Pajamas Media

109 Comments

Ed Wallis:

Earl Ofari Hutchinson: “This points to the single greatest reason for the higher number of black children who live in one-parent households. That reason is poverty.

SO TRUE!!! I need a state-subsidized nanny too! …and then I’ll be able to spend ALL THE TIME I WANT with my children in my state-susidized mansion, watching the state-subsidized TV together and driving around in my state-subidized limo…an’ “da Man” will gotta pay fo’ it! /sarc

PUH-LEASE: SPeaking of “stereotypes, who IS the moron who wrote this decades old canard…“blame it on “poverty”?! …and why is an ostensibly literate site like PJM sponsoring such cr*p?!

Jun 17, 2008 - 1:24 am sbourg:

Poor Earl,
You make a herculean effort to ignore the obvious…….that young black men in the inner cities are fathering children before they’re economically and emotionally responsible to do so. And they’re behavior PRIOR to fathering children has been quite irresponsible. Look at the enormous rates of high school dropouts in Detroit, Baltimore, and on and on with the major cities. The dropping out, the lack of effort in grade schools, the misbehavior, is all attributable to being born to single moms. And no Earl, no one’s saying that all young black men do this. You’re clouding the problem by getting so defensive about that. It’s just that the proportions are so high as to be impossible to ignore. Yet you seem to try. And when you give up and admit there’s a problem, you blame it on “failing public schools, or “rampant job discrimination”. Earl, you have no chance of getting to the root cause of the problem and coming up with a solution if you’re ignoring the obvious. Obama doesn’t harp on this very often. Hell, he has no solutions either. Cosby hits the nail on the head quite a bit better than you two, but he’s not coming up with solutions either. Maybe because the solutions would involve a bit of pain. If you’re interested in hearing some painful solutions, ideas that would work, just post a response and I’ll email you personally. Very few people are thinking out of the box, to fix the huge problems you seem hellbent on ignoring. -SBourg, Ellicott City, MD

Jun 17, 2008 - 1:44 am OmegaPaladin:

I know all about poverty in the urban black underclass. I don’t need to walk far to enter North Lawndale, home of some truly stunning poverty and brutal crimes. The question is not whether many black men and their families are poor. That is evident to even the most cursory glance at the situation. The question is why this is still the case amidst ample government funding and a generation free of de jure segregation.

You seem to be mistaking the effect for the cause. Do you honestly believe that the black family will be improved by simply adding money?

Jun 17, 2008 - 2:09 am jvon:

Yes and I’m sure at least six black people will be so offended by this that they won’t vote for him.

Jun 17, 2008 - 2:48 am RE:

With the left, it’s always economics that determines character, when in reality it’s character that determines economics.

As long as this group refuses to accept personal responsibility, they will continue to watch other disadvantaged ethnic groups arrive on our shore penniless and surpass them economically in no time at all. Koreans, Vietnamese, Hispanics, Eastern Europeans… It’s nobody’s fault but their own.

Bill Cosby is right. Hutchinson is wrong. Obama, Who knows what he really thinks. He’s just reciting what a speech writer put in front of him.

Hutchinson just another individual poisoned by victim hood school of thought. Lump him in with Sharpton and Jackson.

Jun 17, 2008 - 3:29 am Thirtymac:

Mr. Hutchinson writes:

“Obama presents absolutely no evidence to back up this devastating indictment.”

Then makes this statement:

“The chronic near Great Depression levels of unemployment, not to mention rampant job discrimination, endemic failing public schools, and stigma of a criminal record virtually condemn many young black men to wear the tag of societal failures as men and fathers.”

What a hack!!

Unemployment in 1933 sttod at 24.9%. In April it was 5%.

Rampant job discrimination? Evidence?

As to the failing schools, I agree. But it isn’t due to a lack of funding.

According to a 2003 review by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the US spent an average of $10,240 per pupil from elementary schol through college, ranking them first in the world. The average among more than 25 nations surveyed was $6,361.

Stigma of a criminal record? What, should we praise them.

What a hack.

Jun 17, 2008 - 3:49 am Cindy Sue Causey:

Did a quick Internet search to verify what my Mind was remembering I had heard about Obama’s history with his own father..

Those who speak passionately about some one thing such as this usually have experienced it.. Experienced it in such a painful way that it has left a wound, however (un)detectable, however permanent or not..

Just really feels like what could have been occurring here..

Jun 17, 2008 - 4:15 am Gringo:

Thirtymac wrote

What a hack!!Unemployment in 1933 sttod at 24.9%. In April it was 5%.
In response to:

“The chronic near Great Depression levels of unemployment, not to mention rampant job discrimination, endemic failing public schools, and stigma of a criminal record virtually condemn many young black men to wear the tag of societal failures as men and fathers.”

Perhaps Hutchinson was referring to the following data.

“young Afro Americans” 35.7% unemployment rate in January 2008
Overall 9.2% for blacks in January 2008, compared to 4.4% for whites

Jun 17, 2008 - 4:40 am TomJW:

Earl the Hack,

Nearly 70% of black children are born to single mothers. That’s the economic problem. Not unemployed black males.

When providing a proper home for your children becomes a priority, black poverty will drop.

Jun 17, 2008 - 4:48 am Alberto Gonzalez:

Dear Mr. S Bourg
I agree 100% with your comment to Earl Hutchinson article.
I am interested in hearing your painful solutions to the problem.
A. Gonzalez
Miranda, Asturias, Spain

Jun 17, 2008 - 4:57 am Boca Condo King:

I wonder is the author would consider this ‘painfull’ solution…

Stopping the widespread use of low wage low cost illegal immigrant labor. This can be done fairly easily with consitant enforcement.

Consider, last month the ICE raided a meat packing plant in Iowa(?) arresting hundreds of illegal workers for identity theft. Those workers were making just above minimum wage.

That same meat packing plant job used be based on the south side of Chicago, or in a small city in Ohio, close to large numbers of low skilled workers. Before those jobs left for Iowa, most meat packing was a union job that paid 15+ per hour with benefits.

How many young black white brown pink and purple men could be ‘the breadwinner’ if they could get a job that used to pay 32k plus per year? A job now done by illegals for $7 per hour.

Ask me an in my next post I will show how the govt could stop most illegal workers working in about 1/2 an hour.

Jun 17, 2008 - 5:52 am cfbleachers:

There is a problem that polite society doesn’t like to discuss, and that is…cultural assimilation will track only…if and when, assimilation becomes an accepted goal.

A black child has a worse than even bet chance of being born into a single mother home. The traditional role of the father in the family is an unassimilated norm in much of black society. For reasons why this may be true, the following is a pretty good article:

http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_3_black_family.html

Leftist whites have kept blacks in a destructive mindset which opportunist black “leaders” have co-opted for financial gain and national recognition.

The fact remains, White/Asian culture puts a premium on certain behaviors, norms and mores that place a stigma on “bad behavior” and place a premium on “good behavior” that comports with traditional values of white society.

Education is a prized weapon in the arsenal of white/Asian kids and they are praised for hard work and achievement. In segments of black society (and some Latino segments, although not nearly as widespread)…academic achievement is “acting white” and is stigmatized, rather than culturally applauded.

Being a responsible father, not having kids with multiple women, providing for the needs of your children…are not behaviors unique to white/Asian men….but there would be an enormous stigma attached to white/Asian members of that culture for “bad behavior” in those situatons. There could exist no excuse (poverty, loss of job etc) which would remove the stigma or “excuse” the behavior.

If 65-70% of black children are born into single mother families, and black culture says…”well, you know…that’s the white man’s fault”…that issue isn’t going to go away.

It really doesn’t matter to the outcome, whether or not the argument that “bad behavior” has SOME basis in blame on somebody else. Culturally, if the instinct to eradicate the unwanted behavior is not stronger than the instinct to alibi for it…it will simply never disappear.

If blacks want to really move up, move forward, get ahead…they have start facing forward…not backward. They are “mooning the future” if they spend the bulk of their psychic energy immersed in real and imagined slights, grievances and ills of years, decades and centuries before they were born.

This is not to suggest that such issues are not real or did not happen or aren’t important, historically or should be forgotten and dismissed entirely. It is simply to point out that continually clutching to those grievances has not been effective in overcoming them, nor will it ever be.

If one wants the achievements, accomplishments, successes of white/Asian society…then the goal must be to assimilate the cultural behaviors, norms and mores that lead to the success. (and to freely not assimilate any behaviors that are unrelated or are unnecessary to that goal)

Either change the goal, or adopt the pathway to achieve the goal. Those are the options.

Perhaps not adopting the goal is not as outrageous as it might appear at first blush. Overwhelmingly, on a worldwide basis…(based upon gross domestic product, economic development, literacy, advanced education, computer and technological advancments)….certain cultures prefer a more laid back, less money-based lifestyle. Nothing wrong with that. Certainly stress levels may be measured on how “success” is measured and achieved.

However, if “poverty” is to be measured as an intra-America yardstick (as opposed to what “poverty” means in other predominatnly black parts of the world), then non-poverty…or “success” has to be measured by the same yardstick.

Saying “I want to have all the “successes” of white/Asian society…but I refuse to adopt the values, mores, and goals…makes it a rough road to hoe. It hasn’t worked to date and it is likely to never work.

What blacks in this country have been lead to believe, is that white leftists are “helping” them get ahead. In reality, the great irony is that it is the one single attachment that has kept them back in greater degrees and in larger numbers, more than any other single factor.

