In his "Address before the National Press Club," on July 19, 1962, Martin Luther King, Jr. lamented that the most segregated hour in the United States is 11:00 A.M. on Sunday morning, and this is still probable true today. (1) However, in retrospect, integration has not served the purpose for which it was intended. This means the reasons for this kind of segregation today are primarily self-imposed, based more on ethnic and cultural solidarity, and they yield psychological benefits. This paper considers the benefits of black church membership on black parenting. To gain a better understanding of the contemporary black American family, it is first necessary to understand at least a couple of things in relation to the history of the white American family. According to Mary Frances Berry and John W. Blassingame, in the 19th century the nature of the white American family was based more on myth than reality. This situation has made charting the black family difficult to do as well. (2)
