By Rod Williams - Sunday's Tennesseean had an article that started on the front page taking two-thirds of the page and continued for two full pages on the inside of the paper called, "Discipline Disparities." The article makes the point with text, data, and charts and illustrative pictures that Black children are suspended from school at a much higher rate than White children. The whole tone of the piece is that this is somehow unfair and something that must be corrected.
The article explains that Metro Schools spent five years trying to
close the racial gap through an initiative called Passage and other reform efforts and spent more than $2 million in the process but instead of the gap narrowing, it got worse. The program focused on training teachers on alternative forms of discipline and tightening guidelines on when administrators could suspend a child. It worked in that suspensions decreased. Last year 8,500 students received out-of-school suspensions, down from 11,000 in the 2013-14 school year. However, there was a greater decrease in the number of white students suspended than the decrease in the number of Black students suspended. The result was the gap widened rather than narrowing. In the 2013-14 school year, black students were 2.7 times more likely to
be suspended than white students but by 2018-19, they were 3.1 times more
likely.
School officials could offer no explanation as to why there was such a gap. It seems they are clueless. I am going to go out on a limb and take a wild guess that has not even occurred to the Tennesseean or Metro School officials. Here it is: Black students have more disciplinary problems than White students.
Does that seem so far fetched that it is not even discussed in a lengthy article? It is not only true of children but when it come to adults, Blacks commit more crime than White people. In 2017, blacks represented 12% of the U.S. adult population but 33% of the sentenced prison population. Whites accounted for 64% of adults but 30% of prisoners. And while Hispanics represented 16% of the adult population, they accounted for 23% of inmates (link). Do liberals think this is just a result of discrimination or do they recognized that Blacks commit more crime?
The article did not at all examine gender gap disparities, but I don't doubt anyone would be surprised if data showed that boys get suspended at a higher rate than girls. I don't think the cause for this is discrimination against boys, but I suspect girls are less of a discipline problem. Why can we not even recognize that Black children are more of a disciplinary problem than White children.
We need to recognize the fact that Black culture is dysfunctional. I am going to venture an explanation as to why. Seventy-two percent of black children are raised in single-parent households, and the national average is only 25 percent (link). Most of the single-parent households raising children are single mother-headed households. I fervently believe that 'when it comes to raising children, that's a job meant for two.' Young boys with no father in the household are more likely to display disciplinary problems. There may be a variety of reasons why the Black family has broken down, but I believe the growth of the welfare state beginning with the Great Society in the 1960's made fathers a liability rather than a asset. We often hear people say we need to have an honest conversation about race in America; we do.
The Tennessean reports that the first baby born in Nashville in 2017 was an illegitimate child named Kinston Ashby, born to Mykyla Ashby. The report does not specifically say the mother is an unwed mother and that the child is illegitimate but no mention is made of a father. From the details of the story we can assume the mother is unmarried. Since no father is mentioned and the child takes the last name of the mother we may assume the mother does not know who the father is or chose to not make the father take responsibility for his offspring. Why she is having a child as an unwed mother and who the daddy is would seem to be relevant questions, but they are not asked. "Illegitimate birth," and "unwed mother" are terms no longer used in polite society shaped by liberal values and fathers are considered superfluous.
Children born out of wedlock is the leading cause of poverty in America and breakdown of the family is the cause of crime and various other social ills, especially in the Black community. According to U.S. Census Bureau out of about 12 million single parent families in 2015, more than 80% were headed by single mothers. Today 1 in 4 children under the age of 18 — a total of about 17.4 million — are being raised without a father and nearly half (45%) live below the poverty line. In
contrast, among children living with both parents, only 13% are counted
as poor.
In 2015, out of more than 10 million low-income working families with
children, 39% were headed by single working mothers or about 4.1
million. The proportion is much higher among African Americans (65%),
compared with whites (36%). Only one third of single mothers received any child support,and the average amount these mothers received was only about $430 a month.
The strongest predictor of whether a person will end up in prison is
that he was raised by a single parent. Seventy percent of inmates in state
detention centers serving long-time sentences were raised by single
(never married) mothers.
The birth of a baby to a single mother should not be a cause for celebration but sadness and shame and regret. For source material follow this link or simply do a search engine search. The statistics and analysis of the correlation between children born to single mothers and societal ills is readily available.
Gun control advocates such as Mayor Barry have not let the opportunity to blame the downtown shooting at the MTA bus terminal on guns, saying the incident is a"tragic reminder of the plague of gun violence in our society." The gun did not fire itself'; someone had to pick it up and pull the trigger.
I think the shooting at the MTA bus terminal is a reminder of the consequences of the welfare state which produced a generation of alienated kids born to unwed mothers. This is what happens when we promote policies that destroy the family. We can each draw our own "reminder" but in any case we can agree that what happened is a tragedy.
If one thinks the problem is unwed mothers and the welfare stare or it
one thinks it is guns, there is no short-term solution to either
problem. Even if we agreed on the problem, the solution would be
long-term. We cannot however wait long-term and we cannot pretend the problem is not real. A report on the problem of youth violence in Nashville states that over the past five years, 16,955 violent incidents in Nashville involved youth.