If they want to get ahead faster, further and to greater heights…dropping leftism like a a sack of dead dead rats in a very heavy backpack…is the quickest route. Play the victim, you become the victim, act the victim, you stay the victim.

65-70% of the future kids deserve a better chance from the people who are bringing them into this world. Teach them how to achieve by facing the future with them.

Jun 17, 2008 - 6:10 am John:

Liberalism is the condescending belief in others as incapable.
You see and hear it everywhere, in their words and policies. Abortion, condoms, affirmative action, welfare, the ACLU, needle exchange programs, press one for English, bilingual education, etc… all attempts at freeing others (and themselves) from accountability. It all comes from the same place; you are incapable, so I’m going to see to it that you aren’t held accountable. Notice that most of the stated values of the Left; compassion, generosity, caring, empathy, etc., are emotions and actions that require me to first see you as incapable.
Conservatives believe Black Americans are capable. We need to start saying it more clearly.

Jun 17, 2008 - 6:11 am Valerie:

There is an elephant in the room.

Nobody wants to mention that black poverty and irresponsibility at a young age has a connection with a certain strain of very consciously black churches that teach their children that the government and the entire surrounding society is hostile and out to get them. The natural outcome of such teachings, which have filtered far beyond the original congregations, is that large numbers of young men might conclude that they can’t succeed and shouldn’t try to be part of the larger society.

People who believe this will be impoverished, even in our society of abundance and opportunity. That kind of poverty is unnecessary.

This Easter Sunday, a MD state representative gave a sermon in church in Baltimore about how Rev. Wright was right. Baltimore has a particularly violent high school population. Maybe the true solution to the problem of the schools in Baltimore is to change the message of the churches in Baltimore.

I didn’t know where this poison came from at the time, but I do remember the black kids at school calling the smart black kids, the ones with decent academic records, the ones who could read, write, and speak well — oreos. They were very specific: if you succeed academically, you aren’t really black. I heard those words hurled at my friends. And now, I know that they got if from church.

Jun 17, 2008 - 6:34 am view from afar:

thank you,author for at least pointing out how bizarre is this Mr obama>>> thank you cfbleachers for your wonderful essay…and John, please realize, many people who are reading your comment, are from outside of the US where liberal is NOT the same thing(you’d like that use of liberal; as in economy…) Therefore use the word “socialism,” and call a spade a spade. Otherwise you make a wonderful point, could someone somewhere raise to that truth(preferably before the next election)

Jun 17, 2008 - 6:34 am Amphipolis:

You confuse cause and effect. Poverty does not generally cause crime, illegitimacy, etc - those things cause poverty.

Stop making excuses for rampant self-destructive behavior. It is the prevalence of excuses that really distinguishes communities. I cite the example of disproportionately successful African immigrants as proof.

Obama hasn’t said enough.

Jun 17, 2008 - 6:36 am Scott:

Um, are you serious Mr. Hutchinson? I agree with Mr. Obama on very few things, but this is one thing I praise him for…telling it how it is. The premise of your excuse-ridden article is that Obama (and Cosby, etc.) makes the mistake of making sweeping, stereotypical claims about black fathers, and that he “omits the words ’some’, ‘those’, or ‘the offenders’” when speaking about black fathers. Um, right, he didn’t use those descriptors, instead he used the words “too many”. Are you saying that you disagree him that approximately 50% of black children growing up without fathers in their homes is too many? Or that the foundation of the black family is weaker because of it? Are you serious? Instead of applauding this in-your-face honesty (as his all-black audience did), you attempt negate his obviously sensible point by arguing that he doesn’t present sufficient evidence for his argument… I think the evidence is pretty obvious, and whether it’s “more than half” of black children as Mr. Obama says, or “slightly less than half” as you counter with your cited research, I think we should all agree that this is far “too many”. Instead of using the power of your pen to echo the sentiments, you choose to create ludicrous justifications for ‘why’ too many black fathers are abandoning their responsibilities, citing poverty and that black men lose their sense of manhood when they can’t ‘bring home the bacon’. Uh, so they abandon their families? That makes them feel more manly? Does that not condemn their children to certain poverty, therefore continuing the cycle? And what does this say about black mothers? Thank goodness these strong women don’t feel the same urge to abandon their children when the going gets tough or we’d be talking about a new epidemic of “no-parent” homes. But I guess that would just give you fodder for your next article on the justification of the breakdown of the moral fabric of society.

Jun 17, 2008 - 6:53 am gordo:

Our government policies in the 60’s created an incentive for young, poor women to have babies out of wedlock. The black community was especially hard-hit leading to 70% out of wedlock births today. Obama skirted the issue by focusing on fathers; why not focus on not having babies out of wedlock - that’s the real issue. Bringing babies into the world this way consigns them to living their lives in the lower economic strata and perpetuates the cycle. Its also an incredibly seflish thing to do. But then, we don’t want to sound sexist and racist at the same time do we? Of course not, so forget what I said - let the cycle continue (and the children suffer)

Jun 17, 2008 - 7:06 am AJ:

“But then again, this kind of over the top, sweeping talk about alleged black father irresponsibility from Obama isn’t new.”

Let’s face it: Obama is not a very smart man. The media can say otherwise, but he’s clueless, very removed from society via his elitism and wrong on nearly all issues in America—which is hard to do. No wonder the insane Left wants him to be America’s leader.

Jun 17, 2008 - 7:08 am Ten:

You’re mistaken, Hutchinson. Obama may be a fraud, but if he gives an impression that blacks are experiencing the destruction of the family, he’s simply not wrong there. Single parenting in the urban black community is created by generational influences of welfare dependency and the federal incentives that pay parents to be single — it’s called welfare “reform” and it dates from the Clinton Administration. This Orwellian federal influence actually creates huge incentives for walk-away fathering by way of a modified mothering that partners her with the State, and not with the father.

You may want to read Stephen Baskerville’s “Taken Into Custody”, you may want to research Title IV-D of the welfare act, and you may want to change your perspective about the destruction not just of the black family, but of the family in general. It’s very big government business and on that matter, even if as the broken clock he is, Obama is correct.

Jun 17, 2008 - 7:09 am Truth:

There are plenty of reasons why blacks are in the situation they are in. Some are self inflicted some are society. But to simply rail in one direction is just irresponsible. The posters here who lean to hard in one direction are choosing to ignore other factors. Those opinions are garbage.

This ppost is a ridiculous example.

Ed Wallis:

Earl Ofari Hutchinson: “This points to the single greatest reason for the higher number of black children who live in one-parent households. That reason is poverty.

SO TRUE!!! I need a state-subsidized nanny too! …and then I’ll be able to spend ALL THE TIME I WANT with my children in my state-susidized mansion, watching the state-subsidized TV together and driving around in my state-subidized limo…an’ “da Man” will gotta pay fo’ it! /sarc

PUH-LEASE: SPeaking of “stereotypes, who IS the moron who wrote this decades old canard…“blame it on “poverty”?! …and why is an ostensibly literate site like PJM sponsoring such cr*p?!

I have seen welfare recipients and they do not live well at all.

My mother raised me as a single mother. She didn’t drive so we could afford the rent in a better neighborhood( still a very rough area). I was the kid who couldn’t get free lunch because my mom was right at the cut off point. In 1988 I got $1.25 every day to by lunch and , that was it. The kids that got free lunch I thought had it made until I got to really know a few. They lived in horrible conditions roaches, rats, violent crime ridden neighborhoods,slum lords. So it is bull to try and glorify welfare life. Now to place blame is another story and is complex. But it isn’t anything like above. That is just a person with an agenda. And it isn’t about spending.

Jun 17, 2008 - 7:13 am Mike:

Are you kidding? How lame is this? Many black men/boys have no clue or desire to be parents. If your statements are true, then why are there so many young boys walking around without a clue-no idea on how to treat women, no idea on how to be responsible, no idea on what it takes to be a man. Please spare us with this crap

Jun 17, 2008 - 7:17 am iconoclast:

“Put bluntly, men and the notion of manhood are still mainly defined by their ability to bring home the bacon. A man who falls short of that standard is considered a failure and loser.”

Being a provider for your family is a necessary (but not sufficient) aspect of a man. You don’t like it? Tough. As others have pointed out, cultures that embrace this virtue–among many, related virtues–tend to do much better than other cultures.

This is true diversity! Letting different cultures find their own level in society.

Jun 17, 2008 - 7:18 am Saltherring:

It’s called “personal responsibility”. And until we, as a society, re-institute accountability for one’s actions into the mix, we will continue to fail our young people. You cannot teach personal responsibility, you must live it. Try talking to your teenage son about the ills of drinking and smoking while holding a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Clean up you own lives, people, and maybe the young will get the message and follow your lead.

Jun 17, 2008 - 8:04 am Ed Wallis:

“Twoof” Jun 17, 2008 - 7: “So it is bull to try and glorify welfare life.”

Nice try at deflecting the issue, bub. See, it’s the author who is “simplifying” and “excusing away” here.

Jun 17, 2008 - 8:23 am newguy40:

Is it me or has PJM turned in to Kos? Between this guy and and Navarette, I had to check if I had the correct site.

Jun 17, 2008 - 8:31 am Sandra M:

“ENDEMIC FAILING PUBLIC SCHOOLS” . An unforgettable TV momenT, James McWhorter, the Black scholar, rose and spoke of black children who believe that “reading’s a white thing.” This single idea is more toxic and destructive of advancement than almost any other I can think of.

