Ralph Richard Banks, a Stanford Law Professor, examines race and marriage in his latest book "Is Marriage for White People?: How the African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone."
He notes that more than two out of every three African American Women are unmarried. Nearly twice the number of African American women than men graduate from college and 70% of African American children are born to un-wed parents.
Mr. Banks takes a controversial stance by suggesting that African American women should seek marriage outside of their race.
In the video above he presents data regarding race and marriage filtered through his lens of restitution. He believes that many African American women are unable to find suitable spouses and instead of valuing education and class over race, they would rather seek an African American husband in a lower tier than an interracial relationship.
Thinking about his stance via a supply and demand framework results in African American women having more opportunities for relationships with a decrease in demand for African American men. African American women will find that they have more power within relationships once the demand is lessened on African American men.
Some might argue that we should work towards changing some of the societal injustices that have resulted in fewer available African American men. Perhaps African American women should expand their search radius beyond America's borders? You might even argue that blame should not be placed on racially minded African American women but with prevailing standards of beauty and race that present African American women as less beautiful and desirous than other women.
Whatever your stance is on the issue, it's clear, as Mr. Banks points out, that marriage is on the decline for everyone in America and that children are the ones who lose out in the end.