Last year, among the country's 50 largest cities, Nashville ranked second in the highest percentage increase in homicides — from 41 in 2014 to 78 in 2015.
Of those, 55 percent of the perpetrators were 25 years old or younger, and half those killed were younger than 25.
African-American males are disproportionately involved in the crimes, both in terms of victims and those arrested.
The report refers to youth violence as an “epidemic” with a range of root causes: joblessness and poverty; poor educational opportunities; a lack of adult role models; barriers to re-entry for those who have been incarcerated; and a cycle of trauma and violence. (link)
Barry has proposed a series of steps to address the issue of youth violence. "By 2017, I want 10,000 of our youth to have an engaged opportunity that includes a paid internship," Barry has said (link). I don't know that this or any other part of her plan will make a difference, but it might and I hope it does. Maybe if a kid born in poverty to a single mother has a job they will, if only for that crucial period of their teen years, have hope and maybe they will have influences other than their peers who are urging them to deal dope and commit robberies.
I don't think government can replace the function of that most basic building block of society, the family. I don't think government can build character and instill values that the family should be doing, but in looking for short-term solutions maybe providing internship to youth will help. I think we could get more impact by rapidly expanding charter schools. Charter schools have had remarkable success in producing successful college-bound graduates where that demographic would predict school drop outs and criminals.
Maybe, also increasing policing would help and paying for youth informants would help. I don't know the solution but think a multi-prong approach which includes charter schools is what is needed. I agree we should be doing something.
One thing the mayor is doing that I think is actually counter productive is hosting a "Stand Against Racism" rally. She should not be fanning the flames of racial animosity and telling Black young people that they are victims. The mayor should cancel the "Stand Against Racism" rally and host a "Stand Against Violence" rally.
Below is more on the recent shooting at the MTA bus terminal.
It could have been my kids.
Press Release Jackson Miller- There was a shooting this afternoon at the downtown bus station.
It happened at a time when many Nashville students transfer from the MTA bus that picked them up from school... onto the MTA bus that will take them home.
I know, because 3 of my sons were there.
They're there everyday, at that time... Many kids are.
Thankfully, my sons are ok.
Public school students ride MTA for free each day thanks to a program called STRIDE. I advocated hard for this program as a member of the Education Report Card Committee. It is an important program that gives Nashville's kids an opportunity to attend the school they choose. It is critical to participation in after-school programs -- especially for kids with working parents.
I am still a strong believer in the STRIDE program, and will continue to advocate for it.
I also recognize why riding MTA is a tough option for many families.
Several parents have told me that they are uncomfortable with their kids riding MTA busses, and today we see why that is a valid concern.
As I hug my family a little tighter tonight, I can't help but think of two takeaways from today's events:
Parents weigh many costs when choosing where to send their child to school.
We need great schools in every neighborhood.
Rod, even if you did not have a child at the bus station today... if you're getting this email -- I know this story will impact you. This story is why I am running for school board.
I know we can make a difference and I know that together we can give EVERY neighborhood a great school to be proud of.
For students,
Barry Statement on Shooting at Music City Central
Metro Press Release, NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 25, 2016) – Mayor Megan
Barry has released the following statement regarding the shooting at
MTA’s Music City Central station that has resulted in four shooting
victims, one with critical injuries:
The shooting today at Music City Central is a tragic reminder of the
plague of gun violence in our society, where one person with a gun can
devastate lives and bring a city to a halt in a moment’s notice. My
heart sank when I heard that youth were the victims in this shooting,
and my hope and prayer for those victims and their families is that they
have a full and speedy recovery.
Metro Police will be assigning additional officers to the terminal
in the coming days, and as a clearer picture of the shooting today comes
into view, I will be meeting with Police and MTA officials to see what
we can do better to improve security at Music City Central and prevent
incidents like this in the future.
As Mayor, as a Nashvillian, and as a mother, I will never accept a
status quo where our children fear being victims of violence when
getting on a bus, going to school, or walking in their neighborhoods. I
remain committed to working with our entire community to implement
recommendations from the Youth Violence Summit Report and create better
outcomes for all of our children.
Metro Police will continue to update the public and media with details related to the shooting as they are made available.
Wednesday, April 27 - 10:32 PM WZTV FOX Nashville - Jade
McMath says police came armed for trouble Tuesday when they arrived at
the home two doors down from hers in north Davidson County.All of a
sudden you saw four or five cars...
No speaker participating in this summit explicitly identifies the youth violence problem as a Black problem, but the youth panel is all Black young people and Howard Gentry calls attention to the lyrics of rap music and how it encourages violence. Listening to the members of the youth panel is insightful in understanding how they justify or explain youth violence.
After meeting in small group break-out sessions, the participants come back with their evaluation of the problem and suggestions. The suggestions are for more recreational opportunities, more ways to get money or earn money, mental health care and health care, more job opportunities for youth and their parents, more involvement by young people in development of programs to serve young people, and a greater effort to connect young people to available services.