Frederick Douglass, the great Black orator, learned to read while still a slave, escaped from slavery and became a great leader. The current issue of WEEKLY STANDARD has much more information about him and the heroic and beautiful Somali woman, Aayan Hirsi Ali who is in hiding because Muslims want to kill her as they did Theodore VanGogh for a documentary he made critical of Islam. You’re not allowed to leave the Muslim religion on pain of death. Scary.

I had lousy teachers in public schooLs dominated by the Manhattan Marxist Mafia, but my grandmother had taught me to read using phonics and once I had that skill there was no stopping me.

Asian-American students can have lousy teachers but still succeed because their parents won’t accept academic failure. They study in groups which is perfect because in any group someone will be good at language, another at math, another at science and they can coach each other.

WELFARE: The Black family remained intact through bad times but welfare demanded that before giving a woman and her children money there could be no man in the house. THAT policy alone did more to break up the black family than the depression had done. I have read that after emancipation black men went from state to state looking for their wives and children who had often been sold off elsewhere.

CRIME: Mr. Hutchinson writes of “the stigma of a criminal record” Whose fault is a criminal record? I remember reading a famous Black novel in which the hero “accidentally” kills a whie man. Then, I read it again in another Black novel. Who does that kind of thing?

JOB DISCRIMINATION: Well, the truth is that because of noisy civil rights leaders, you can’t fire an incompetent Black person. Inevitably, they will charge racism even if some of the witnesses against them are Black!

The only time in my life I ever heard white people laugh at Blacks was during the Million Man March, which took place on a work day. For decades, only another Black, such as Chris Rock, could mock Black men for promising to take care of their families, something every other group does as a matter of course.

The usual suspects criticized The original Cosby Show because it didn’t show “realistic” family life. No. The Cosby Show presented what could be and should be, an upper middle-class couple comprised of a Doctor and Lawyer and their children and grandparents. Many young Blacks saw the possibilities which they then pursued? And the Black middle class grew. As a child Whoopi Goldberg saw Nichelle Nichol in STAR TREK and ran through the house excited that a TV show was showing a Black woman who was not a maid.

What other group has leaders? What other group ties up traffic and keeps people from getting to work on time with demonstrations?

I thought the Montgomery Alabama bus boycott was a brilliant idea. It worked. It would have been very effective to take it further. National companies with branches in the South which refused to hire blacks could have faced boycotts.

Today, millions of people are boycotting leftist stars, films, magazines and newspapers. And it’s working. Boycotts not demonstrations.

Everyone was thrilled by the Obama win in Iowa. At last, the days of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were over. Then, we were introduced to Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Black liberation theology, and most frightening of all, Obama’s cousin Odinga and half-brother Abongo Obama, who having lost the 2007 election in Kenya which would have brought in Muslim Sharia law proceeded to herd Christian men, women and children into a church and burn them to death. You won’t fight this story “put in context”on Obam’s site “Fight The Smear”. You will find many references if you google Odinga Obama.

Jun 17, 2008 - 8:32 am jack brennan:

Bill Cosby had the wisdom to CHANGE from an Al Sharpton fan, to a person who has decided to look at the facts and do something positive.

Firstly, many Black Preachers, False Priests, Liberals, and the Democrats have to stop blaming the problems of Black-Male Un-Employment and Violent Crime, on Whitey. “Black Leaders,” such as Sharpton, Jackson, Pfleger, and other Hate Mongers only enrich themselves and exacerbate the societal pathologies.
2007 FBI Statistics show that Blacks murder at a rate that is 5 times higher than the White Murder rate. Most Black crime is committed on other Blacks. Preachers like Wright and Pfleger are an important part of what causes Black Crime rates. They, in their own ways, would seem to be accessories to these crimes.
As I approach my 80th year, I can remember the poverty and near poverty conditions of the mass of working White folk as I grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. They lived very hard lives, but their children got first class educations in both Public and Parochial Schools. Most of their children went form a “survival” living standard, to a “millennium” Living Standard, in one generation.
I lived on the edge of Harlem; and many evenings would walk with friends and relatives the 4 miles up thru Harlem to watch the Giants play Baseball in the Polo Grounds at night. After the game, we walked back down thru Harlem. In those days blacks and whites could walk safely in black or white neighborhoods without fear. There was no fear of crime. Poor neighborhoods were safe! (The first time I ever heard of a MUGGING was about 1958.The Age of Liberalism blaming Crime on Poverty had started.)
Why? My opinion is that one of the reasons is that Black Ministers of those days preached peace, morality, education, and better days ahead. The second is that Teachers and Police enforced the rules on all peoples equally.
.

The lowering of standards in Education is a most important reason for black male un-employment and improper use of the English language. I once had a co-worker who had immigrated to this country in 1909 from a Jewish farm community in Eastern Poland. When he came here he was 8 years of age; didn’t speak English and didn’t speak Polish; he only spoke Yiddish. He went to Public School on the Lower East Side; was put in a First Grade Class; he was told by the teacher, thru a fellow student, that he could only speak English in the Classroom. After about six months, he was punished with a Yardstick whenever he made a mistake in his English. After a year and a half, he spoke a very good English. If a person doesn’t speak good English, he is going to have trouble in his/her Education, self-esteem, and employment.
Another co-worker, who had emigrated to the Lower East side about the same time from Sicily, when he was two years old, had a similar experience. When he entered first grade he could not speak English, only Sicilian. He remembers being beaten with a Red Pointer for the same reasons as the Jewish fellow. He also learned good English usage in a very short time.
I know of a school in the SouthBronx, that today educates “inner-city” boys in the poorest Congressional District in the Nation. All 108 of this year’s graduates had NY State Regents Diplomas; 107 of them will attend Accredited 4 year Colleges; one young man decided against College because he wants to become an Electrician. One of them won a four-year Scholarship to Harvard.
Why is this school so successful? When students enter the school, they leave the “street” outside. English, Mathematics and American History are heavily emphasized. Self-Dicipline is the rule. High standards are enforced; bright futures are expected.
This is no “baby-sitting” venture. In my opinion, the National Public School System must change to some form of this system to benefit all American Students, and, in particular, Black American School Children.

High Standards, High Society; Low Standards, No Society!

If Mr. Hutchison wants a solution, he must stop looking for excuses; he must insist on a disciplined and effective Education System; stop blaming others; stop ”Religious Preachers” from spewing Hate for a living; and insist Communities work with Authorities to stop violent Crime! That is CHANGE!

Sincerely, Jack Brennan

Jun 17, 2008 - 8:40 am always right:

You have to teach them that they have been victimized since 300~400 years ago, that no achievement is acceptible, that upward-mobility is cutting ties to your roots, etc. And oh yeah, vote democrats.

A simple question. Why is it not a problem among other minority ethnic groups, who were just as poor (to begin with) and un-educated?

Jun 17, 2008 - 10:03 am Truth:

Cfbleachers
What about all those girls who went away for the summer? They went and got abortions. Is that what you are advocating? All ethnicities deal with pregnancy. It actually correlates with income across all backgrounds. It is not inherent of blacks. Just because you don’t talk about it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Some guys get the girls some don’t. There have always been men from all ethnic backgrounds to have children with multiple women.

Jun 17, 2008 - 10:28 am OmegaPaladin:

Truth,

Some cultures have higher illegitimacy rates than others. That is a fact. You cannot paper over that by citing the fact that all cultures have some degree of illegitimacy. The disparities are the most relevant characteristics when you are seeking to explain different outcomes.

Jun 17, 2008 - 12:05 pm Ed Wallis:

“OmegaPaladin,” It’s useless to try to point out those pesky, fine-tuned differences of reality to one like “Twoof,” who views everything through the eyeglasses of moral relativism.

Jun 17, 2008 - 12:50 pm don:

The article states that the US unemployment rate is at a depression level, which was around 18%.Todays unemployment rate is 5.5 what a load of manure this writer is spewing out!Writers need to go back and take some history courses and then write something that resembles the truth.

Jun 17, 2008 - 12:53 pm jeyi:

At risk of opening up the maximum-nasty, un-PC can of worms, let’s refer again to Murray et. al.’s, “Bell Curve”. While we’ve all had encounters with very smart, very talented, very capable, high-attainment black people, the hard data from conventional intelligence testing –properly-designed to null-out “cultural factors”, malnutrition, etc.– consistently shows them to have likely emerged from the tiny minority at the far right edge of the distribution curve… with the mean IQ for African-Americans actually about 85 (compared to about 75 for sub-Saharan Africans!). I don’t think IQ is the be-all and the end-all, and G-d knows it doesn’t corroborate even slightly with basic human decency or individual moral worth. Of course the relevant professional societies are in total public denial on this, claiming that intelligence is not genetically determined or racially indicative: nothing to see here folks, move right along. Well, it’s not impossible that they’re right, but who amongst us really believes that?

So what about the realities of the US job market? Labor intensive agriculture is gone forever from our shores, as is mass-employment in unionized unskilled/semi-skilled industrial labor. Meanwhile the collapse of institutional racism/segregation has allowed most role-model high achievers to escape the ghetto.

Even with the best of intentions on all sides, and the most genuine commitment to take on paternal responsibility, what options are really out there for the inner city underclass?

