Raising the Race: Black Career Women Redefine Marriage, Motherhood, and Community (Families in Focus)

Popular Discussions Of Professional Women Often Dwell On The Conflicts Faced By The Woman Who Attempts To “have It All,” Raising Children While Climbing Up The Corporate Ladder. Yet For All The Articles And Books Written On This Subject, There Has Been Little Work That Focuses On The Experience Of African American Professional Women Or Asks How Their Perspectives On Work-family Balance Might Be Unique. Raising The Race Is The First Scholarly Book To Examine How Black, Married Career Women Juggle Their Relationships With Their Extended And Nuclear Families, The Expectations Of The Black Community, And Their Desires To Raise Healthy, Independent Children. Drawing From Extensive Interviews With Twenty-three Atlanta-based Professional Women Who Left Or Modified Careers As Attorneys, Physicians, Executives, And Administrators, Anthropologist Riché J. Daniel Barnes Found That Their Decisions Were Deeply Rooted In An Awareness Of Black Women’s Historical Struggles. Departing From The Possessive Individualistic Discourse Of “having It All,” The Women Profiled Here Think Beyond Their Own Situation—considering Ways Their Decisions Might Help The Entire Black Community. Giving A Voice To Women Whose Perspectives Have Been Underrepresented In Debates About Work-family Balance, Barnes’s Profiles Enable Us To Perceive These Women As Fully Fledged Individuals, Each With Her Own Concerns And Priorities. Yet Barnes Is Also Able To Locate Many Common Themes From These Black Women’s Experiences, And Uses Them To Propose Policy Initiatives That Would Improve The Work And Family Lives Of All Americans.--publisher's Website. The Role Of Black Women In Black Family Survival Strategies -- Black Professional Women, Careers, And Family Choice -- Just In Case He Acts Crazy : Strategic Mothering And The Collective Memory Of Black Marriage And Family -- Enculturating The Black Professional Class -- Black Career Women, The Black Community, And The Neo-politics Of Respectability. Riché J. Daniel Barnes. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 207-225) And Index.

Winner of the 2017 Race, Gender, and Class Section Book Award from the American Sociological Association Popular discussions of professional women often dwell on the conflicts faced by the woman who attempts to “have it all, ” raising children while climbing up the corporate ladder. Yet for all the articles and books written on this subject, there has been little work that focuses on the experience of African American professional women or asks how their perspectives on work-family balance might be unique.
 
Raising the Race is the first scholarly book to examine how black, married career women juggle their relationships with their extended and nuclear families, the expectations of the black community, and their desires to raise healthy, independent children. Drawing from extensive interviews with twenty-three Atlanta-based professional women who left or modified careers as attorneys, physicians, executives, and administrators, anthropologist Riché J. Daniel Barnes found that their decisions were deeply rooted in an awareness of black women’s historical struggles. Departing from the possessive individualistic discourse of “having it all, ” the women profiled here think beyond their own situation—considering ways their decisions might help the entire black community.
 
Giving a voice to women whose perspectives have been underrepresented in debates about work-family balance, Barnes’s profiles enable us to perceive these women as fully fledged individuals, each with her own concerns and priorities. Yet Barnes is also able to locate many common themes from these black women’s experiences, and uses them to propose policy initiatives that would improve the work and family lives of all Americans.

Winner of the 2017 Race, Gender, and Class Section Book Award from the American Sociological Association Popular discussions of professional women often dwell on the conflicts faced by the woman who attempts to “have it all,” raising children while climbing up the corporate ladder. Yet for all the articles and books written on this subject, there has been little work that focuses on the experience of African American professional women or asks how their perspectives on work-family balance might be unique. __Raising the Race__ is the first scholarly book to examine how black, married career women juggle their relationships with their extended and nuclear families, the expectations of the black community, and their desires to raise healthy, independent children. Drawing from extensive interviews with twenty-three Atlanta-based professional women who left or modified careers as attorneys, physicians, executives, and administrators, anthropologist Riché J. Daniel Barnes found that their decisions were deeply rooted in an awareness of black women’s historical struggles. Departing from the possessive individualistic discourse of “having it all,” the women profiled here think beyond their own situation—considering ways their decisions might help the entire black community. Giving a voice to women whose perspectives have been underrepresented in debates about work-family balance, Barnes’s profiles enable us to perceive these women as fully fledged individuals, each with her own concerns and priorities. Yet Barnes is also able to locate many common themes from these black women’s experiences, and uses them to propose policy initiatives that would improve the work and family lives of __all__ Americans. This book examines how black, married career women juggle their relationships with their extended and nuclear families, the expectations of the black community, and their desires to raise healthy, independent children. Drawing from interviews with Atlanta-based professional women who left or modified careers as attorneys, physicians, executives, and administrators,the author found that their decisions were deeply rooted in an awareness of black women's historical struggles. Departing from the possessive individualistic discourse of "having it all," the women profiled here think beyond their own situation, considering ways their decisions might help the entire black community