Riots in Milwaukee. Following the riots in Baltimore. Following the riots in Ferguson. Following the riots in… fill in the blank.
They prompt more finger pointing than a porcupine’s got quills. Blacks blame cops. Cops blame godawful conditions in inner-city cesspools. Social workers blame drugs and dealers. Others blame guns. Guns get blamed for most everything at some point. Politicians and race hustlers blame anything that wins them a headline. Or 60 seconds of TV time.
And then we all move on. Until the next riots break out. Meanwhile the preachers pray. The mothers lament. The cesspools cess. With murders and assorted crimes. Gangs terrify folks. Schools rot. Kids tumble through the cracks. Teens learn the pinnacle of success is to peddle drugs and not get caught. The underclass of America sludges along. While the rest of America shrugs.
There is an outfit that proclaims that black lives matter. I am not sure they do. Not to enough people, whatever their color.
If black lives matter we would hone in on the most obvious evil ingredient in this mess. Yes, there are other ingredients. Other causes. But this is the biggie. This is the underpinning. This is the linchpin. The catalyst.
We know what it is. Sociologists know. Criminologists know. Various and assorted ologists know. Cops and preachers know. Teachers and shopkeepers know. Mothers know.
The evil ingredient is also the one that can improve the situation more than any other.
It is called Dad. Inner city black communities have almost no dads. Lots of guys who boast they’ve got kids. But almost no dads.
If you bumped off most dads of any community you would cause havoc. Crime rates would soar. Teen problems would soar. Poverty would soar. Various connections that tie communities together would splay.
Well that is exactly what has happened in these black communities. Dads make themselves scarce. Women raise kids alone. Usually in poverty. Typical families are kids, mom and grandmom.
There is plenty of blame. In this age women can avoid getting pregnant. Instead, they take pride. They feel it’s an achievement to have babies. The men beat their chests – and then desert. And another wave of dad-less kids with sweet little hope hits the community.
If black lives truly matter we would focus on this. We would alter our welfare programs. To stop rewarding single women for having babies. We would berate and humiliate the irresponsible men. We would recognize and reward men who act like dads. And women who act responsibly.
Think of how many points of attack we used to confront smoking. Laws. Prohibitions. Taxes. Shame. Social pressure. Fines. Advertising. School lessons.
There are equivalents we could use to attack irresponsible behavior with babies and kids. Until we do so we continue to sentence millions of them to dismal futures.
Imagine if our president had pushed these ideas from day one: Being a real dad is the only right thing to do. And choosing to be a single mom is not. Imagine if he had challenged the African-American community to pull up its socks in this regard. Imagine if he had twisted the arms of prominent African-Americans to join him in this battle.
He was in a position to help a lot. I do not criticize him for anything. But I regret he did not. African-Americans would have been swayed more easily by our first black president.
By the way, campaigns of this type don’t have to be aimed at one race. Wherever you find a lot of dad-less families you find a lot of poverty and crime. Anything that helps the cause of responsible parenting will help the country.
From Tom…as in Morgan.
Find Tom on Facebook. You can write to Tom at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com.