I have a high school junior daughter with considerable gifts in the arts and the humanities, where she has excelled by any standards. But she’s just not hard-wired to make sense out of advanced algebra, and I’ve seen her give it her best shot over two semesters and still come out with a D- in the end.

Does Jack Brennan’s school in the Bronx take everybody in the neighborhood who walks in the door? Or can it rigorously select (or does its student body self-select) from the thin right edge of the bell curve?

Jun 17, 2008 - 12:57 pm rvastar:

While I detest the whole self-help religion, Dr. Phil actually has a great saying that perfectly illustrates the dilemna the black community finds itself in:

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.

If the black community continues to (falsely) blame racism as being at the core of it’s problems, then those problems will persist…and only get worse as time passes.

The requisite price of PERSONAL FREEDOM is PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. That’s a simple truth that we non-Leftists inherently understand. Leftists, however, believe that you can have personal freedom without personal responsibility.

Want to see the results of that belief? Take a look at what’s happened to the nation’s black community since the imposition of the Leftist welfare state in the 1960s.

Prior to the welfare state, US blacks had some of the HIGHEST RATINGS amongst ethnic groups in terms of marriage rates, children born into married families, and employment rates and some of the LOWEST RATINGS in terms of out-of-wedlock births and criminality. After the welfare state…well, there’s really no need to say more, is there?

Jun 17, 2008 - 1:47 pm Ben:

As a Black person who grew up in the Suburbs in St. Louis Mo in the 80’s and 90’s, I know all about when they bussed the Kids in from the city. How they at first hated me (until highschool and sports) and called me county browny, thought I was rich (I wasn’t) and called me oreo, and all. Also being a good student didn’t help, so i chose to NOT be a good student and keep it “real”. Well you know what it got me? It got me no college degree. I went and played football, but I surely would have done more if not for the influences of “the ignorance” culture. Blissfully wanting to stay ignorant, and be “cool”. We as blacks have been trying to be cool for years, and to ignore the personal responsibility of the actual praticipants, is highly suspect, and ignorant at best. Has anyone watched BET lately? Does anyone watch MTV? You would think BET would show only the best that black America has to offer, but what we consistently see and have been raised to accept is the acceptable use of Liquor, Drugs and Women. While country music and all music for that matter celebrates these things in some way, it is normally not as clearly overt and laden with multiple profanities. Do your research, and notice we as blacks accept that ignorance, when (like another poster wrote and alluded to) men like Fredrick Douglas would cry and hang his head in disgust and shame at the celebration of ignorance embraced by the black culture. It must STOP and we must let go of the things in the past that have led us to this point. I mean, do you not understand that some of the most idolized black figures in this country are the likes of Snoop Dogg and Ludacris? Have you actually listened to the music that young people are banging in their heads all day? Most people, even the ones writing in, have no true grasp of the disinigration of morality, values, and responsibility. Really study and think about such shows as -two and a half men-, Grey’s anatomy, and many others. You can’t get away from girls kissing girls, or some sort of sex talk or some crazy scenario (L & O SVU anyone?). Heroes such as Paris Hilton, Bill Clinton, Snoop Dogg, and clowns like Mike Vick (who SHOULD NOT BE IN JAIL BTW-heavily fined and demonized by pet lovers, but not wasting OUR money in jail…), and many others, have taken us down a non-responsibilty path that will lead to our ultimate destruction as a society. Poverty?!!! Poverty??!!!! POVERTY SHOULD MAKE YOU WANT TO WORK HARDER AND GET AWAY FROM THAT SITUATION, like my Father did growing up in the projects of south Nashville in the 1950’s and 60’s. BTW, if you have roaches in your house, it’s usually a ME problem! As in clean up! Watch Verminators (I have also worked in apts.) and roaches are in filthy houses, or people who don’t clean under refrigerators, or ovens and eat all over the place. Bottomline, take care of your stuff. People don’t value stuff anymore, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT”S FREE! Why don’t welfare folks have to clean the highway or something once a month?

Jun 17, 2008 - 3:23 pm Ben:

I also must comment, that in the END whose fault ultimately was it to CHOOSE to try and “keep it real”. I think I answered that when I put the word “CHOOSE” in caps. MINE! Not that it isn’t hard to overcome influences, but could we as adults try to limit some of the “not so good” ones? There are no simple and necessarily all encompassing answers, but the fact remains that hard work, treating people as you would like to be treated, truly respecting others and learning how to get respect (EARN IT) etc. pretty much never fail. Learning how to act and dress in different situations applies as well. Anyone ever read Nannie Helen Burroughs’ “the 12 things the Negro must do for himself” which was written in the early 1900’s, look it up. Almost all of it applies today and it is scary and very enlightening and interesting. But pimpin’ and kickin’ it all the time only works for rockstars and the very rich, or people whose only goal is to participate in these activities. Who said it is easy or fair? Life inherently is not, and to try falsely to make it that way only screws us up in the long run and sets us up for disappointment.

Jun 17, 2008 - 4:11 pm Smarty:

Ofari proves one stereotype true: Liberal blacks will do ANYTHING to avoid the true blame for their problems, THEMSELVES.

What is wrong with PJM? Apparently going mainstream means providing yet another outlet to leftist multiculturalists. Wake up PJM!! They already own the MSM!!!!

Jun 17, 2008 - 6:00 pm Believer:

Let’s not kid ourselves. Obama doesn’t give one lick about anyone but himself. It’s all about him grabbing the top prize.

He’s only talking about this now because he’s “moving to the center.” Showing a different demographic what a great guy he is — so interested in the family. If he cared at all, he’d have been singing this tune for the last two decades - from Wright’s church - and every chance he could.

There’s a man who stands in stark contrast to Obama.

There are lessons to be learned from Tim Russert’s dad. Big Russ. He didn’t go beyond 10th grade. Never got a college education. He raised 4 kids, put them all through school, working two (2) fulltime jobs to do it. One of those jobs was as a garbage collector. I’ll bet he never whined about it. In fact, Russert tells the story of how his dad took the greatest care at home in wrapping broken glass so the guys wouldn’t be hurt by it.

It seems to me the Russert men know the really important things in life. Sure, it’s good to get an education. Big Russ said “hard work” was one of the most important things a man should do. But he’s been a wonderful example of something far greater.

He’s a man who’s been blessed with the grace to accept the life he’s been given, however humble. He accepted his responsibility as provider for his family. He counted others more important than himself. And has been willing to sacrifice for them.

What an example of a life well-lived. It’s not surprising his son is remembered with such affection and respect. He taught him well — character counts.

And it was not with pretty words - practiced - to be delivered with just the right accent and emphasis — but with every act of love from an abundant heart.

Jun 17, 2008 - 6:30 pm tanstaafl:

I think Barack’s daddy, Barack Sr., was one of the most irresponsible, absentee dads imaginable.

While Obama waxes eloquent to position himself as the new Obamessiah© and all will turn to milk and honey under his wise and benevolent hand…hell…maybe he’s just remembering times with (without) dad, projection, as mentioned once or twice in the comments above.

I think Bill Cosby’s rant is hugely important after decades of the deadening and stultifying rants of the Sharptons and Jacksons of the planet.

Meanwhile, I don’t in any way love Patrick J. Buchanan, but for purposes of a reality check, he makes some rather accurate points, especially towards the end of this “piece”.

A Brief For Whitey

Jun 17, 2008 - 7:56 pm Earl Ofay McMuffin:

“black fathers who aren’t in the home are much more likely to sustain regular contact with their children than absentee white fathers, or for that matter, fathers of any other ethnic group”

Well, sure. You know why? Because only the worst, most worthless 10 or 20% of white dads are absentee dads. Where 60% of black fathers don’t live with their kids; that’s the norm. So within that norm are a lot of fairly decent guys who, with a little more pressure for responsibility, wouldn’t be absentee in the first place. They only skip out because the norms in the black community practically make it inevitable.

But go ahead and beat Obama back into line. It just makes President McCain more likely, to see him kowtowing to the liberal pressure groups time and time again.

Jun 17, 2008 - 8:38 pm Roy Mustang:

His absent father = Book devoted to him
Other’s absent father = Condemn

What is wrong with Obama?

Jun 17, 2008 - 8:43 pm Dark Helmet:

You know… this is all a bunch of crap. Color has nothing to do with it. Economics have nothing to do with it.

Some people are good providers and others are simply, not.

People who are not married and not committed to each other should not have kids.

People who are must do whatever it takes to raise a decent human being.

It can be done by one, but it takes one hell of a person to do it all alone. And most of the time, they do it and do a damn good job.

But you never hear about them because 1. They don’t need the media to validate them as people because they already know who they are. 2. They already respect themselves.

End of story. The rest is just pure garbage, everybody from all walks of life make bad choives. For the love of this nation, write a story about people who don’t.

Jun 17, 2008 - 8:56 pm Dark Helmet:

A bad ‘choive’ can be an awful thing….. a bad ‘choice’ isn’t quite so disturbing.

Jun 17, 2008 - 8:59 pm celebrim:

My first thought in responce to this post was, “What? Obama used a negative racial sterotype? Someone drag his poor grandma out from under the bus!”

Why are you shocked at anything Obama says about race at this point?

But my second thought is, the speach he gave joins the short list of actions by Obama that I like and admire. No white politician could have gotten away with that speech. But then again, no white politician should have to make that speech. If you insist on seeing yourself as black, and as a member of a black community, then the least you ought to be expected to do is police your own.

