Crystal Contreras

We are going to examine two articles that pertain to sexuality. The first article, "Race, Religion and Opposition to Same-sex Marriage," by Darren E. Sherkat goes in depth on examining the opposition gap for same-sex marriages between Whites and African Americans. On the other hand, "Children having Children," by Jessica Fields examines the sexuality education relationship amongst Whites and African Americans. We are going to examine the methods and findings of each article furthermore.

We are going to take a look at the methods and findings of the first article mentioned above. In this article, the data being analyzed was taken from the 1988, and 2004-2008 General Social Survey (GSS), which were the years that the GSS asked questions pertaining to same-sex marriage (Sherkat). This method of collecting data is reliable because this is the only survey that asks questions pertaining to same-sex marriages that is nationally representative (Sherkat). Independent factors such as religion and political beliefs were analyzed as the which would affect the dependent carriable, which is opposing same-sex marriages. The results of this research indicate that African Americans oppose same-sex marriages more than Whites because of their religious beliefs (Sherkat). This is so because both White Americans and African Americans belong to different religions that preach different things. African Americans affiliate with Baptist of other Sectarian groups oppose to White Americans who mainly are conservative Protestants. The racial Gap between Whites and African Americans is a product of shifting opinion (Sherkat). This is so because African Americans with a strong conservative Christian background are attending church more often therefore, are prone to oppose same-sex marriages in comparison to Whites. The findings of the article also indicate that Whites do also oppose same-sex marriages but not as much as African Americans who attend church.

Now we are going to examine "Children having Children". The methods that Fields used to collect her data was by participant observation. Fields attended school board meetings from July 1996 to September 1997. She also held qualitative interviews that lasted anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours and they were conducted in a variety of places (Fields). This study conducted showed that African Americans are more concerned about the content being taught to their children through sexual education in school oppose to White Americans (Fields). There is a debate on the two approaches towards teaching children abstinence through sexual education. Abstinence only sexual education promotes abstinence only. In other words, school programs are teaching children to not have sex but are also not teaching them the proper way to practice safe sex. On the other hand, abstinence-plus does teach children how to practice safe sex and the consequences of unprotected sex. This was an approach to help at risk teens and it gives them a chance to thrive (Fields). These children are considered at risk because of the inequalities that they face and are considered to have a higher chance of having sex (Fields). Just that the findings concluded that African Americans practice safe sex when it comes down to the act of it. Oppose to Whites where they are taught to not have sex at all instead of being educated on how to practice safe sex.

In conclusion both articles examine sexuality and the behaviors are compared between Whites and African Americans. The first article told us that Africans who attend church are more opposing to same-sex marriages than Whites. The second article told us that African American children practice safe sex because they are taught about the consequences of unprotected sex opposed to Whites. Both articles looked at the gap between both racial groups.