The fixation with KeKe Palmer’s pregnancy is none of our business

Multi-talented Keke Palmer announced she was expecting her first child while hosting Saturday Night Live for the first time. We 90s babies who grew up watching her on TV and in films feel especially joyful in this moment.
Palmer is dating Sarunas Jackson’s brother, Darius. The two have been notoriously low-key about their romance since they started seeing each other last summer, other than a few now-deleted Instagram posts here and there.
The majority of the public’s response to Palmer’s announcement has been positive and it’s been great to see her enjoying the post-announcement attention. However, if you spend enough time on social media, you’ll eventually find that any good or wholesome news is usually followed by negativity. In this case, the trolls made Palmer’s marital status their target.
The couple received a range of backhanded compliments on Facebook and Twitter about how the news would have been “even better” if they were married, to outright condemnations of their choices, with some even calling them single parents.
Even Black people are constantly policing Black women’s bodies and lives by fixating on whether or not Palmer is married. “One Twitter user wrote that [Palmer’s choice] affects the community because a lot of the decline in society can be traced to kids not being raised in 2 parent households.” This comment not only assumes that Palmer and Jackson won’t stay together, but it is also demonstrably untrue. More than anything, what Black children need to thrive is access to resources, not just more physical bodies at the house where they live.
All the negativity about the arrangement of unwed parents has been focused solely on Palmer’s direction. An unmarried Black couple announcing a baby is never met with suggestions of a pandemic of “baby fathers.” There’s always a slew of self-styled online child psychologists waiting to tell us everything that can go wrong when a Black woman gets pregnant out of wedlock, even though it’s not their place. If there’s any doubt in your mind about this bias, I urge you to look at how concerned everyone is about the welfare of Palmer’s unborn child, while Nick Cannon’s fathering has become a social media punchline.
Are there higher rates of Black mothers who are actually single compared to other demographics? If so, can we have a conversation about it? Of course. Many Black relationships are doomed to fail (or never even start) thanks to the compounding effects of mass incarceration, the wealth gap, and the yet unshakeable legacy of family separation during slavery, creating a stereotype that Black families don’t stay together.

Most people have responded positively to Palmer’s announcement, and it’s been lovely to see her enjoying the post-announcement period. You’ll find that any good or wholesome news on social media is usually swiftly followed by negativity. This time, the trolls made Palmer’s marital status their target.
Backhanded compliments about how the news would have been “even better” if the couple was married have been left on Facebook and Twitter, with some people even calling Palmer a single mother and outright condemning her choices.

The bizarre fixation with whether or not Palmer is married is yet another way that Black women’s bodies and lives are constantly policed, even by other Black people. One Twitter user wrote that Palmer’s choice affects the community because a lot of the decline in society can be traced to kids not being raised in 2 parent households. This comment not only assumes that Palmer and Jackson won’t stay together, but it is also demonstrably untrue. More than anything, Black children need access to resources to thrive, not just more physical bodies at the house where they live.
Unwed parents are not a scourge on the Black family, the negativity about their arrangement has been focused solely on Palmer’s direction. When an unmarried Black couple announces a baby, no one ever suggests a pandemic of “baby fathers.” There’s always a slew of self-styled online child psychologists who are quick to tell us everything that can go wrong when a Black woman gets pregnant out of wedlock. If you have any doubts about this bias. I urge you to look at how concerned everyone is about the welfare of Palmer’s unborn child, while Nick Cannon’s reckless and unrelenting fathering has become a social media punchline.

The fake “concern” that people have for women like Palmer who choose to do life on their terms is not only misogynistic, it is also anti-Black. White women who conceive with non-married partners are never told that they’ll end up single, and they’re also not pejoratively called “baby moms” if their relationships do end. The world talks very differently about Kylie Jenner and Blac Chyna, two single mothers who are in the same extended family. Meanwhile, unmarried Black mothers who have good relationships with the fathers of their children are looked at with scorn.