I see lots of strong black father figures. I’ve known lots of dead beat white dads. This isn’t a racial thing - it’s a cultural and spiritual thing. Statistic bear out that this is a huge problem within the black community, and you can’t solve it by throwing more money at it (which ironically, is ultimately probably what Obama would like to do). Culture can’t be fixed by political or economic action. You certainly can’t fix the problem by trying to sweep it under a rug, make it an unspeakable subject, or otherwise trying to hide what is obvious. Obama did not perpetuate a sterotype of dead beat absent black fathers. Obama threatened the sterotype of dead beat absent black fathers. He threatened it by altering the culture that makes it acceptable, and by castigating it creates in the hearer the impression of the possibility for change.

You are the one furthering negative sterotypes here.

Jun 17, 2008 - 9:25 pm sestamibi:

Gringo said:

Perhaps Hutchinson was referring to the following data.

“young Afro Americans” 35.7% unemployment rate in January 2008
Overall 9.2% for blacks in January 2008, compared to 4.4% for whites

Point taken, but let’s put it in perspective: Just how many “young Afro Americans” does this include? Out of a total black population of about 36 million, there are probably about 1 million in the 18-21 year old age bracket (of course, one can make one’s own definition of “young” to suit any purpose), so our entire public policy and huge outlays of cash are built around the 357,000 so unemployed (and maybe 200,000 males among them at that)? Out of a labor force of over 150 million???!?

Jun 17, 2008 - 9:25 pm Javelin:

Now Dr. Hutchinson, next Khalid Muhammed of the NBPP will be featured on PM, as long as he trashes Obama.

Jun 17, 2008 - 9:43 pm Batman:

From my vantage point, in Memphis, TN, urban black culture is literally bastardized and broken by out-of-wedlock births, absentee fathers, crime, drugs, lack of work ethic, and shunning of educational achievement. It’s way past time for the black community to take its blinders off and find a new direction other than “keeping it real.”

Jun 17, 2008 - 9:45 pm Jim:

Whenever I hear people trying to make excuses for the failures of the urban (emphasis on urban, because these issues aren’t typically relevant to any outside urban areas) Afrian-Americans, I have a simple question to which there is never a good answer:

The poorest of the poor people in this country are white people in the hills of Appalachia. If poverty is the actual cause of violence and rampant lawlessness, why is their crime rate near absolute zero and the percentages of unwed parents among the lowest in the country?

Real answer? Because they have character….

Jun 17, 2008 - 10:10 pm Josh:

As one who taught in an urban school, let me tell you this quite simply: It isn’t the schools who fail. It’s the parents who fail.

What incentive does a kid have to graduate high school, when his or her mother, father, or both, don’t instill the value of education? I saw it every. single. day. The kids in these economically depressed areas - white, black, hispanic, whatever - didn’t care.

They didn’t care.

Don’t blame the bottom line on the bosses when they can’t fire unproductive employees.

Jun 17, 2008 - 11:55 pm Jim Rockford:

Hutchinson is just plain WRONG.

Look at any rap video — the Urban Black community celebrates single motherhood and the example of Black Celebrities (rappers and the NBA) who father multiple children and don’t take any responsibility.

Look at Karl Malone, one of his illegitimate kids is now in the NFL, Malone got his mother pregnant at 13. This is by no means unusual, it’s the norm in the inner city. Where 90% of all births are illegitimate.

Black women just are not interested in getting married, they’d rather have three kids by three different fathers. And white women are not that far behind him, that noted “racist” Juan Williams reports that 25% of White births are illegitimate and 50% of all births in the UK. With almost no illegitimacy among Hindu and Muslim immigrants that means the White births are almost entirely illegitimate.

It’s WORSE in the Black Community. Black men are profoundly hostile to being responsible fathers, and black women select the most irresponsible, thug-like tough guys for fathers, but the white illegitimacy rate went from 4% in 1960 to around 25% today. In Britain it was non-existent in 1960, today half of all births.

This at a time when obesity suggests poverty is not the answer, rather culture.

Jun 17, 2008 - 11:59 pm davod:

I recall reading recently that the greatest number of out of wedlock births is now occurring in the Latino community.

Jun 18, 2008 - 1:29 am jvon:

Someone made a great point earlier that poverty should make you work harder — that was certainly the effect it had on me, and it left a lasting impression.

Jun 18, 2008 - 1:40 am sbourg:

TO MR GONZALEZ (from Spain):
Yes, I’ll write 5-10 ideas (and all should be done!)…. all enforceable, practical, and CHEAP for taxpayers, to solve this problem…….tonight……after I go to work for 10 hours to provide for my wife and 3 kids (and paying for college is a bitch!). So check out tomorrow and the painful and politically incorrect solutions will be posted! Government officlals and politicians sure as hell don’t mention them (unfortunately) or open them up for public debate! But they are as obvious as the nose on our faces! And one vital, HUGE part of the problem is described by “Boca Condo King” about illegal aliens!

Jun 18, 2008 - 4:04 am DWPittelli:

“black fathers who aren’t in the home are much more likely to sustain regular contact with their children than absentee… fathers of any other ethnic group”

Perhaps, but this is not the only relevant statistic, if black fathers are more likely not to be in the home than are fathers of other ethnic groups.

Jun 18, 2008 - 4:54 am DWPittelli:

“Obama commits the cardinal error that every critic from the legions of sociologists, family experts, politicians and morals crusader Bill Cosby who have hectored black men for being father derelict have made. He omits the words “some,” “those,” or “the offenders” before black fathers. Instead, he makes, or at least gives the impression, that all, or most, black men aren’t in the home, and are irresponsible.”

Did EOH read the article?

“Too many fathers are M.I.A, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes,” Mr. Obama said, to a chorus of approving murmurs from the audience…. Mr. Obama noted that “more than half of all black children live in single-parent households,” a number that he said had doubled since his own childhood.

Jun 18, 2008 - 4:58 am Batman:

I’ve never been a religious fanatic, but as I grow older, I have come to believe more and more that bastardy (out-of-wedlock births) has become a cancer that may destroy our civilization. Just look what it has done to the urban black community, and it is rapidly spreading to other groups. I see the consequences every day where I live: aimlessness and directionlessness among young men, gangs, crime, drugs, poverty, lack of education and work ethic. Its literally Lord of the Flies played out. I have come to accept that the government has a compelling interest in providing incentives to marriage.

Jun 18, 2008 - 5:51 am edh:

Quote: “study…found that black fathers who aren’t in the home are much more likely to sustain regular contact with their children than absentee white fathers, or for that matter, fathers of any other ethnic group.”

This finding does not address the overall incidence of black fathers who “aren’t in the home.” If a much larger proportion of black fathers “aren’t in the home” it shouldn’t be surprising to find a larger proportion by default “sustain regular contact,” which I suppose could be construed as simply the easiest way to avoid financially supporting those children.

Jun 18, 2008 - 5:51 am Jonathan:

You destroy your own thesis in the second paragraph. Who cares about “…black fathers who aren’t in the home…”? How about black fathers, period?

Go back, get the relevant statistic, and then try to make your case, if there’s one to be made.

Jun 18, 2008 - 6:02 am bandit:

“rampant job discrimination”

Against the unskilled, uneducated and unmotivated

Jun 18, 2008 - 6:30 am Stallywood:

I suppose it is too much to ask, that Black Women be taken to task for their part in this. After all, they are poppin out the babies and are according to a recent study STD ridden. I remember when one of them accused me of being a white boy for receiving an A on a test in High School. That attitude is just the tip of the iceberg…. I could go on an on, about the black work ethic and your an uncle tom\punk if you aint banging attitude, but I took my good grades to Universtity retired from the Navy, and now dont give a damn.
Stally

Jun 18, 2008 - 6:45 am Jim:

The argument seems to be that if you factor in other marks of irresponsibility (unemployment, poverty, etc.), black fathers are no more guilty of absenteeism than their equally irresponsible peers.

This argument form commits us to accepting that criminals are not to be faulted for their criminality since they are no more given to crime than their peer group: criminals.

The argument form makes excuses for irresponsibility, a soft bigotry. I hold blacks to I higher standard.

Jun 18, 2008 - 7:01 am Flashlighter:

Not one quote from the actual speech. Not one. You have to work pretty hard to so completely misrepresent someone.

Jun 18, 2008 - 7:30 am Joe Buzz:

Ive suffered from bad choive…that stuff will mess you up.

Ben for pres
Dark Helmet for VP!

Jun 18, 2008 - 9:16 am Nikki:

When will the excuses end? Black fathers be MEN and stop making excuses for any less.

Jun 18, 2008 - 9:38 am Rob Schick:

The only topic I agree with Obama is ..”too many irresponsible black fathers “….he didn’t say “all”…If a large percentage of black men are dropping out of school and doing crimal activities,of course their not going to succeed…Until more black become self reliant, quit accepting government welfare, living in government housing they can expect to fail….If blacks would follow the oriental template..they would be as well off as the orientals..!

Jun 18, 2008 - 10:13 am Rob Schick:

I live in San Diego….we have some African blacks called “lost boys”…they were refugees , orphaned in a civil war…they came here unable to speak English, uneducated, unfamiliar with the modern world…yet they all overcame this to became successful go to college and find good jobs….so whats excuse does and American black have for not doing well in todays America..?…of course…they don’t have one !

