For many black men, Father’s Day was a time for poignant memories rather than unbridled joy. Life in America for many blacks is challenging and full of frustration. The standard for attaining full manhood always seems just beyond reach, and black males are frequently blamed for many of society’s ills. Also, the criminal justice system is unjustly severe. A recent study by USA Today finds something that blacks have always observed — there is a “staggering disparity” in the arrest rates of black men across the country.
The standard in past generations is that men would become settled in life before they assume the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood. This was not always possible for blacks. In his study “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action,” the late Daniel P. Moynihan asserted 50 years ago that racial discrimination in employment was responsible for eroding the likelihood of marriage among African Americans.
As expected, African Americans had a high rate of out-of-wedlock births. At that time, the rate of black births to single women was 23.6 percent. That was eight times higher than the white rate. It seemed to be assumed that the black male was afflicted with an undisciplined libido. Welfare benefits were available only to women with children, and only when no man was present in the household. As a result, there were stories back then about welfare officials making surprise visits to assure that no man was cohabitating with a recipient of welfare benefits. Black leaders mistakenly attacked the Moynihan report as an attempt to defame African Americans.
Who would have predicted that the birth rate to unmarried white women would ever exceed the 1965 rate for blacks? The U.S. white rate in 2013 was 35.8. Elsewhere, more than half the children in Scandinavian countries are born to unwed mothers. Nonetheless there has been no outcry condemning sexual decadence there. The major concern seems to be that social programs should enable both parents to cohabit if they choose in order to provide children with a beneficial family environment.
Here at home, joblessness and insensitive welfare policies damaged the development of black families. Then the criminal justice system delivered another blow. USA Today discovered that “at least 70 [police] departments scattered from Connecticut to California arrested black people at a rate 10 times higher than people who are not black.” They also found that 1,581 police departments arrest a disproportionate number of blacks. Consequently, a disproportionate number of black men are incarcerated.
The New York Times reported that 1.5 million black men are missing from community life because of incarceration or premature death. There are only 83 men from 25-54 years of age for every 100 women in that age bracket. Despite this disparity, black fathers still perform well as caregivers when compared with white and Latino men in similar circumstances. This was the conclusion of a December 2013 report from the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
It is time for America to remove the social minefields that prevent many black men from attaining productive and creative lives.
