“More than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock.”
Don Lemon during commentary July 27 on CNN
In the middle of a national conversation about race following the George Zimmerman acquittal, CNN anchor Don Lemon gave an on-air commentary that went viral on social media. The focus of the commentary was a five-point list of recommendations. “Black people,” Lemon said, “if you really want to fix the problem, here’s just five things that you should think about doing.”
The No. 1 item on that list — “and probably the most important,” he said — had to do with out-of-wedlock births.
“Just because you can have a baby, it doesn’t mean you should,” Lemon said. “Especially without planning for one or getting married first. More than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock. That means absent fathers. And the studies show that lack of a male role model is an express train right to prison and the cycle continues.”
Lemon’s commentary inspired a firestorm of criticism on social media — the website Mediaite published a sampling — and bloggers took aim at his conclusions.
“If Lemon really wanted to help the black community, he could start by adopting a deeper understanding of the history, sociology and psychology of his own people,” Washington Post blogger Rahiel Tesfamariam wrote. “Offering made-for-TV analysis about deeply complex social issues in the manner in which he did is irresponsible and lacks intellectual rigor.”
We can’t check Lemon’s opinions, but we did want to take a look at the one verifiable fact he offered. Is it correct that “more than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock”?
We turned to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which publishes a report every year that includes a wealth of data about births in America. The most recent report, published in August 2012, is based on data from 2010.
The report broke down statistics by ethnic groups. Here’s a summary:
Percent of births considered “non-marital” by racial or ethnic group
Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders
17 percent
Non-Hispanic whites
29 percent
Hispanics
53 percent
American Indian and Native Alaskans
66 percent
Non-Hispanic blacks
73 percent
So Lemon is correct that “more than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock.” To make sure we weren’t missing something, we asked two population experts — Tom W. Smith, a senior fellow at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, and Douglas Massey, a professor at Princeton University’s Office of Population Research — and they agreed that the statistic is the best available.
Lemon did overreach somewhat when he went on to say that the 72 percent “out of wedlock” figure “means absent fathers.” The 72 percent figure refers to children who are born to women who are not married; it would, however, include unmarried couples in which the father is present.
That said, the rate of African-American children living in single-parent homes is almost as high as the rate for nonmarital births.
The chart below summarizes 2011 Census Bureau data compiled by Kids Count, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The group defined “children in single-parent families” as kids under 18 who live with their own single parent; it includes children living with a parent and a cohabiting adult, but it does not include children living with married stepparents.
Children in single-parent families by racial or ethnic group
Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders
17 percent
Non-Hispanic whites
25 percent
Hispanics
42 percent
American Indian and Native Alaskans
53 percent
Non-Hispanic blacks
67 percent
We should note that this data doesn’t suggest that 67 percent of African-American children have no contact with their father (or a father figure), but rather that their father does not live in the same household with them.
Our ruling
Lemon said that “more than 72 percent of children in the African-American community are born out of wedlock.” Federal data confirm that 73 percent of African-American births in 2010 were out of wedlock. Estimates for the percentage of African-American children growing up in single-parent households are slightly lower, at 67 percent. Finally, black children counted in these statistics may have contact outside the household with their biological father. But Lemon’s statistic was accurate, and we rate his statement True.
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