Jun 18, 2008 - 10:25 am submandave:

Like most here I agree that the poverty predominant in urbal black society is more a symptom than a cause. Unfortunately, most effort I see to fix the problem relies upon changing the thought processes, behavior and motivation of young black men, something I doubt will ever happen. People will often change only if the perceived cost of changing is less than that of not changing, and for many young black males living in poverty a change to become more responsible only promises more “pain.” I think a greater potential for success would focus on those whose pain can be bettered: the young black females who end up being the single mothers from which the cycle perpetuates.

Simply put, if a large number of young black females in poor neighborhoods refused to submit to the animal desires of their erstwhile “baby daddy” until that young man demonstrated responsibility and commitment, then you’d see a lot more young males do what it took in order to get some. By trying to aleviate the social and economic effects of single motherhood we have, essentially, made it not “painful” enough to choose to avoid. Women can exert a civilizing effect upon man when afforded sufficient power, and sufficient power is already ensconced in US law. Make single motherhood more “painful” and less women will choose that path. Likewise, more will exert their control to ensure that when they do become mothers they do so under the least painful circumstances, in essence forcing their partner/husband to help establish those circumstances.

As the old joke goes, women have the power because they have half the money and all the *****.

Jun 18, 2008 - 11:51 am Ed Wallis:

submandave: “Unfortunately, most effort I see to fix the problem relies upon changing the thought processes, behavior and motivation of young black men, something I doubt will ever happen.”

SO then, why on earth do you think it will “ever happen” with “young black” women?!

Don’t hold your breath….

Maybe instead: simply curtail the lifeline of taxpayer support for irresponsible baby-popping fools and, IN THE INTEREST OF THE CHILDREN, remove them from the toxic parents and (understood, over time) place them with more responsible adults.

Jun 18, 2008 - 12:21 pm kwo:

“Rebekah Levine Coley, in a comprehensive study on the black family, found that black fathers who aren’t in the home are much more likely to sustain regular contact with their children than absentee white fathers, or for that matter, fathers of any other ethnic group. The study is not an obscure study buried in the thick pages of a musty academic journal. It was widely cited in a feature article on black fathers in the May 19, 2008 issue of Newsweek.”

The Newsweek article mentions Coley’s study, but doesn’t say anything about absentee black fathers maintaining contact with their families. It only asserts there’s a correlation between unemployment and absentee fathers.

That’s a flat-out mischaracterization. If the study does in fact back up Hutchinson’s claim, he needs to rewrite the story with a link to actual supporting data.

Jun 18, 2008 - 12:38 pm Behihoo:

Anyone who denies poverty is a huge part of the problem isn’t paying attention. It’s a vicious circle, with poverty feeding on self-destructive behavior, and on and on.

However, poverty isn’t the only answer. You state that “Obama presents absolutely no evidence to back up this devastating indictment,” but you then say “When income, education, individual background, and middle-class status are factored in the gap between black and white children who live in intact, two-parent households is much narrower.”

Where’s the data? How much narrower? If it’s only slightly narrower, even after correcting for money, education, and class, then you have to agree that the major factor causing the fatherless homes is not income and class and education.

Please provide the data.

Jun 18, 2008 - 3:09 pm Buckeye Tom:

I have to admit, when I first heard of Bill Cosby ‘s remarks, a few years back, I thought he made sense. However, after reading this article, I’m beginning to have doubts.

“The worst case estimate is that slightly less than half of black children live in fatherless homes. But that’s only a paper figure. When income, education, individual background, and middle-class status are factored in the gap between black and white children who live in intact, two-parent households is much narrower.”

I thought Cosby was talking about actual flesh and blood children. However, after seeing Mr. Hutchinson’s brilliant statistical analysis, I now see those children only exist on paper. I agree with Mr. Hutchinson. We should not concern ourselves with fictitious children. There is no social issue here. It’s only a matter of using a little creative accounting.

So, kudos to Mr. Hutchinson for dispelling that myth. However, I’m deeply disappointed that in the course of dispelling that myth, Mr. Hutchinson decided to perpetuate the “unemployed black man” myth.

“The chronic near Great Depression levels of unemployment, not to mention rampant job discrimination, endemic failing public schools, and stigma of a criminal record virtually condemn many young black men to wear the tag of societal failures as men and fathers.”

Mr. Hutchinson seems to miss the fact that the high number of unemployed African American males, is only a paper figure. If we compare black men who actually hold jobs, to white men (or any other ethnic group for that) who hold jobs, the employment rate is an identical 100%. So, the whole black employment issue, is being blown out of proportion, and requires no social response.

Jun 18, 2008 - 3:49 pm sbourg:

The solutions to these inner-city problems are always ignored, because there’d be pain involved. First, phase-out the illegal immigrants with strict laws for enforcement on them and employers, over a couple years, and this would help our citizens who’re unemployed and wages wouldn’t be so artificially depressed. Second, give one year warning and stop rewarding young women giving birth with no insurance and no money to pay our hospitals. They should be penalized for costing taxpayers $10,000 for the birth and countless tens of thousands more for the child they were unable to pay for. Penalized by whatever means necessary to reduce the chance of it happening again. Third, get the govt (aka taxpayers) out of the housing and food stamp market. If people need food for subsistence living, then set up a hundred food centers with one cheap nutrient-enhanced food and make the people bring their own damn bowl and spoon…..we have to encourage some kind of responsibility for people who don’t even have money to buy their own food. Next, get tough on crime, with very long prison sentences and send them to a warmer-weather prison, tent-cities, in the south like Sheriff Joe’s in Arizona. No amenities, and one type of cheap food. Next, reduce the govt services and number of govt jobs. These programs started in the 1930s and 1960s and they’ve become too much burden on the taxpayers. Next, give some substantial “reward” to middle-school and high school grads. And lastly, reduce taxes for everyone ( and eliminate property taxes) so that paychecks go farther and the economy gets more vibrant. All this adds up to more capitalism, less welfare, and tougher on illegal aliens and crime. Not complicated, but not politically correct either, with our Democrat politicians and voters. Therefore, unfortunately, it ain’t gonna happen, but it’s the only chance.

Jun 19, 2008 - 3:49 am Ed Wallis:

sbourg,

How DARE you ask people to be responsible for the consequences of their actions! What else do you expect them to do - think for themselves and be free?!!? /sarc

Jun 19, 2008 - 4:56 am The Don:

Mr Hutchinson…. I believe the relationship you posit between single parenthood and poverty is exactly the reverse of reality. More African American children live in poverty BECAUSE they live in single parent homes, not the reverse. And those homes attain their single parent status because the father is not present.
You sound as if you are a black father outside the home. I could be wrong, but I am interested in knowing…..

Jun 19, 2008 - 5:31 am Smarty:

Buckeye, you are the sort of fool that the MSM and the Democratic party count on.

I believe the behaviorists call it “Easily Misled”.

Jun 19, 2008 - 5:46 am bringbackmalcolm:

It puzzles me how deftly apologist can dance around irresponsible behavior with ’stastitics’. You don’t need trigonometry to figure out 2 + 2. Take a trip to any innercity and ask the young men you find hanging around if they have any children out of wedlock(and how many different mothers). Oh, and ask them why. It is not poverty, incarceration (since they weren’t incarcerated at conception) - they do this because they think it’s OK. And, while I am at it, the young women who “allow” it have to take a hit too, because they also think it’s OK . Ironically, these same young men think that they are “good” fathers because their idea of fatherhood is completely skewed. Hustling up some money to buy a Baby Phat outfit and a pair of Timb’s fits the bill for them.
So then what? The mother goes downtown to get assistance, the father has an order of support taken out. I’ve personally known some of them to quit their jobs when their wages are garnished. Others lose their license (for years!), so now they can’t buy a car to get to the jobs that pay. But it’s a cycle that they see everyday and seem comfortable with repeating.
The problem is not the Obama’s and Cosby’s, but those whose noses are in numbers and not on the ground. We need NAACP chapters (and the like) on the corners, not on the steps of Capital Hill.

Jun 19, 2008 - 6:57 am Buckeye Tom:

Smarty,

Perhaps it’s time you come up with a new screen name. I was clearly being scarcastic in my previous post.

Jun 19, 2008 - 8:23 am SukieTawdry:

It’s not that Democrats and the left don’t understand the havoc they wreaked in the black community with their welfare state. They do. But it would never do to admit what colossal failures the Great Society and War on Poverty programs were. It would never do to admit that not only did they not achieve their goals, they actually exacerbated the conditions they were intended to alleviate or, at the very least, mitigate. And it would never do to take one of their core constituencies to task. Much better to leave them needy, dependent and pliant.

This is why the left embraces Hillary’s village. Good conscience won’t allow them to leave this community to its own devices–it wouldn’t be fair to the children. And political considerations won’t allow them to institute common-sense reforms like school choice. Nor would it do to put pressure, financial or otherwise, on folks about their lifestyle choices.

So, what to do? Well, just have the government assume control of the children at the earliest age possible and raise them in the village of government-run daycare, preschool, school and after-school programs instilling in them along the way all the proper values. With any luck, they can keep the negative influences of family and community to a minimum. Not only will the village raise the child, it will raise him to embrace the “right” values and shun the “wrong.” It will build future citizens programmed to carry on the work of the village. In time, we will question why parents and the traditional family are necessary at all.

Barack talks the talk all right, but the walk he walks leads straight to Hillary’s village.

