Why Can't a Successful Black Woman Find a Man?

April 15, 2010 — -- When it comes to successful black women and marriage, it appears there's still plenty of room for debate.

Strong opinions and good humor filled the air in Decatur, Ga., last week in the seventh installment of the "Nightline: Face-Off" series. An overflow crowd of 1,000 people piled into the Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center to watch an all-star panel take on the question: Why can't a successful black woman find a man?

Viewers can watch the whole debate on "Nightline" Wednesday, April 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET

In the United States, black college-educated women outnumber black college-educated men 2 to 1. Considering all the factors that could lend to this disproportion, it's not surprising that people wonder why many successful black women cannot find a man.

Sherri Shepherd, Emmy award-winning co-host of ABC's "The View," and Jacque Reid, star of VH1's "Let's Talk About Pep," debated Hill Harper, "CSI" star and author of "The Conversation," and Jimi Izrael, author of "The Denzel Principle." Radio talk show host Steve Harvey and "Nightline"'s Vicki Mabrey co-moderated the debate.

After Mabrey kicked off the debate, Izrael and Shepherd jumped right in.

"Your standards have to be reasonable," Izrael said. "And very often some of these women that are looking for men, you know, what they don't understand is sometimes you have to be the person that you're looking for. ... And then you're sad because you can't find a perfect man. Well, you're not a perfect woman."

Shepherd disagreed.

"I don't think that our standards are too high," she said. "And I absolutely agree with you. We're looking for, you know, we should be looking for what we are. For me, I'm going, 'Gosh, a man that loves God. A man that loves his family. A man that gets along with his ... the first woman in his life, his mother. A man that ... that can support me as I will support him. ... Is that too picky?"

Viewers can watch the whole debate on "Nightline" Wednesday, April 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET

The "Nightline: Face-Off" is a series launched two years ago in which hot topics are debated among prominent voices in their field.