I hope these youth summits produce some good results, but I think a good starting point would be a recognition that the Black community is dysfunctional and that the youth violence problem is primarily a Black problem and that the welfare state has created a culture that destroyed the Black family and created an environment of hopelessness and dependency on government. I believe that the product of youth violence is a function of out-of-wedlock births and welfare dependency more than any other cause. Of course, changing course would require a change in national policy and a recognition that single parenthood is a cause of the problem. Even if there was a recognition of the problem it would take a decade to see changes and as a community we need to take actions that can have some immediate impacts.
Sometimes, I think we as a community make the problem worse when we create a victim mentality among Black citizens. When we imply that the reason more Black students get in-school suspension is because of discrimination rather than acknowledge that Black children engage in activity to deserve in school suspension at a higher rate, we create people who walk around with a chip on their shoulder and feel like victims. When we lament the high unemployment rate among Blacks without acknowledging the lack of skills among many Blacks that make them unemployable, we are not doing them a favor. A good place to start in dealing with the youth violence problem or other Black problems would be by telling the truth. Telling the truth will not get anyone any votes however.
Of the 75 criminal homicides last year, 20 of the victims were
teenagers or younger — the highest number of youth deaths to hit
Nashville in the past decade. Three of them were infants who died as the
result of abuse.
Of the slain teens, 15 were male. All but four were African-American. The youngest was a 14-year-old girl.
I hope community leaders, especially Black middle class people, Black businessmen, and Black clergy will take part in these summits and engage in trying to reduce youth violence. We know that charter schools have produced whole classes of students where the teen girls do not become pregnant and the boys do not go to reform school. We should try to determine why that is the case and see what lessons can be learned from the charter school experiences. Maybe if young fatherless Black men had strong mentors, they would be less likely to become killers. I hope something good can come out of these summits and the attention being giving to the problem of youth violence.
Below is an announcement of the upcoming third summit to occur in the Antioch community. Follow the link to RSVP.
From Metro.gov:
2/20/2016
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Youth Violence Summit - Reclaiming Young Adults
Details: Community leaders and experts will gather to identify barriers
that may be limiting the success of youth ages 19 to 25 who have either
experienced violence or are ex-offenders attempting to start a new path
in life. Experts will include law enforcement, mentors, educators at the
high school and post-secondary level, career development agencies,
parents and individuals in this age range who can discuss the challenges
they face.
Between 4 p.m. Thursday, July 3, and 3:30 a.m. Monday, 82 people were shot on the streets of Chicago. Fourteen of them died. McCarthy cited lower numbers- and a shorter time span from 6 p.m. Thursday to midnight Monday - during his news conference.
In eight incidents, Chicago police officers were threatened or shot at and returned fire, McCarthy said. Police wounded five people, killing two of them, in those shootings.
Who are the murderers and their victims? A 2011 Chicago police analysis found 90 percent of murder victims in the city are men, 76 percent of victims have prior arrest records, and the most common ages of killers are 17 and 18 years old.
Eighty-two in one weekend! That is more than some nations have in a whole year. The report of course does not tell us the race of the perpetrators or the victims, but I would bet it was mostly Black-on-Black crime. The report does not tell us the familial status of the victims or the perpetrators, but I would bet most are children of single mothers. Chicago has some of the most stringent gun control laws in the nation but has one of the highest murder rates. The real crime problem in America is not guns but the break down of the family and the problem of the Black underclass. As long as there are things that cannot be discussed we will not make a dent in the crime problem. Rod
The historic March on Washington of fifty years ago has been commemorated this month by a memorial march on Washington, numerous interviews with elderly civil rights leaders reminiscing, lengthy newspaper stories, and the analysis of the importance of the event by academics, pundits, and politicians in interviews, in forums and on panels.
While many expressed the opinion that there is still work to do and lamented that Blacks had not made more progress in achieving equality, many couched there arguments about the lack of Black progress in terms of "economic justice," and a failure of society to do enough. Some said, America had not lived up to the dream. It was sometimes subtle, but the thrust of the analysis was that the reason Black Americans had not made more progress is that they are still oppressed. There was a message that lack of equal outcomes is proof that society is still racist.
Since 1963, official school segregation has disappeared and discrimination in public accommodations has ended and voting rights have been guaranteed. There are no more "Whites Only" lunch counter, or Black and White water fountains or restrooms, yet in some ways Black Americans have been losing ground since 1963 despite law after law, million spend on anti-poverty programs and school busing and preferential hiring practices and school admission policies and quotas.
In 1963, Black unemployment was at 10 percent; it is now at 13 percent. Of course this is deceptive because to be counted as unemployed one has to be actively looking for work. Fewer Blacks are in the work force today than in 1963.
In 1963 while Black unemployment was 10%, White unemployment was only 5%. Today, while Black unemployment is 13%, White unemployment is only 7%. The gap has hardly changed.
Since 1963, the wealth gap between Black and Whites has actually increased.
The Black poverty rate in1963 was 48% and by 2000 had fallen to 22%, but now has climbed back to 28%.
Despite the end of official school segregation, Black school children are almost as segregated as they were in 1963. 74% attend "intensely segregated (90 to 100% non-white)" schools.
The marriage gap between Blacks and Whites have widened. More whites marry than Blacks and the gap is larger than in 1963.