Jun 19, 2008 - 8:44 am Rocket88:

Your citation to the Coley study is misleading. According to the 1997 Statistical Abstract of the United States (sorry, I couldn’t find more recent data), 57.7% of all black children are raised in fatherless homes, as opposed to 20.9% of white children and 31.8% of Hispanic children.

So yes, in response to your rhetorical question, the majority of black fathers do appear to be absentee.

I agree — poverty may be a key figure in that statistic. But that underscores another problem: don’t have children you can’t support.

Jun 19, 2008 - 9:16 am ak:

Re the Lost Boys who came here as refugees:

I used to ride a crosstown bus in a big city, usually with many of the same people. I often ended up sitting near two African immigrants who were always perfectly dressed. They would discuss their stock portfolios in great detail, when they weren’t talking about their kids’ education and achievements. This stood in stark contrast to the homegrowns on the bus. Their conversations usually consisted of making disgusting, obscene comments about women and complaining that they couldn’t get or keep jobs because everyone was against them.

When your “culture” consists of demented, simple-minded narcissism–being perpetually insulted while at the same time having absolutely no respect for anything or anyone else–it’s no real surprise that you’re just the latest in a long line of failures. No welfare checks or victimhood rhetoric is going to fix that.

Jun 19, 2008 - 9:29 am rvastar:

When your “culture” consists of demented, simple-minded narcissism–being perpetually insulted while at the same time having absolutely no respect for anything or anyone else–it’s no real surprise that you’re just the latest in a long line of failures. No welfare checks or victimhood rhetoric is going to fix that.

While I would have said “When black popular culture consists…” (let’s not forget that are MILLIONS UPON MILLIONS of honest, hardworking, law-abiding black Americans out there)…this may be the best summation of the disease that’s ravaging a HUGE segment of the black population that I’ve ever come across.

Well stated, ak.

And I’ll say it again:

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.

Jun 19, 2008 - 9:53 am bblum:

Fathers everywhere are missing in kids lives, there is no color to being a loser. And poverty is everywhere no color there either as far as I’ve seen. I am so sick of talking about color, can’t we be judged on an indivuidal actions? I’m fifty years old and blacks want justice from something that happened years ago, and I’M TIRED OF IT…everyone has the same feet to walk to work, the same body to keep clean, if you choose to do this is on you alone it’s time to get on with life…

Jun 19, 2008 - 10:29 am ak:

“Well stated, ak.” Thanks! I agree that there are lots of hard-working black Americans out there. Always have been. In fact, I almost added something about how race issues are becoming class issues. I should’ve clarified, but I don’t consider that those normal, hard-working people share the culture of moronic narcissism. That’s why they’re not failures.

Jun 19, 2008 - 10:30 am Ruth Werre:

The Illegitimacy rate for blacks is at 70% (and for the white race its not much lower) but
Where has Earl been? One good example is that football player who the Broncos just let go. You know the dude who fathered 8 children with 8 different women!! Unbelievable.

This statement is so correct!!
With the left, it’s always economics that determines character, when in reality it’s character that determines economics.

RW

Jun 19, 2008 - 10:49 am Scooter:

pretty sure I stumbled onto the wrong website, but agree with some of what has been said. Smarty doesn’t get irony. That’s ironic. With the sixties, black middle class families were allowed to buy middle class homes in white suburbs (remember Raisin in the Sun?) and mainstream into society at large. What followed was huge emigration of the black professional and middle class out of thriving segregated communities where they had been forced to live. Black communities that once had a diverse population of wealth, professionals, male role models, civic pride, were left with only the poorest of the poor who were too poor to move out. The problem is exacerbated to this day. Once occasional cream does rise to the top, an inner city kid gets into an Ivy League school, etc. they also will flee. Never to return. So there is an enormous brain drain in the inner city, where anyone with brains and talent gets out. Leaving only the stupid to mate with the stupid, creating ever more stupid babies.

Jun 19, 2008 - 1:20 pm Playin Possum:

Scooter bloviates:

“Once occasional cream does rise to the top, an inner city kid gets into an Ivy League school, etc. they also will flee. Never to return. So there is an enormous brain drain in the inner city, where anyone with brains and talent gets out. Leaving only the stupid to mate with the stupid, creating ever more stupid babies.”

HMMM… Isn’t return to the city exactly what Michelle and Barak did?

Jun 19, 2008 - 5:03 pm Scooter:

HMMM… Isn’t return to the city exactly what Michelle and Barak did?

Yes. Good point. It’s called the exception that proves the rule. They made a conscious decision to return. But one couple does not constitute an entire black middle class. And it’s a safe bet they will not be choosing to raise teenage daughters there.

Jun 19, 2008 - 9:25 pm Scooter:

For the record, I’m a yellow dog democrat and I consider Michelle and Barak an exceptional and remarkable couple. Which is why they stand out. I will happily vote for Barak in November. But B&M will not have their teenage daughters attend the local public high school on the south side of Chicago. I’m okay with that. And the south side of Chicago is nothing compared to Jersey City, Bed-Stuy, the South Bronx, East St. Louis, Compton, etc. There is no middle class-merchant class-professional class there. Except for the exceptional and remarkable couple here and there who choose to return before they start a family. Don’t expect them to slum there at the expense of their children.

Jun 19, 2008 - 10:32 pm Tom:

I have heard all this sort of “logic” over so many issues for so long–it is not as bad as you say–therefore it is not a problem.

In the issue of influence as directed at a minority–the majority is bad too.

There is a paragraph in the article that gives “the truth” to the problem. These are the real areas where society needs to affect changes.
The facts are not actually disputed by Mr. Obama. He has a solution. The solution is to instill better values to meet the challenges of the same “problems” that this author cites.

The goal of “character building within individuals is dismissed as–it is already done.

Having individuals who are better equiped to function, mentally, emotionally, and socially through better family relations can’t hurt the cause to sove these other problems that are cited.

People who have skills are more employable–skills are the product of training–training is produced in children through a good relationship with an adult–parents are the ones who have the best access to the most children.I am being serious with that last statement–many children are raised by adults who are not parents through orphanges and various governmental relief agencies and the care is often inferior because of a lack of attachment between the caregiver and the child.

Jun 20, 2008 - 2:03 am Kay:

Regardless of the details and politics of the matter, it does amuse me when Obama attempts to understand ‘black America’, as if he has a clue.

Jun 20, 2008 - 9:40 am SeattleMan:

I’m pretty sure Obama is just setting up for more taxes to fund more government programs. Calling on men to be more involved and responsible parents will have zero impact on any community, black or not.

First off, men have zero input and control over whether a woman has a baby at all. Remember it is their body and their choice.

To penalize a man with 20 years of child support just for having sex with a woman, when she has over 20 forms of birth control available to her, not to mention, abortion, adoption and abandonment options is either a perverse form of prostitution or slavery.

Government programs provide social, legal and FINANCIAL incentives to women to have and raise children without fathers. It is unlikely that individual, well-intentioned and responsible men that are willing to “do the right thing” can compete with the federal machine.

Jun 20, 2008 - 12:24 pm Rev. George Brooks:

Why is it no black men want any black man to say anything about black men who don’t want to care for their black children? And I should refer to any such black dudes as black boys or kids, because ANY real man of any race is one that possesses responsibility about mostly all things, but especially about his children. But will Earl Ofari Hutchinson please explain why he, like most black males, does not want anyone to say a damn thing about black dudes that will not be true fathers to their sons and daughters? Now he and other black brothers are uptight and bent out of shape about Barack Obama’s recent statements concerning this issue, just as they get all steamed up when Bill Cosby voices advice to these irresonsible black boys all across America. When, in fact, we need more black leaders taking up this issue and speaking out about it. In fact, we need to be holding forums and workshops all over the nation to educate these “overgrown, irresonsible boys, making babies, who refuse to be fathers.” And I am Rev. George Brooks, PO Box 11311, Murfreesboro, TN. 37129. (615) 494-9056.

Jun 20, 2008 - 12:36 pm RIch Rostrom:

SeattleMan:

If a man doesn’t want to have children, he has a lot of options. He can get a vasectomy. He can use a condom. He can keep his pants zipped! It’s his body and his choice. Men have a lot of input and control over whether women have their babies. 99.999% of women who have babies have them after men have sex with them. 99.999% of those men had sex willingly. 90% or so of the sex acts were initiated by men.

Men put a lot of pressure on women to have sex with them. Men make huge efforts developing “game”. Men seek out women who are vulnerable - the very young, for instance. Men threaten and manipulate women. Men drug women. Men rape women.

Male irresponsibility is not the sole cause, but it is a very large part of it. Custodial parenthood is a huge burden - physical, emotional, financial. Women who are raising children deserve the support of the fathers of those children - preferably in the context of marriage. If men evade marriage, they should still contribute. And not just with some t-shirts and gymshoes when they feel like it.

Jun 20, 2008 - 4:13 pm NB:

I find it interesting that no one’s mentioned this. While Obama does cite statistics on black families in the beginning of his speech he never once uses the terms “black fathers”, “black mothers”, “black families”, etc. Perhaps its just my “whitey” naivety but I took the speech as addressing fathers and familial issues of every color of person in America. To me it’s a bit egocentric that a black man can take such offense at a speech that, on reading the text of the speech, applies to everyone equally. Father’s no matter their color need to step up and family, no matter the background, need to raise the bar. Statistically the problem may be more evident in the black community but that’s a far cry from it being absent in every other community.

