Is Marriage For White People? With Ralph Richard Banks

Though it was once the norm to get hitched right out of high school, marriage has declined throughout American society. This development is the most pronounced among African Americans, and black women are more than three times as likely as white women never to marry. When black women do marry, they are more likely than any other group to wed a man who is less educated or earns less money than they do.

In his book “Is Marriage For White People? How The African American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone,” Ralph Richard Banks explores this trend through a series of interviews with men and women. He also attempts to answer the question of why so few black women tie the knot with someone of a different race.

Banks spoke at the Northwest African American Museum on March 13, 2012.