52% of Black children are living in single-parent homes, compared with 20% percent of White children. This gap is larger than in 1963.
The incarceration rate of Black men is more than six times higher than that of White men, larger than the gap in 1960.
In the early 1960's 23% of Black children were born out of wedlock, now it is 73%.
There are more and more statistics that could make the point. Black children, especially Black boys, are expelled from school or get in-school suspension more often than White children. Black youth are incarcerated at a much higher rate than White children. There is a large gap between Black home ownership and White home ownership. Black on Black crime is much greater than in 1963.
I do not think these statistics indicate that America is a racist country and that Black are oppressed. It is not White people that make Black children misbehave and require more suspensions, or Black men rob and murder and require more imprisonment, or make Black women have children born out of wedlock. There are pathological, self destructive behaviors in the Black community. We can't simply stop incarcerating Blacks until the ratio of Whites to Black represents their proportion of the population. We can't mandate that Black be allowed to get home mortgages regardless of their credit worthiness. We can't require equal outcomes.
I know that there are reasons for the disparity between Blacks and Whites. Slavery and Jim Crow had an impact on the Black family and wealth creation. However, many immigrant groups have come to this country with nothing and achieved the American dream in a generation. How long can we continue to blame Black lack of progress on slavery? Why have things not improved much, and in some cases gotten worse since 1963?
In my view, greater than the legacy of slavery or Jim Crow, the cause of the current pitiful state of Blacks in America is the welfare state and anti-poverty programs. We had a war on poverty, and poverty won. When one is given just enough that one is better off not working than working, when one is clustered in communities where there are no role models of successful people, when government policy makes the male a family liability, then people are trapped in poverty. With public housing, food stamps, Tncare, and a free cell phone, working becomes too expensive. We have had the wrong incentives in place. Our government policies have created a dependent class.
What is to be done? For a short while, the experiment with welfare reform showed that people who had never worked could learn to work. We need to return to an aggressive policy of welfare reform. We need to greatly reduce the food stamp program and phase out public housing. Most of all, however, we need to promote education and marriage. Marriage and education are effective at reducing poverty.
It is racist to assume Blacks cannot learn. Our public schools have failed many children, but have especially failed Blacks. There are examples across the country where Blacks are excelling. Many of those examples are in charter schools. Soulsville Charter school in Memphis is a good example. For the last two years, every high school graduate of that school got accepted into college. These are Black children from the inter city, most being raised by single moms. Instead of heading to prison, young boys in this school are headed to college. We need this model duplicated across the nation. We need to embrace what works.
There is probably nothing that would do more to advance the Black population than to encourage marriage. Of children in single parent households, 37% are poor yet only 6% of children in two-parent household are poor. There are many more Black children in single-parent households than White children. This is not the way it has to be. The Black church should promote marriage, assistance programs than discourage intact families and reward single mothers should be changed. Instead of celebrating single mothers, we should shame them. It should not be a cause of celebration when a young single girl gets pregnant. From seat belt use, to smoking, to ecology, attitudes have changed over time. Public disapproval of behavior can change behavior. We need to change the public attitude about having children out of wedlock.
He has a lengthy criminal record. He has fathered 21 children by 14 different women. He pays no child support. The 33 -year-old is soon to become a grandfather, after his 16-year-old daughter announced she is pregnant. The state of Tennessee pays around $7,000 each month to help support Shaw’s children. He claims Hollywood is calling and he may get his own reality show.
This is disgusting. Real efforts to end poverty needs to admit that the dysfunctional Black social structure is the problem. There needs to be a recognition that the welfare state subsidizes behavior that guarantees continued poverty and crime.
By E.W. Jackson Sr., American Thinker, Oct. 5, 2009
[Excerpt] Treating poor black people as victims to be "organized" has been an abject failure. They are human beings to be educated, inspired and required to take responsibility for their own lives. The tragedy here is that Derrion was doing just that and it was working, but the malignant pathology of the ghetto spread to him on that unfortunate day and ended his promising life.
[Excerpt] ...there is a deafening silence from some of the biggest mouths in America. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Julian Bond, Louis Farrakhan and the Congressional Black Caucus see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. When Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested by a white police officer, President Barack Obama -- without any facts -- found it necessary to put in his two cents. Here in Chicago, the salient facts are abundantly clear and a heinous murder has been committed in his home town, but the president is silent. (link)
Comment: This is an excellent essay and expresses my views exactly. In addition to the tragedy of the murder of this promising young man, there is also the tragedy of code of silence within the black community that says Blacks will not "snitch" on Blacks who murder other Blacks and the tragedy of the code of silence among Black and liberal leaders who will not address the problems of the Black community unless those problems can be blamed on white racism.
Having said this however, I know that below the level of the national Black and liberal leaders there are many Black leaders and good liberals who do give of themselves to improve the life of those in the Black community. They genuinely care. I may disagree with their politics, but I never doubt their sincere concern for those they serve. They have a passion for what they do. I have known many of these people in my own community of Nashville. They tirelessly raise money, recruit clients, advocate for and provide job training programs, after school tutoring programs, money management classes and home ownership opportunities in the Black community. They operate the Boys and Girls clubs and sponsor Boy Scout Troops and little league softball teams and summer camp programs.