As a vehement anti-Obaman this is one attack I can’t get on board with. If anything I thought Obama was indicting absentee fathers, not black fathers.

For example, “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.” - I believe this applies to any absent father and any broken home.

Some may point to follow up the the previous quote: “You and I know how true this is in the African-American community.” But again, I don’t think Obama meant to single out the black community as a target for the entire speech only to relate that, although this is true everywhere, we in the black community (or I as a black man) know first hand. Had he cited statistics about Latino fathers, or said something like poor white folk know how true this is and cited those statistics the racial backlash would have been unbelievable.

It really is unreal that someone can assume he’s addressing solely the black community. Talk about looking for ways to be offended. C’mon people, the indictment was on absent fathers, not on black families specifically. Again though maybe my whiteness makes me naive.

As another example I’ll offer this quote. Obama is talking about single mother’s and the hard work that they (many at least) do to raise a child. He says “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.” As a white guy am I to assume that Obama thinks that only BLACK two parent families keep America’s foundations strong. No I assume that he means stable families as a whole. Earlier he says “We need to help all the mothers out there who are raising these kids by themselves.” Am I to assume he thinks we only need to help single BLACK mothers? One can’t assume he’s only addressing Black families for portions of his speech but families in general in other parts of his speech.

A more intelligent title would be, Obama, Lay Off Fathers. No need to “color” an issue with racism that wasn’t there. Because of it I’m forced to put the author in the same category as Wright, Farrakhan, Jackson, etc. A man who has imagined a racial slight where none existed. So sad and below par for PJM.

Transcript of speech so you can read it for yourself (as much as I hate to link to NYT): http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/us/politics/15text-obama.html?ref=politics

Jun 21, 2008 - 3:25 am Yes:

NB

I have noticed it. Thats just it. I don’t think any other media outlet would have given this article the time of day. But you see it’s perfect for the Agenda of this blog.

Jun 21, 2008 - 4:17 am Truth:

Ben
It’s true in some Black communities and I mean Ghetto types. There is a lot off pressure. But that is weak to fall victim to. I also went to a inner city school. I was cool, got dates played sports, got the grades, went to college, ect. I am doing fine. Didn’t you “crack” back (dozens). When the fools played that game with me. I told them they were “idiots” and then told them “I’m gonna be the man screw you”. And if we hung out and things didn’t seem right I left. Peer pressure isn’t new.

Now I live in a town that is 70% Black( The price was right). And guess what the Majority of kids go on to college, technical school and or the military. The big difference is This a town of homeowners. Not that that makes them any better I just want to point out the economic difference.

Jun 21, 2008 - 4:50 am chris:

Here’s the key graph of the foregoing piece:

“A month before Obama made this stereotypical and plainly false assertion, Boston University professor Rebekah Levine Coley, in a comprehensive study on the black family, found that black fathers who aren’t in the home are much more likely to sustain regular contact with their children than absentee white fathers, or for that matter, fathers of any other ethnic group. The study is not an obscure study buried in the thick pages of a musty academic journal. It was widely cited in a feature article on black fathers in the May 19, 2008 issue of Newsweek. There was no excuse then to spout this myth. The facts are totally contrary to Obama’s knock.”

Excuse me? How is this plainly false, apart from your saying so? What makes the BU study comprehensive, apart from you and Newsweek saying so? Google “Rebekah Coley + black + study” and you end up with the Newsweek article and Hutchison’s editorial. Hmmm. Is this an unpublished study, or one soon to be published? But oh no, this is no “obscure study buried in the thick pages of a musty academic journal obscure study.” That sort of study might be available for all of us to read!

“The facts are totally contrary to Obama’s knock.” How is that exactly? The ONLY fact you cite, Mr. Hutchison, is: “black fathers who aren’t in the home are much more likely to sustain regular contact with their children than absentee white fathers.” Uh, but isn’t the issue whether black fathers are more likely to be in the home in the first place? And you gotta admit, “contact” is a pretty neutral word. In my and your minds, I’m sure it connotes a doting father who re-arranges his weekend to make time for a baseball game with his son. But it probably also includes the dad who calls his kid to ask what mommy’s been up to and did she just get paid, or can you drive daddy to work today? And it would be useful to know the ages of the children, by race, when daddy left the home. Older kids are less likely to have regular contacts with their absent fathers than younger kids. Oh my bad, I forgot that the last fact I just wrote is just my opinion. I wouldn’t want you to mix up my facts with my prejudices.

Jun 21, 2008 - 12:03 pm kam:

dumb as hell. so poverty is the reason black men leave their families? so why is it that when black people were worse off economically
- post slavery, pre-civil rights - black men STAYED and did WHATEVER to keep their families together. lame ass excuse. 75-85% of black children lived in two parent homes in the earlier decades of the 1900’s - black people had much less wealth. we are now looking at the fruit of a 70% illegitimacy rate during a time when blacks are multimillionaires and billionaires. CAN WE ALL JUST GET A CLUE!

Jun 23, 2008 - 9:58 am Are you Kidding???:

“Words, words, words. They don’t reach me.” The famous words in Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front can be interpreted many different ways, unless of course you have read the book. Not so here. After reading this piece, which I am surprised as hell was actually printed because it is so off-base and so poorly researched, I believe the following would suffice for the author (clearly blind and deaf to the conditions that exist around him): Reality, reality, reality. I just don’t get it. Shame on PJM for allowing such a distorted view to find light. I am not sure what result the editors were looking for, but then again, neither did the author, and that is clear to all who read the piece.

Jun 23, 2008 - 10:38 pm Percy:

I am sick of tired of Obama slamming black fathers to get political brownie points with mainstream white America and black women. Last time I had checked, half or more of white American house holds are raised by single women. I am a 37 year old college educated black male and this is so bad that I may not vote for Obama in the fall. How dare Obama attack black fathers for the last couple of Father Days. Why doesn’t Obama lecture white churches about personal responsibility when 50% or more of their households are raised by single or divorce white women? This just shows how out of touch Obama is with the black community. Obama’s black African dad divorce or left his mom and so did is Asian step dad. Black men do not have monopolies on dead beat dads, domestic violence, and crime. Tell me which is worse: A black man that has 5-6 kids by 5-6 women or a black woman that has 5-6 kids by 5-6 men? The main reason that black men are not in the households is that young black men and women between ages 15-40 fight like hell over every least little thing. Most black men are tired of working 8-12 hours days and some times even 2 jobs and coming home fighting and arguing with a black woman over everything. You have 3 choses: 1)You can sit there and take it and die of a stroke or heart attack at one of those premature ages. 2)You can continue to fight and argue, with may lead to violence. 3)You can leave and find another woman that you have more peace or get along with. You will not read this in neither Ebony nor Esscence Magazine, and definitely not see this on Oprah! I understand completely what Rev. Jackson was saying about Obama. In fact, some one needs to punch Obama in the mouth. Obama has more in common with the white immigrant experience than he does with the black American experience. This guy is not one of us. I love and care about the black community, but I am tired of black women, politicians, and the mainstream white media united in attacking blackmen for the last 25-30 years. Some one needs to call these people out for this nonsense. In the bigger picture, both black men and black women have a lot of cleaning up to do in our black communities, but this myth that black men are soley responsible for the demise of the black family and community needs to stop.

Jul 14, 2008 - 4:42 pm ruddyturnstone:

And where are the “single mothers” in all this, African-American or otherwise? These bad absantee fathers aren’t making these babies on their own, and then dumping them in the laps of poor, unsuspecting women, are they? High school girls and young women, of all races, are having unprotected sex with boys and men who are obviously not ready or willing, and often not even able, to be fathers emotionally or economically. The girls and women themselves are often not ready emotionally to be mothers, and are rarely financially able to pay for the baby’s needs on their own. Yes, the boys and men are irresponsible too. Both genders of whatever race are irresponsible. Both are to blame for children growing up with only parent, usually the mother, and in poverty. There are numerous forms of contraceptives out there. Often, they are made available free to women and girls. Even if they must be sexually active without being in a stable relationship with a man who at least might be father “material,” there is still no excuse for them getting pregnant. Again, this is not to say the boys and men are not without fault too; they too could have, and should have, either abstained or used contraceptives.

But Obama, Bill Cosby and all the rest of the lecturers, White and Black, always single out the African American men for their fire and brimstone. Where was Barky on Mothers’ Day, and what was he doing? I don’t know, but you can bet your bottom dollar that he wasn’t in Black church vituperating Black mothers for having babies with men who they know, or should know, aren’t going to be around for them emotionally or financially. If Barky, or anyone else, would even gently and softly mention such a thing, he or she would be crucified.

“Single mothers,” you see, are saints. How could they have known that the 16 year old high school boy they were having sex with would not make as good a father as Bill Cosby on his TV show? No, it’s all the big, bad, Black man’s fault. It must be. What a win-win situation for Barky. He knows that few to no African Americans are going to oppose him no matter what he says. He knows that many White Americans just love hearing Black people (which is something Barky pretends to be) talk shit about each other. And, in this case, he gets to do that without offending Black Women, or women in general.

Yep, Barky says, it’s all the Black man’s fault. Hear that Mr. and Mrs. Racist White American? Hear that Ms. Full of Shit Feminist? Hear that Black women? It’s all “our” fault. All these shiftless black men are just like my shiftless black father. We are to blame.

To which a Black man might legitimately respond: Who’s “we” white man?

Jul 28, 2008 - 12:40 am

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