Bernard Goldberg said is straight and made it plain when it comes to problems with some Black households. I saw him on Bill O’Reilly’s show the other day and he was the highlight. I’m not the biggest fan of Bill O’Reilly, but he was advertising with such glee that Jesse Jackson would be on his show, so I decided to watch. As usual Jackson gave his usual drivel. I just wanted to see how FoxNews would handle their obvious and continual efforts to court Jesse Jackson and keep this Liberal nut case in the public eye as a so-called Black Leader. In all honesty, Bill and FoxNews continually chasing after Jesse Jackson only enables the Civil Rights Industry, that Jesse Jackson is a pseudo-CEO in. But I’m glad they allowed Bernard Goldberg a moment to speak, because he cut through all the garbage and let those who cry about racial issues know the real deal.
“Martin Luther King Jr. Must be Spinning in His Grave”
Bernard Goldberg says it straight and makes it plain.
The golden quote from Goldberg:
You know what, we can trace all this back to slavery, but guess what, the slave holders aren’t coming back to fix it. You know who else isn’t gonna fix it? The White bigots aren’t gonna fix it. And you know who else isn’t gonna fix it? Government! They can’t make a 15 year old girl not have sex and have a baby. They could write laws and say you have to go to school, but they can’t make a Black kid get an education.
Percentage wise, more Blacks attend Christian church meetings than others, but Blacks continually and increasingly fail to exhibit a family unit as defined in scripture.
Matthew 19:4-6 (New King James Version)
4) And He answered and said to them, ?Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ?made them male and female,?
5) and said, ?For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh??
6) So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.?
Even Bernard Goldberg, while not being a Christian realizes that God’s order for a family unit WORKS. It’s an order that Blacks have progressively lost over time and progressives have known this for decades. Regardless of all the excuses we see today from the Liberal/Progressive types. Look at what a New York Democrat put out in 1965!
Daniel Patrick Moynihan underscores rising rates of single mothers and illegitimacy, divorce and separation, unemployment and welfare dependency among blacks.
Unstable black families threaten the fabric of black society in the U.S., writes Daniel Patrick Moynihan in his famous 1965 report, The Negro Family: the Case for National Action. Moynihan, then assistant Secretary of Labor and later a U. S. senator, underscores rising rates of single mothers and illegitimacy, divorce and separation, unemployment and welfare dependency among blacks.
… Men Leaving Families: A growing proportion of black men are leaving their wives, writes Moynihan. Though the percentage of abandoned or divorced wives among whites also increased between 1950 and 1960, it never toped 10% for most age groups.
Husbands are absent or divorced in 22.9% of non-white families compared to 7.9% of white families living in urban areas.
In northeastern urban areas, 26% of once-married black women are divorced, separated or have absent husbands.
… Divorce Rates Rising While the divorce rate for blacks and whites was equal in 1940, by 1964 the non-white divorce rate was 40% higher. As a result, writes Moynihan, very few black children grow up with both parents present.
…
Moynihan says that the result of these trends is that almost 25% of black families are headed by women, nearly double the rate for white families.
… Black Welfare Dependency is Rising
The disintegration of black families is also marked by an increased rate of black welfare dependency, writes Moynihan. He notes that over 50% of black children receive AFDC benefits at some point during their childhood (vs. 8% for white children)
In 1964, 14% of black children and 2% of white children were receiving AFDC assistance. According to government estimates, most of the increase in welfare dependency from 1948-1955 can be attributed to a rise in broken homes. Since the creation of AFDC in 1935, the number of families lacking a father grew from 33% to over 66% in 1964, he adds.
…
Moynihan notes that after 1961, the number of AFDC cases opened grew even though the non-white male unemployment rate fell.
The greatest challenge to the equal rights movement is the disintegration of black society, due in large part to the disintegration of black families. Moynihan says that a concerted national effort is needed to strengthen the black family so that blacks can take advantage of new opportunities.
Liberal Moynihan knew the problem, but it’s time to admit government can’t offer the solution. The solution is mostly in the bodies of Black men, that need to stand up and decide they’ll be responsible men. Pray the Lord helps them find salvation and responsibility. Given 1 Timothy 5:8, no man can forsake his responsibilities and claim to be a Christian. Dead beat dads will burn in hell!
As a Black man, I don’t like having to say this stuff, but it’s the truth.
Hat tip to Uncle Tom Bill for that Moynihan report.
With your permission, sir, I discovered some interesting statistics regarding the post you gave that I’d like to give out. The statistics seem to give a good portrait of what the Black Family unit looks like today……& being Black Hispanic/a Human Services Major myself, it certainly served to alarm me to HOW DIRE THINGS ARE NOW.
In 1963, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “I have a dream,” more than 70% of black families were headed by married
couples. Today, 40 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, married couples head only 46% of black families.