There are those who live in the Black Community who organize local Neighborhood Watch programs and work to improve police-community relations. They view the criminal element as the enemy not the police. They care about the problems of drug abuse and school drop-outs and crime and gangs in their neighborhood. There are many local Black ministers in my city and across America that work tireless ministering to their flock and inspiring them to be the best they can be. Unfortunately, they do not get the support they deserve and too often the recognized national leaders ignore those in the field who are working against incredible odds to change lives. I am sure that in Chicago, just like here in Nashville, there are many local Black leaders who are appalled at what they see happening in their community. It is too bad that the establishment will not support their efforts and prefers to remain silent unless it benefits their political agenda.
Don't Snitch by Mac Dre Man... I'm through fuckin' around You niggaz keep on ya gon' be duckin' some rounds I'm rushin' the mound, bitch done hit me with a pitch He a snitch and he walk with a switch He in a band that sing for the cops Him and his mans, they cleanin' up shop Undercover concert promotor Ricky Schrodertryin' to turn somebody over Put that E.T. finger up, you stooley Don't tattletale, the number one ruley You the jumpest, the boys, them people Slipped in the game, sellin' toys to people I avoid them people, don't ask me shit The only law I break is in public, grip My mouth zipped, I plead the 5th And niggaz like you get pushed off a cliff [Chorus] - X 2 (Don't ask me shit) I don't tell mayne (I don't tell) You can send me to jail mayne (Don't ask me shit) I won't tell mayne (I won't tell) Send me to jail mayne You can line 'em up and put twelve in a box and find out your boy is workin' with the cops Doin' flip-flops, the Rover rollin' over The Tootsie Roller, scared to do a quarter It's October and he can't be gone 'til November So he's givin' up the gang, every damn member Everything he remember - he's tellin' He get out of jail free, ain't no bailin' He's no felon, he's no misdemeanor He got a target melon and a E.T. finger Nigga you the cleaners tryin' to wash me Quit peepin' at my Beamer, tryin' to watch me
[Chorus] - X 2 (Don't ask me shit) I don't tell mayne (I don't tell) You can send me to jail mayne (Don't ask me shit) I won't tell mayne (I won't tell) Send me to jail mayne
Police Chief Decries 'Code of Silence' Chicago Breaking News Center, September 30, 2009 (link) On Tuesday, Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said authorities believe at least three other teens also punched or kicked the boy.
Weis called on the community to step up and tell police what they know. "Few have come forward," he told a news conference. "We must do better."
Weis decried the "code of silence" that he said was keeping police from making more arrests. Without more cooperation, he said, there will be "more violence...and unfortunately more funerals."
He also criticized teens who witnessed the beating last Thursday and did not call police. Weis said the 911 center did not get a call about Albert until after he was brought into a nearby community center.
"You got kids with cell phones but no one called," Weis said. "It's sad more people didn't call earlier."
Commentary: A good kid, a young Black man, is brutally beaten to death in front of a large group of other Black kids in daylight on a public street and the public will not cooperate with the police in solving the murder. There is an epidemic of Black on Black youth crime in this country. Here in Nashville, we have had 18 young people killed year-to-date, all but a couple of them African American. This is happening across the country and the Black community will not cooperate in solving the crimes. Instead, rap lyrics celebrate not snitching and you can get the "Don't snitch" ringtone for your cell phone and your "Stop snitching" tee shirts in the local clothing store.
Where is the Black leadership in decrying this "code of silence" and senseless murders? One Black Harvard professor gets arrested by a white cop and it dominates the news for days and the President intervenes with some Beer Diplomacy. Last year in Louisiana at Jena High School, six black students were arrested charged with attempted murder after a school fight in which a white student was severely beaten and suffered a concussion. Celebrities and Black leaders rallied around to defend the "Jena Six." To defend the Jena six was a cause worth getting involved in, yet we have unsolved murders of Black kids by other Black kids coast to coast and no one seems to care.
If a Black kid had been killed by a gang of white kids in a similar manner to the Chicago murder, you can bet we would be hearing from Hollywood celebrities and Oprah Winfrey and Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson and probably the President.
What are we to take from this? As long as Black kids are killing other Black kids is it OK? Are we to assume that the Black communities of America care more about showing solidarity against the police rather than cooperating with the police in stopping these senseless killings? Is life in the hood worth so little, that not being a snitch is a higher value than catching a killer. Will no one rise up and say enough is enough and that "Black Culture" has become the culture of the jungle and the thug and must be reformed? Will no one suggest that it is time to stop blaming the problems of the Black community on the oppression of the white man and see the self-destructive behaviour? Does anyone give a damn?
Staff Reporter, The Daily Voice, Posted September 29, 2009 8:45
A Chicago honors student was beaten to death on Thursday as two rival gangs fought outside a community center in that city.
An amateur cell phone video posted on YouTube showed a young man being struck on the head by a young man with a long wooden board, then punched by another young man. (link)
Sometimes you just want to yell, stop it, stop it! We've got to stop it! We're losing too many of our children and teenagers to senseless deaths, senseless killings, senseless shootings.
