Shirley A. Hill is a professor of sociology at the University of Kansas, where she studies family diversity, social inequality, and health care. She is the author of "Race, Work, and Family: New Century Values Among African American Men and Women "(co-edited with Marlese Durr; Rowman & Littlefield, (c)2006); "Black Intimacies: A Gender Perspective on Families and Relationships "(AltaMira, (c)2005); "African American Children: Their Socialization and Development in Families "(SAGE, (c)1999); and other books and articles. Her current research focuses on racial disparities in educational attainme...