More alarming, 45% of black men have never married and 42% of black women have never married.
Married black women declined from 62% to 31% between 1950 and 2002.
By age 30, only 52% of black women will marry compared to 81% of white women, 77% of Hispanics and Asians.
Only 6% of black men and 2% of black women marry Whites.
In 1970, just 33% of black women, age 20-29 were unmarried. By 1992, that number exploded to 70%.
“Black men and women are less likely to be married and more likely to divorce when we do marry.” -The Black
Commentator, Margaret Kimberley. Black Families – A Glass Half Empty and Half Full, April 23, 2004.
Parenting Portrait
70% of all black children are born out of wedlock.
65% of never-married black women have children, double that for white women.
22% of never-married black women with incomes over $75,000 have children, 10 times that of white women.
62% of black families with children are headed by a single parent.
85% of black children do not live in a home with their fathers.
Only 15-20% of black children born today will grow up with 2 parents until age 16.
Over 80% of long-term child poverty occurs in broken or never-married homes.
70% of African-American boys in the criminal justice system come from single-parent homes.
Abortion Portrait
43% of all black children are aborted, nearly 3 times higher than for Whites.
This fact is critical, since pastors and politicians
argue that the reason for the illegitimacy rates for Blacks being dramatically higher is because they claim, “Blacks seldom abort
their children.”
Over 15 million African-American babies have been aborted (killed by their mothers) since Roe v. Wade. This is 14 times the
total of all U.S. soldiers killed in all of America’s wars over 220 years from 1775 to present.
Blacks abort their babies 3 times that of Whites, a ratio that has grown by 50% since 1992.
“The top three moral crises facing the Black family are rooted in sexual immorality.” – Star Parker, President,
Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education (CURE).
Sexual Portrait
70% of all black children are born out of wedlock.
50% of all new AIDS cases are in the Black community which comprises only 12% of the population.
85% of all AIDS cases in Atlanta are black women.
A black woman is 25 times more likely to contract AIDS than a white woman and represents 72% of all women with AIDS.
African-Americans are 20 times more likely than whites to have gonorrhea.
AIDS is now the #1 killer of black women, age 25-44. “It’s devastating,” says Dr. Gayle E. Wyatt at UCLA AIDS Institute.
67% of black women with AIDS contracted HIV thru heterosexual sex.
Black men on the “down low” are having sex with other men behind the backs of their wives and girlfriends while claiming not
to be homosexual or bisexual (New York Times). A study among black men in 37 colleges in North Carolina revealed that of
the 84 men with HIV, 1/3 had had sex with men and women.
Black men in America engage in polygamous relationships, 3 ½ times that of White or Hispanic. In Cook County, Illinois, 21%
of black men had at least 2 partners. And, polygamy is more common among better educated black men who presumably have
more income (Univ. Of Chicago, “Sex and the City” study, Jan. 9, 2004).
Marriage for blacks “has become an alternative lifestyle. It’s considered nonessential.” -Andrew Lyke, Coordinator of
Marriage Ministry for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Chicago Sun Times
“Black women assume marriage will be monogamous. Black men don’t attach as much significance to monogamy.” -
Dr. Beverly Guy – Sheftall, Gender Talks
“There’s a huge level of distrust among young black men and women.” – Dr. Beverly Guy – Sheftell
“There is ‘an acute crisis’ in Black sexual politics creating a schism in Black male and female relations.” – EBONY, Nov.
2003
Why so-called “black leaders” aren’t speaking in outrage about this epidemic is beyond belief. Then again, they can’t address an issue that’s not true in their own lives – with the divorces and illegitimate children mounting up for them.
In watching the video, I must admit and cannot deny that Goldberg is right in addressing the issue regarding improper family structures in the black home. He states that 7 out of 10 black homes are fatherless and as a result, kids turn to crime or any abominable thing. This man was actually standing in the gap for some black so-called leaders whom doesn’t have the nerve to speak the truth. I don’t believe that we would be cut off as a race of people, although I must admit, it just seems and look impossible. Through the grace and love of God,and coming back to Him, we will rise again.
The media twisted O’Reilly’s words when they addressed the “dress” code. He was talking about the musicians in Anita Baker’s band verses the shameful dress code of the rappers. As for Jesse Jackson he is a spin miester who is all about himself. Jesse Jackson is a Pimp who exploits his own people for his own gain. Jesse Jackson is a racist by proxy from his exploitation of African Americans so he can get money and clout.