We've got to stop it! We've got to get them to put away their guns, to value life. Too many of these children and teenagers are being shot down as if they were a deer or rabbit being hunted. We've got to stop it!
Commentary:
The above video and news story is disturbing, sickening, and frightening. To talk about bad timing, this does not bode well for Chicago being picked as the site for the 2016 Olympics. The Olympic pick however is a footnote to the tragedy of this story. I have seen news coverage of this story and feel sadness for the boy’s family. Apparently the victim in this story was a good kid and a good student and was just caught in wrong place at the wrong time. The wrong place and the wrong time was a bus stop on the way to school during the day.
What has happened to America that things like this are not so uncommon? The truth is that things like this are common, not "in America" but in the Black community. It is not just in Chicago that things like this happen. In Dwight Lewis's column above he list the eighteen homicides that have occurred this year to-date in which the victim was younger than 18. Most of the victims are Black kids murdered by other Black kids. Neither Nashville, nor Chicago is unique and unfortunately this is typical for the inner cities of America.
I have spent most of my adult life working closely with African Americans and working in the inner city. As a city councilman for eleven years, one of the neighborhoods I represented was a Black community. I also chaired the Federal Grants Review Committee of the Metro Council that had legislative oversight of Community Development issues and related topics so I had insight into what was going on in the Black community. As a previous employee of the local housing authority and in my current job as a housing counselor, I serve mostly Black clients. I have worked in the housing projects trying to provide services that lift people out of poverty. I have seen some successes. I have seen some people change their attitude and change their life, but for the most part I have seen failure.
There are lots of reasons and excuses why black poverty persist, and along with the poverty, the despair, violence and lawlessness. I don’t have the answer of how to change the Black community. I have some ideas about what brought us to this point and some thoughts about what we should be doing, but I really don’t know if any of it would make much difference. In the 90’s with Welfare reform I thought we were making a major step in the right direction. A program called HOPE VI, I thought was a small step, but a step in the right direction. I thought No Child Left Behind was perhaps another modest step in the right direction. The truth is that not much has changed. The Black community seems as hopeless and crime ridden as ever.
One of the reasons I became a “disgruntled” Republican is because my party ignored the problems of the inner city, when I felt that following up on welfare reform, we had an opportunity to make a real difference. I have been ashamed of Republican indifference. The last Republican who cared about Black people and urban problems was Jack Kemp. I wanted the party to have more Jack Kemps. As unhappy as I have been about the Republican Party’s policy of indifference I thought Republican indifference was preferable to Democratic policies that would foster further dependence. I want policies that will fundamentally change the nature of Black society and lift Blacks out of poverty, not programs that simply subsidize the poverty.
I did not expect much from President Obama that would really improve the Black community. Liberalism fosters greater dependence, which is the last thing the Black community needs. But I was hopeful that President Obama’s example of hard work, responsibility, stable intact family, and success would inspire. I was hopeful he would use the bully pulpit and his prestige to motivate change in Black America.
Instead of flying off to Copenhagen to pitch Chicago for the Olympics, I wish Obama would have gone to Chicago and pitched non-violence, lawfulness and responsibility and called attention to epidemic of youth violence that is taking its toll on the Black communities of America.
The House of Representatives today formally apologized to African-Americans “on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow.” (link) The resolutions says that Africans forced into slavery "were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage" and that black Americans today continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow laws that fostered discrimination and segregation. If I were in the Congress, I would have went along with this resolution and mumbled an "aye", not that I think it does any good or really means much but it does no harm. The vote was by voice vote so no one in the Congress can be disproved it they say they voted for it or against it or say they simply didn’t vote. Congress is routinely passing resolution that commemorate this or that or recognize people for their accomplishments, or express a sentiment of the House on some topic, so one more resolution expressing the will of the House of Representatives will do no harm. What does it really mean? It is an apology to “African-Americans” “on behalf of the people of the United States.” Well, African Americans are some of the “people of the United States” so African-Americans who are the descendants of slaves are included in the apology to African Americans. How logical is that? What if you are the descendant of immigrants who were not even here during the era of slavery? What if your ancestors never owned slaves and maybe were abolitionist, or died fighting against slavery, or marched for civil rights? It doesn’t matter; Congress just apologized for slavery on your behalf. I would like to have seen the bill expanded to include an apology for other sins against African-Americans. The Congress should have apologized for the “fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery, and Jim Crow, and the welfare enslavement, dependency and destruction of the Black community caused by the Great Society and other welfare enactments.” I could have enthusiastically supported such a resolution.
Above is the video and below is the text of Senator Obama's Father's day speech delivered to the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago.
Good morning. It’s good to be home on this Father’s Day with my girls, and it’s an honor to spend some time with all of you today in the house of our Lord. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus closes by saying, “Whoever hears these words of mine, and does them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.” [Matthew 7: 24-25] Here at Apostolic, you are blessed to worship in a house that has been founded on the rock of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. But it is also built on another rock, another foundation — and that rock is Bishop Arthur Brazier. In 48 years, he has built this congregation from just a few hundred to more than 20,000 strong — a congregation that, because of his leadership, has braved the fierce winds and heavy rains of violence and poverty; joblessness and hopelessness. Because of his work and his ministry, there are more graduates and fewer gang members in the neighborhoods surrounding this church. There are more homes and fewer homeless. There is more community and less chaos because Bishop Brazier continued the march for justice that he began by Dr. King’s side all those years ago. He is the reason this house has stood tall for half a century. And on this Father’s Day, it must make him proud to know that the man now charged with keeping its foundation strong is his son and your new pastor, Reverend Byron Brazier.
Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important. And we are called to recognize and honor how critical every father is to that foundation. They are teachers and coaches. They are mentors and role models. They are examples of success and the men who constantly push us toward it.
But if we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing — missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it. You and I know how true this is in the African-American community. We know that more than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled — doubled — since we were children. We know the statistics — that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it. How many times in the last year has this city lost a child at the hands of another child? How many times have our hearts stopped in the middle of the night with the sound of a gunshot or a siren? How many teenagers have we seen hanging around on street corners when they should be sitting in a classroom? How many are sitting in prison when they should be working, or at least looking for a job? How many in this generation are we willing to lose to poverty or violence or addiction? How many? Yes, we need more cops on the street. Yes, we need fewer guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. Yes, we need more money for our schools, and more outstanding teachers in the classroom, and more after-school programs for our children. Yes, we need more jobs and more job training and more opportunity in our communities. But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child — it’s the courage to raise one. We need to help all the mothers out there who are raising these kids by themselves; the mothers who drop them off at school, go to work, pick up them up in the afternoon, work another shift, get dinner, make lunches, pay the bills, fix the house, and all the other things it takes both parents to do. So many of these women are doing a heroic job, but they need support. They need another parent. Their children need another parent. That’s what keeps their foundation strong. It’s what keeps the foundation of our country strong. I know what it means to have an absent father, although my circumstances weren’t as tough as they are for many young people today. Even though my father left us when I was 2 years old, and I only knew him from the letters he wrote and the stories that my family told, I was luckier than most. I grew up in Hawaii, and had two wonderful grandparents from Kansas who poured everything they had into helping my mother raise my sister and me — who worked with her to teach us about love and respect and the obligations we have to one another. I screwed up more often than I should’ve, but I got plenty of second chances. And even though we didn’t have a lot of money, scholarships gave me the opportunity to go to some of the best schools in the country. A lot of kids don’t get these chances today. There is no margin for error in their lives. So my own story is different in that way. Still, I know the toll that being a single parent took on my mother — how she struggled at times to the pay bills; to give us the things that other kids had; to play all the roles that both parents are supposed to play. And I know the toll it took on me. So I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle — that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls; that if I could give them anything, I would give them that rock — that foundation — on which to build their lives. And that would be the greatest gift I could offer. I say this knowing that I have been an imperfect father — knowing that I have made mistakes and will continue to make more; wishing that I could be home for my girls and my wife more than I am right now. I say this knowing all of these things because even as we are imperfect, even as we face difficult circumstances, there are still certain lessons we must strive to live and learn as fathers — whether we are black or white; rich or poor; from the South Side or the wealthiest suburb. The first is setting an example of excellence for our children — because if we want to set high expectations for them, we’ve got to set high expectations for ourselves. It’s great if you have a job; it’s even better if you have a college degree. It’s a wonderful thing if you are married and living in a home with your children, but don’t just sit in the house and watch “Sports Center” all weekend long. That’s why so many children are growing up in front of the television. As fathers and parents, we’ve got to spend more time with them, and help them with their homework, and replace the video game or the remote control with a book once in awhile. That’s how we build that foundation. We know that education is everything to our children’s future. We know that they will no longer just compete for good jobs with children from Indiana, but children from India and China and all over the world. We know the work and the studying and the level of education that requires. You know, sometimes I’ll go to an eighth-grade graduation and there’s all that pomp and circumstance and gowns and flowers. And I think to myself, it’s just eighth grade. To really compete, they need to graduate high school, and then they need to graduate college, and they probably need a graduate degree, too. An eighth-grade education doesn’t cut it today. Let’s give them a handshake and tell them to get their butts back in the library! It’s up to us — as fathers and parents — to instill this ethic of excellence in our children. It’s up to us to say to our daughters, don’t ever let images on TV tell you what you are worth, because I expect you to dream without limit and reach for those goals. It’s up to us to tell our sons, those songs on the radio may glorify violence, but in my house we give glory to achievement, self-respect and hard work. It’s up to us to set these high expectations. And that means meeting those expectations ourselves. That means setting examples of excellence in our own lives. The second thing we need to do as fathers is pass along the value of empathy to our children. Not sympathy, but empathy — the ability to stand in somebody else’s shoes; to look at the world through their eyes. Sometimes it’s so easy to get caught up in “us,” that we forget about our obligations to one another. There’s a culture in our society that says remembering these obligations is somehow soft — that we can’t show weakness, and so therefore we can’t show kindness. But our young boys and girls see that. They see when you are ignoring or mistreating your wife. They see when you are inconsiderate at home; or when you are distant; or when you are thinking only of yourself. And so it’s no surprise when we see that behavior in our schools or on our streets. That’s why we pass on the values of empathy and kindness to our children by living them. We need to show our kids that you’re not strong by putting other people down — you’re strong by lifting them up. That’s our responsibility as fathers. And by the way — it’s a responsibility that