The Kaiser Foundation and the Washington Post found that 74 percent of black women revealed that living a religious life was “very important,” compared to just 57 percent of white women.
Scholars have theorized that black women cling to a higher power to escape the everyday madness, or to bring comfort and understanding to a daunting situation.
Consider the often publicized black woman’s burden:
The black woman can’t find a mate, but she is also a sexual risk, more likely to anyone to contract HIV from a heterosexual man.
Financially speaking, the black woman is worth $5 in her prime. A few years ago, the Insight Center for Community Economic Development released its report, “Lifting as We Climb,” that concluded white women in the prime working years of ages 36 to 49 have a median wealth of $42,600, whereas women of color in the prime working years have the median wealth of $5.
The black woman is unattractive. Psychology Today posted, “Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive than Other Women?” written by its blogger Satoshi Kanazawa. Kanazawa’s blog recapped a study where several people were interviewed about why black women are considered “less attractive.” Kanazawa listed testosterone overload as a reason for unattractiveness, and wrote: “In each wave of this study, black women are significantly less physically attractive than women of other races.”
After an online firestorm of protest, Kanazawa was fired from Psychology Today.
For black mothers, the most tragic irony of all is this: 66 percent of the time, African American mothers are raising their children alone, (according to Kids Count, from the Annie E. Casey Foundation), and, simultaneously, homicide is the No. 1 cause of death for black kids and young adults ages 10 to 24.