Media Matters Scatters makes it their business to do that sort of thing. A White guy can try and help his mostly White audience overcome their fears THAT HE KNOWS ARE THERE and for his efforts he’s branded a racist, by the Liberals who defend programs that murder babies and destroy families. Disproportionately murdering Black babies in abortion mills, that are mostly in minority communities and destroying families with social programs that encourage doing less for a check. Ask the elders who were around when welfare came and they’ll tell you how people suddenly wanted the check and lost a desire to work. In too many cases it breeds slothfulness. Even in Christian communes, the order was that you work or you don’t eat from the community pot, 2 Thessalonians 3:10.
When Jesse Jackson flip-flopped on abortion everyone should have figured out then that he’ll put his own goals above actually saving a life, in the richest nation in the world.
Honestly, though I understand where Goldberg is coming from, I think that it’s merely another case of treating the “symptoms” but not the “disease”.
As David Prowlison once said, “Diagnosis proceeds Cure”……..& in my humble opinion, the issue of the disentragation of the Black family is more than something which Blacks alone are responsible. Everyone has had a hand in this, paticularly MALES…..and more specifically, THE CHURCH!!!!
Read the WOrd of God & one will quickly discover that both the Hebrew and OT/NT society UNDERSTOOD their roles on the lives of children deprived of male leadership. ANd Scripture is laced with a call to care for those outside the bounds of a “normal family”:
Deuteronomy 10:17-19
17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 24:17
Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.
Psalm 10:18
defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
Psalm 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
Isaiah 1:17
learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.
Jeremiah 5:27-29
27 Like cages full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
they have become rich and powerful
28 and have grown fat and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it,
they do not defend the rights of the poor.
29 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the LORD.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?
James 1:27
27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
The issue with the disentigration of the Black family may be a mere symptom of the fact that all too often the modern church/society acts as if the fatherless children don’t exist, choosing to focus our energy on intact family units with one man & woman.
In preparation for an upcoming “Rite of Passage” conference to guide boys into godly manhood, I recently finished reading an EXCELLENT book entitled “Passed through Fire” by ChristianYouth Worker Rick Bundschuh (who happens to be white, lol
He does extensive work with young men of all races…..& HAS had many insightful insights on the issue of training boys to be men that have greatly helped me.
At one point, the author pointedly states, “Among the problems of our modern culture, childen who are fatherless as the result of divorce, casual parterning, or a womans’s single choice may prove to have the greatest negative repercussions of all. WITHOUT THE HELP of fathers, we are raising males who can’t find their way to being men.”
The author of the book described a study done in a nature Journal once showing how young bull elephants raised in a herd lost of all adult male members were easily agitated, became wild/destructive, killing and causing chaos at random. …..which of course wasn’t typical elephant behavior.
Destroying these violent youngsters seemed to be the only option……but then wildlife managers captured them, & shipped them off to a herd with a healthy population of adult males. The results were dramatic, for the young bulls settled down as the older males began to imprint “correct male elephant behavior” into them.
That study was what the author felt to be symbolic of our society as well, for what is true in the wild is also true in civilization….& a boy without the imprint of a good man will join together with other boys and turn toward the brutal, twisted, and desolate
As the author makes clear, “An imprint of a godly man on the heart of a boy forms the contours and diagram of what he needs to become. This by the way explains the reason gangs are so prevelant in urban cultures. The numbers of fatherless boys far exceeds that in the surburbs…..& the pull toward violence/cruelty is amplified in these situations. Repeat teenage pregnancies and unmarried liasons have produced streets filled with young boys desperate for a man’s guidance…..without nature to challenge; with limited places to release energy; without a father, grandfather, or positive male mentor, the boy views the streets as his proving ground….& the wrethced cycle of violence, sexual conquest, abandoment of children, substance abuse, and irresponsibilitiy repeats itself over & over again……& what ha been the norm for fatherless children in the inner city is quickly becoming the norm in the heartland”
Needless to say, I felt that the book was dead on the money, for MEN HELP BOYS TO BECOME MEN……& TOO often those with the privelage of seeing what a healthy family looks like will never take the time to enter into the lives of those who lack it & show male guidance. They simply sit back, look at the problems, & say “Blacks need to deal with it”…..when the reality is that it’s the responsibility of MEN—-REGARDLESS OF COLOR/RACE—to CARE FOR THE FATHERLESS.
Of course, idealy, the person to teach boys to become men are a young man’s own father….& there has been increased awareness in recent years by evangelicals of the NATURAL dynamics BETWEEN a father & a son & various resources/ideas to stregthen things, with some resources like Robert Lewis’s “Raising a Modern-Day Knight”, the Promise Keepers’ Passage program, & James Dobson’s “Bringing Up Boys”.
However, despite what many Christian men are doing to help their own sons, the reality is that doesn’t aid/adress the fact that for a enourmous amount of men, a picture of manhood is absent…..& no one wishes to get involved with it/wish to actually sacrifice by actively demostrating it, whether through mentoring or “big brother sister” programs & other venues.
Many are simply content to call out the problems they see but never go further than that…..