also extends to Washington. Because if fathers are doing their part; if they’re taking our responsibilities seriously to be there for their children, and set high expectations for them, and instill in them a sense of excellence and empathy, then our government should meet them halfway. We should be making it easier for fathers who make responsible choices and harder for those who avoid them. We should get rid of the financial penalties we impose on married couples right now, and start making sure that every dime of child support goes directly to helping children instead of some bureaucrat. We should reward fathers who pay that child support with job training and job opportunities and a larger Earned Income Tax Credit that can help them pay the bills. We should expand programs where registered nurses visit expectant and new mothers and help them learn how to care for themselves before the baby is born and what to do after — programs that have helped increase father involvement, women’s employment and children’s readiness for school. We should help these new families care for their children by expanding maternity and paternity leave, and we should guarantee every worker more paid sick leave so they can stay home to take care of their child without losing their income. We should take all of these steps to build a strong foundation for our children. But we should also know that even if we do; even if we meet our obligations as fathers and parents; even if Washington does its part, too, we will still face difficult challenges in our lives. There will still be days of struggle and heartache. The rains will still come and the winds will still blow. And that is why the final lesson we must learn as fathers is also the greatest gift we can pass on to our children — and that is the gift of hope. I’m not talking about an idle hope that’s little more than blind optimism or willful ignorance of the problems we face. I’m talking about hope as that spirit inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better is waiting for us if we’re willing to work for it and fight for it. If we are willing to believe. I was answering questions at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin the other day and a young man raised his hand, and I figured he’d ask about college tuition or energy or maybe the war in Iraq. But instead he looked at me very seriously and he asked, “What does life mean to you?” Now, I have to admit that I wasn’t quite prepared for that one. I think I stammered for a little bit, but then I stopped and gave it some thought, and I said this: When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me — how do I make my way in the world, and how do I become successful and how do I get the things that I want. But now, my life revolves around my two little girls. And what I think about is what kind of world I’m leaving them. Are they living in a country where there’s a huge gap between a few who are wealthy and a whole bunch of people who are struggling every day? Are they living in a country that is still divided by race? A country where, because they’re girls, they don’t have as much opportunity as boys do? Are they living in a country where we are hated around the world because we don’t cooperate effectively with other nations? Are they living a world that is in grave danger because of what we’ve done to its climate? And what I’ve realized is that life doesn’t count for much unless you’re willing to do your small part to leave our children — all of our children — a better world. Even if it’s difficult. Even if the work seems great. Even if we don’t get very far in our lifetime. That is our ultimate responsibility as fathers and parents. We try. We hope. We do what we can to build our house upon the sturdiest rock. And when the winds come, and the rains fall, and they beat upon that house, we keep faith that our Father will be there to guide us, and watch over us, and protect us, and lead His children through the darkest of storms into light of a better day. That is my prayer for all of us on this Father’s Day, and that is my hope for this country in the years ahead. May God bless you and your children. Thank you.
Commentary: This is a great speech. I wish every man could hear it. I am equally as critical of White men who abandon their children as I am of Black men, but it is fitting that this speech was delivered to a Black audience where the destruction of the family and the resulting social problems are so severe. I could quibble with his specific prescriptions for government action. Some of his proposals I think are on target, but others I disagree with. His recognition of the problem however is important and long overdue. Also, it is important to recognize that there is a roll for government in addressing the problem. Since this was a Father's Day speech I am not going to criticise him for not addressing the roll of mothers. Maybe next Mother's Day, he will tell single mothers that it is equally irresponsible to bring children into the world without a father in that child's life. Maybe he will say that there is no excuse for having multiple children by different men. Being a single mother is not something that just happens. Black women must also share the blame for the destruction of the Black family and the state of Black society. I differ with Senator Obama on several important issues and am not supporting him for President, but if elected I hope he will aggressively pursue an agenda to address Black poverty and the state of the Black family. For too long we as a nation have simply ignored this problem. It is time to do something about it. Recognizing there is a problem is a place to start.
Obama celebrated Fathers Day today by speaking to a Black Church in Chicago. Various news sources including The New York Times, USA Today and The Associated Press gave accounts of the speech. Here are snippets of the speech:
“Too many fathers are M.I.A, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes,” “They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.” “More than half of all black children live in single-parent households.” “I know how hard it is to get kids to eat properly, but I also know that folks are letting our children drink eight sodas a day, which some parents do, or, you know, eat a bag of potato chips for lunch. Buy a little desk or put that child at the kitchen table. Watch them do their homework.” “We need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility doesn’t just end at conception. That doesn’t just make you a father. What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”
This is a breath of fresh air. The state of the black family is such a sensitive matter that only a Black person can raise the issue.
As the author of A Disgruntled Republican I often post items which I think may be of interest to the conservative, Republican, libertarian or the greater community. Posting of a press release or an announcement of an event does not necessarily indicate an endorsement. Rod
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