The Color of Family Ties

In the Color of Families Ties, Gerstel and Sarkisian attempt to examine extended families ties between different racial groups. They debunk the common claim that families of color are more dis-organized than White families, but rather extended families have different roles in the different family lives. Extended family role is to the provide the family with something it needs. While White families are more likely to receive emotional and financial support for their extended family, Black families' extended kin tend to provide more practical support to the families, such as babysitting and running errands. Because of the income gap between races, Black families tend to have less money to give and they have both parents in the household working. These families need more people helping with smaller task in order to provide for their family.

Gerstel and Sarkisian both make it clear that neither usage is inherently better than the other, but they do challenge that cultural heritages are the reason for these differences. Contrary to the popular belief, kinship ties have less to with culture and more to do with social economical status. Research proves that people that make the between me amount of income and has the same educational background tend to use kinship relationships in the same way no matter what their race they identified. This relationship SES and was even stronger between people of low-income, because they need the utilitarian help the most.

Though Gerstel and Sarkisian makes an great argument showing the correlation between kinship relationship and social class, they make it clear that SES is not the only deciding factor. The dynamics of families are never the same across the board and some situations call for more or less kinship support. However, the article clearly states that money matters is a major issue and that is the most practical place to begin.