African-American married couples experience communications conflict due to the effects of racism in the form of internalized racial stereotypes, biculturalism, micro-aggressions, and differences in how Black men and Black women view racism. Conflict may ensue around normal discussions because Black couples are unaware of how racism, as a stressor and the differences in how they view racism, can adversely impact their communications.

This hypothesis is supported by Dr. Anderson J. Franklin who asserts that African-American men who experience the Invisibility Syndrome, a series of racial slights over time, have difficulty distinguishing those racial slights from other problems and tend to shut down emotionally when their judgment is questioned. This often creates problems with communications and intimacy in their marriage relationship. Franklin's discussion about how Black men respond to the Invisibility Syndrome supports Wimberley's assertion that Black men tend to subscribe to the "conflict theory of human relations" and see racism as socially determinative, while Black women embrace the narrative oral culture that provides moral and religious rules on how to handle life's challenges. The distinction between how Black men and women respond to racism is further seen in biculturalism, which Wimberly describes as living in two cultures simultaneously and making a primary commitment to one and a secondary commitment to the other. Wimberly further elaborates that "biculturalism relates to a sense of twoness (double consciousness) or behaving both African and American at the same time."¹

African-American men, in their quest to escape the Invisibility Syndrome and become respected and valued by the wider culture, seem to place primary emphasis on "making it" in the mainstream culture, while African-American women "tend to be committed to the values related to their ethnic and racial culture more than the wider culture"² These differences in how African-American men and women see racism as a stressor in marriage can have a profound impact on couple communications. For example, a Black man who attributes not being promoted on his job to racism may see his wife as unsupportive and judgmental when discussing the issue, not being aware of the gender differences in how they each view racism. This thesis addresses those differences, their impact on couple functioning, and presents a communications model that promotes mutuality in an effort to create parity and peer equality in the relationship.

¹Edward P. Wimberly, Counseling African American Marriages and Families (Westminster: John Knox Press, 1997), 27. ²Kate G. Cannon, Black Womanist Ethics (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988), 89.