Statistics Show Newton and Cannon “Not Like Us”
Former NFL player Cam Newton and celebrity Nick Cannon are both rich, high-profile public figures. They have fathered 20 children between the two of them, with Newton stating he wants more children. The average Blackman in U.S. has 2.5 kids.
Social media has been buzzing the last two days about former NFL quarterback Cam Newton’s comments on having a family. Newton currently has eight children by three different women and claimed he wants more children. He also wants to get married. Too many social media users reposted the Newton interview with Dr Cheyenne Bryant, a psychologist and life-coach, along with wild assertions being made about Blackmen. Most comments coming from Blackwomen or people claiming to be nonbinary.
However, Newton’s exaggerated lifestyle is not indicative of the average Blackman in the United States, nor is his philosophy towards marriage and children. In fact, it is not even close and the statistics prove it.
Beginning with a financial picture, Newton has a net worth of $75 million, according to a May 2024 article on celebritynetworth.com. Most of that comes from his 11-year pro football career. But he also had lucrative endorsement deals with Beats by Dre, EA Sports, Under Armor, Downy, Gatorade and a few other major bands. Newton has also invested wisely, with the most notable as him being a major stakeholder in the Ultimate Fighting Championships franchise, ironically with another former NFL quarterback, Tom Brady.
The average salary for a Blackman in the United States in Newton’s age group is about $41,000, according to the Social Security Administration and the Pew Research Group. As far as investments, the median value of total stock holdings for Black families in 2022 was $16,400, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. The mean (average) value of total stock holdings was $80,400 for Black families. The average net worth for African Americans is $95,261 and the median net worth for African Americans is just $11,030, according to Urban Institute, which uses data and evidence to advance upward mobility of American families. That means it would be impossible for the average Blackman to afford eight children like Newton, even if he wanted them.
When you factor in the three different women who have mothered Newton’s children, none of whom he married, it makes the idea even more far-fetched that this is something the average Blackman even wants to do. By the time you pay the court-mandated child support for eight kids, you probably wouldn’t be able to survive on your own or your quality of life would be so bad, you would be stuck in poverty.
The statistics also show that the average Blackman in the U.S. has 2.5 children and is more likely to be involved in their childrens lives than men of other races, according to United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This means Newton is already at four times more than the average Blackman is at procreation. Nick Cannon, another rich Blackman like Newton, has a dozen kids by six different women. Neither Cannon nor Newton are average Blackmen in this essence, yet the comments on social media falsely claiming that most Blackmen have their mentality is utterly ridiculous. Trying to explain this simple premise on social media, where facts are treated like kryptonite, is like trying to teach a preschooler quantum physics.
I get that there a lot of single Black women out there who are seeking a partner. But too often when their efforts have not proved successful, they start promoting radical ideas combined with illogical reasons for why they have not found success. The lumping of Blackmen into a category like Newton and Cannon seems to be the in-thing on social media in 2024.
However, holding the women accountable for having children with men like Newton and Cannon is never discussed. It is too easier to blame the high-profile men than it is to ask serious questions of the average women who are willing to risk their bodies to be the mother of a child of a rich celebrity. It is not like they don’t know the history of Newton or Cannon. Their decisions have consequences too, and they should be the subject of the same public scrutiny that Blackmen face on social media and the media as a whole.
There shouldn’t be a woman alive who wants to be the bride of Newton or Cannon. Yet we know, there will be a long line of potential suitors seeking their chance to be in their company for spurious reasons. Their names should be published too.