Why Are So Many Black Children Fatherless?
Why Are So Many Black Children Fatherless?
Children need daddies. In the black community, there's a good deal of talk and marching over what white people are doing to hurt black people, but far too many black women are doing their part by bringing their children up fatherless.
Here's a piece, reportedly by the Detroit News editorial writer Bill Johnson, via dadi.org, "Urban Future Bleak Until Single Mothers Stop Having Babies," that shows why black women, especially, need to be singled out over this. (The piece is old -- Archer was last mayor in 2001, but in 2007, 72 percent of births of black children were to unwed mothers.):
Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer delivered an inspiring State of the City address this week. To illustrate the city's progress, he recited the words to a song: "Ain't no stoppin' us now ... we're on the move." However, in the shadow of the new monuments being erected -- casinos, ball parks, the Campus Martius development project -- family disintegration continues to threaten the well-being of city residents.The extent of this problem was confirmed in a recent study by the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation. Comparing statistics for its Kids Count report, the organization reported that Detroit ranks No.1 in unmarried births among the nation's 50 largest cities. Of the 16,729 babies born in Detroit in 1997, 13,574 were black, 1,679 were white and 817 were Hispanic. Seventy-one percent were born to unmarried mothers. This compared with a state average of 33 percent and a 50-city average of 43 percent.
Government statistics reveal that the percentage of all babies born to unwed mothers nationally rose to 32 percent in 1997 from only 5.3 percent in 1960. Among blacks nationally, 69 percent of births were to unwed mothers. And in a departure from previous increases in births to unwed teen mothers, 70 percent of births to single mothers involved women 20 or older.
The survey data notes that in 1960, 9 percent of children lived in a single-parent household -- usually headed by the mother. By 1998, 28 percent of all children and 55 percent of black children lived with a single parent.
If you note data like these, be prepared to be accused by the P.C. armies of being racist for singling black women out for the way they're a minority but a majority of the unwed mothers. But, in light of the stats, it's simply the right thing to do. And, of course, all women who choose to bring children into the world without fathers should be singled out. Children need daddies. In myriad areas, they come out better if they have them, according to a 40-year Oxford study (among many others):
The study concludes that close paternal involvement not only improves academic performance but also relationships and health.The benefits were greatest for youngsters who established a strong bond from at least the age of seven. Oxford University's Centre for Research into Parenting and Children tracked the lives of 17,000 children born in 1958, monitoring their progress at 7, 11, 16, 23 and 33.
They were given scores at each stage according to how big a part their fathers played in such pursuits as reading, helping with homework and accompanying them on outings.
The highest scorers performed best in school, socially and in their own subsequent marital relationships.
More from Bill Johnson's piece:
There appears to be no hard data, however, indicating why births to unwed mothers are so much more prevalent among black Americans.Single parenthood should not be viewed with indifference. Indeed, the number of single moms poses serious social and public-policy dilemmas. It has been well documented and reported, for example, that children born to unmarried women are far more likely to live in poverty, suffer abuse and be neglected. Girls born into these families are more likely to become pregnant than children living with their married parents and continue the generational cycle of unwed motherhood.
Children from low-income, fatherless households are also more likely to become school dropouts. Children in these families tend to be lower achievers than those from two-parent, higher-income families. These trends generally exist even when a stepfather is present.
Studies also have concluded that children growing up without their biological father are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, commit suicide, engage in crime and be incarcerated.
Johnson happens to be black. What I want to know is why he's still one of very few who's speaking out about this. Is it out of some really sick self-interest (in maintaining black victimhood) that the Jesse Jacksons of the world focus on blaming government and white people for everything that's tough for blacks?
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