African American Community in Durham, North Carolina

1900年，在北卡罗来纳州的达勒姆，非裔美国人形成了与白人截然不同的家庭模式。这一点从这座城市的1261个非裔美国人家庭和308个白人家庭的比较中可见一斑。非裔美国人家庭不仅比白人家庭更多地由女性当家，而且更大比例的非裔美国人家庭包括叔叔、阿姨、侄女、侄子和堂兄弟姐妹等相对较远的成员。一些非裔美国人甚至在他们的家庭中收养了没有血缘关系的婴儿。这些特点要么是他们来自周围农村社区的移徙模式的结果，要么是他们在国内工作条件下普遍存在的通常是临时就业做法的结果。他们就业和生活条件的临时性促进了各种社区网络的发展，这补充了该市非裔美国人家庭的脆弱性。

African Americans formed family patterns quite distinct from whites in Durham, North Carolina in 1900. This is evident from comparing 1,261 African American and 308 white families in this city. Not only were African American families more often female-headed than white familes, but a greater proportion of African American families included such relatively distant members as uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews and cousins. Some African Americans even adopted unrelated infants in their families. These characteristics were either the results of their migration patterns from surrounding rural communities or of their usually temporary employment practices prevalent in domestic working conditions. The temporary nature of their employment and living conditions fostered development of various community networks which supplemented fragility of the African American family in this city.