Bringing the Marginalized into Conversations about American Raciality - Erin Kane - Keely Gaeta - Emily Norris

“THE COLDWAR ORIGINS OF THE MODEL MINORITY MYTH” ROBERT LEE

DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN’S REPORT

THE MOYNIHAN REPORT WAS RELEASED IN 1965 AND TITLED “THE NEGRO FAMILY: THE CASE FOR NATIONAL ACTION”. AT THE TIME, THE NUCLEAR FAMILY BECAME THE PRIMARY UNIT OF ECONOMIC CONSUMPTION AND WAS USED AS AN AMERICAN IDEAL TO COMBAT COMMUNISM. MOYNIHAN USED THIS AMERICAN IDEAL WITH THE FAMILY STRUCTURE AS HIS LOGIC TO BLAME BLACK POVERTY IN AMERICA ON THE DYSFUNCTIONALITY OF THE BLACK FAMILY. BLACK FAMILIES WERE OFTEN MATRIARCHAL AND DIFFERED FROM THE PATRIARCHAL STRUCTURE THAT WAS THE ‘NORM’ IN THE UNITED STATES. THIS METHODOLOGY CONFLATED BLACKNESS WITH COMMUNISM IN THE TIME OF THE COLDWAR BY JUXTAPOSING THE BLACK FAMILY STRUCTURE WITH THE NORMATIVE FAMILY STRUCTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. THE MOYNIHAN REPORT WAS NOT WELL RECEIVED WHEN IT WAS PUBLISHED AND RECEIVED BACKLASH FROM BLACK AND CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS CLAIMING THAT IT HELD CULTURAL BIAS AND RACISM IN ITS REASONING AND CONCLUSIONS. THIS REPORT HAS BEEN SAID TO THREATEN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND EFFORTS ANDWAS DANGEROUS TO THE PROGRESS OF BLACK AMERICANS. NOT ONLY IS THERE BACKLASH FROM THE BLACK COMMUNITY, BUT THERE IS ALSO A NEGATIVE SENTIMENT TOWARDS THIS REPORT AS IT RELATES TO FEMINISM. THIS REPORT PAINTS A MATRIARCHAL STRUCTURE AS ONE THAT CONTRIBUTES TO POVERTY AND NEGATIVE RESULTS. OVERALL, THIS REPORT WAS HARMFUL TO VARIOUS COMMUNITIES AND LINKED THE BLACK AMERICAN POPULATION TO COMMUNISM DURING THE COLDWAR.

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