Nick Cannon, Umar Johnson Blame Women For 'Creating' Polygamy: US 'Suffers From A Shortage Of Black Males'
Dr. Umar Johnson and Nick Cannon have sparked a debate online over their discussion about women's role in the creation of polygamy.
During a recent episode of Cannon's "Counsel Culture" podcast, Johnson said he believes that women -- specifically Black women -- "created polygyny," a form of polygamy where one man is married to several women.
"It was the women who said that men are going to have more than one wife," the school psychologist and motivational speaker insisted, as seen in the full clip of the discussion shared by The Neighborhood Talk.
But rather than self-gratification, Johnson suggested that this lifestyle was meant to maintain the stability of the community in the face of a shortage of men, whose life expectancy is lower than women's on average.
"Polygyny is not about personal preference; it's about making sure all the children got a dad and all the women got a husband," the Pan-Africanist claimed.
Cannon chimed in to say, "It's also the idea of tribalism, where if there's a successful man in the tribe, he wants to be able to take care of as many people in his community as possible."
Johnson went on to claim that polygyny is common within Black America, which he said "suffers from a shortage of Black males" due to either death or incarceration.
He alleged that Black women, regardless of their religious beliefs, "will share a married man" if they are unable to find a partner.
"One of the contradictions that Black women have to deal with, who claim that they are not for polygyny -- if you are not for polygyny, why is it we can often find single Black women being the mistress to a married Black man? If you are against plural marriage, how did you manage to end up as his mistress, and he's married?" Johnson told Cannon.
According to Johnson, this allegedly showed that many Black women are not against polygyny but rather the thought of people finding out they are a "co-wife."
The controversial figure also claimed that his studies have shown so far that no society in the world is truly monogamous, though he acknowledged that more research is needed to support this claim.
The comments divided social media users. Some slammed Johnson and Cannon for blaming women for the existence of plural marriage and accused them of trying to justify men cheating on their wives.
"Can we go one day without being blamed for something[?]" one Instagram user commented.
Another wrote, "Please!! I am from Nigeria and my father married 4 women and none of them wanted him to marry the next one. Polygamy is all men!!!"
"Stop letting them convince you it's OK for men to cheat," a third user opined.
But others thought Johnson made some good points.
"He spoke facts. I don't agree with the lifestyle, but this was deep nonetheless," one user claimed.
"This makes sense," another commented. "Of course, y'all wouldn't understand. The community comes first!! And like he said, this isn't about personal preference or getting sex. It's about every woman and child being accounted for."
According to a 2010 report by The Independent, it is unclear where polygamy originated from, but it is "most common" in places such as Africa, "where pre-colonial economic activity centered around subsistence farming which requires lots of manpower."
The report noted that polygyny helped boost the population in the event of war, while polyandry limited its growth when there were not enough resources.
Do you agree with Johnson's comments? Share your thoughts below.
