mid-life, according to a study at the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin. These losses are likely to be damaging to […]
Topics of Expertise: African American FamiliesKristal Brent Zook, One of CCF’s Newest Board Members, Has a New Article in the Washington Post

In Why the ‘ethnic’ aisle is merging with the ‘beauty’ one Kristal Brent Zook explains the significance behind the maintstreaming of the black hair care industry.
Topics of Expertise: African American Families / Race, Ethnicity & CultureCCF Civil Rights Symposium: Racial-Ethnic Realities since the Civil Rights Act

Overview: Changing Racial-Ethnic Realities since the Civil Rights Act Remarks by: Stephanie Coontz Today the Council on Contemporary Families releases the second set of papers in a three part symposium marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. Yesterday researchers described the rearrangement of America’s religious landscape over the past half century. Today’s four […]
Topics of Expertise: African American Families / Economic Inequality / Immigrant, Mixed Status & Transnational Families / Latino Families / Race, Ethnicity & CultureCCF Civil Rights Symposium: Are African Americans Living the Dream 50 Years After Passage of the Civil Rights Act?

By Velma McBride Murry and Na Liu Vanderbilt University In 1963, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington, the momentous demonstration that helped spur passage of the Civil Rights Act the following year. He described African Americans as living “on a lonely island […]
Topics of Expertise: African American Families / Economic Inequality / Race, Ethnicity & CultureCCF Civil Rights Symposium: Changes in America’s Racial and Ethnic Composition Since 1964

By Raha Forooz Sabet University of Miami When the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, racial differences in the United States were almost literally black and white. In the early 1960s, 85 percent of the population was white and 11 percent was black. Less than four percent of the population was Latino and less […]
Topics of Expertise: African American Families / Asian & Asian American Families / Immigrant, Mixed Status & Transnational Families / Latino Families / Race, Ethnicity & CultureThe Unfeminine Mystique – Stereotypes about African-American Women
The gendered mystique that still poses barriers to African-American women in their personal and public lives is perhaps best described as an “unfeminine mystique” – the idea that they have characteristics and embrace lifestyles that are outside the boundaries of “real” womanhood. This “unfeminine mystique” has plagued African-American women for more than 200 years.
Topics of Expertise: African American Families / Gender & Sexuality / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family Life / Race, Ethnicity & CultureCCF Gender Revolution Symposium: Divergent Revolutions for Blacks, Latinos, and Whites

By Janelle Jones Labor Market Researcher, Center for Economic and Policy Research Phone: 202-293-5380 Email: jones@cepr.net As Cotter, Hermsen, and Vanneman argue, the extent of the gender revolution has been exaggerated. In the years between the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963 and 2010, the pay gap has closed at less than half-a-cent […]
Topics of Expertise: African American Families / Latino Families / Race, Ethnicity & CultureEXPERTS
Assistant Professor of Education, University of Pittsburgh Center for Urban Education
Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University Medical School; Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology, Boston Medical Center; American Family Therapy Academy; Boston Center for Culturally Affirming Practices