"Don't you care about the well-being of your race?": African American couples discuss racial differences involving criticisms of other Black people.

African American couples have unique racial stress and high relationship instability, although few studies have examined the role of racial stressors in their relationships. This qualitative study used grounded theory to examine 10 African American couples' disagreements about criticisms of other Black people. Each couple completed a standard couple problem-solving task modified to focus solely on racial differences between the partners. Two models of couple relationships framed the approach; the general vulnerability-stress-adaptation model (Karney & Bradbury, Psychol. Bull., 118, 1995, 3) was combined with a comprehensive race-focused model (Bryant et al., J. Fam. Theory Rev., 2, 2010, 157). The goal was to understand racial stress faced by African Americans, including its context, how and why it is stressful, how they cope, and its consequences in their relationship. A tentative model emerged, suggesting that some African Americans have early race-related experiences that make them vulnerable to concerns about how Black people are seen by others. This may result in a unique minority status stressor that appears indicative of internalized stereotypes and may often include gendered criticisms of their partners. Partners seem to adapt by looking to other African Americans to take personal responsibility for their behavior and defending their racial group. Black male-female gender role issues appear to emerge as a consequence of racial stress that also seems salient across all aspects of the model. Future studies can further examine culturally specific models involving African Americans' criticisms of other Black people and identify successful couple-level strategies to overcome internalized oppression.