As a youth worker/deacon myself, I’m amazed at the effects that take place when those who know what it means to be men get involved in lives of black males without it. And even if the men weren’t black themselves, it was powerful nonetheless.
I was fortunate enough to have that myself/witness the difference. Growing up as single child, with a mother who was a foreigner & trying to make it through med-school, I was raised predominately by Godly women…..& though the Lord did TOO MANY AMAZING THINGS IN OUR LIVES, it was still different not having any male leadership in my life. When I got that, however, in the form of my step-father & other godly mentors later in life, it was amazing to see how much I developed.
They didn’t have to do so……..& many of them could’ve easily stepped back/watched my situation…enjoying the “positive family structures” they were privelaged to experience while simply saying of mine that it was a “Black Problem” & that we needed to help ourselves. But thank Heavens that they choose to get involved in my life…..despite their own issues or the children/families they were already raising….& realized the importance/duty of the local church/society to provide an imprint of MANHOOD for those in our community who lacked man in their lives.
Without it, I’d probably be apart of the statistics mentioned on Black families.
Sorry for the length of this post, but this is a very emotional subject for me…….but I hope someone feels where I’m trying to come from. The issue here with Blacks isn’t just a Black related problem. Everybody’s GUILTY, IMO.
I think the best comment Goldberg said was at the end of the interview, where he made clear what Whites often do with Black Problems. They’ll often keep quiet about things that they wouldn’t let people of the color get away with…..even people in general….when they know that it’s CLEARLY WRONG/In need of Adressing, but when it comes to Blacks, they’ll keep quiet.
As he said, “It’s White Racism/Paternalism”…….& I’m glad he pointed that out. As a Black Hispanic myself, I cannot tell you how often I’ve heard the phrase “Because they’re White, they don’t really know what Black issues are like/cannot speak into your lives”.
To a degree, I agree…..for it’s improper for one to get involved in the issues of another race and speak presumptiously without ever interacting/forming good relationships with people of that culture, understanding the culture they come from, never affirming/approving of the positive/godly characteristics inherent in that ethnicity/culture or not having ANY RESPECT/Empathy for the unique issues they deal with because it’s something they don’t deal with….consequently belittling/minimizing issues.
I used to go to private elementary school that had only black kids when I was younger…..& later in life, left the public school system to experience life at a Christian Highschool:
Seeing that the school was predominately white (& paticularly whites from rich, surburban areas) I was privy to seeing/hearing all of the constant conversations about racial issues like Affirmative action, Welfare, CALLING blacks the “N” word , & a host of other issues. Quite often , those who’d speak would be people never having close connections with the people in those situation & not understanding of the dynamics involved….& far too often speaking from their perspectives only as if that was how the world operated….& if I as a black person would try to adress the issues/inform them of how things were in the black community, the facts would be dismissed. I was extremely sadden for them, seeing that they were adding to the problem…….& seeing that I went to a MULTI-CULTURAL CHURCH, with people of all races/cultures involved & being forced to see issues from all perspectives, & THAT EVEN MY BEST FRIEND WAS WHITE (LOL), I was EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED QUITE OFTEN
However, I was also priveledged to associate in that school with many GODLY WHITE FRIENDS/TEACHERS….WHO TOOK the time to be respectful in not only understan ding the issues/seeing things beyond their privelaged perspectives/situations, but made certain that they adressed them from a Christian Worldview. The same happened with me regarding the issues they dealt with in White culture.
Due to that , we both learned from each other/care more deeply for one another. Moreover, we were more connected/in-tune with the issues plauging our society….& it didn’t matter when something was adressed as out of line with myself or in the Black Community…..
For they were doing it in a godly/respectful fashion, realizing that ISSUES ARE ISSUES, regardless of Race…..& all that matters is whether we have God’s Perspective on the matter. For anything less is futile.
“Wisdom Is Meaningless’
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is twisted cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.”
there are two kinds of wisdom highlighted in the book: (1) human knowledge, reasoning, or philosophy, and (2) the wisdom that comes from God. In these verses Solomon is talking about human knowledge……& the consequences that come from it.
For The more we know & understand, the more pain & difficulty you experience. For example, the more you know, the more imperfection you see around you………..
& when human knowledge ignores God, it ONLY HIGHLIGHTS OUR PROBLEMS because it cannot provide answers without God’s eternal perspective and solution……
& most Christians dealing with issues of ANY KIND fall at this point because they decided to investigate the study of it without first having a SOLID view of what the WORD OF GOD has to say on the issue of life.
I have traveled in many states in the US and was raised in the South. I know that absent fathers are a problem in African-American families. However, in the South, illiteracy, high school drop out, and teen pregnancies is a growing problem with whites and hispanics also. I don’t believe the statistics presented. When I lived in Arizona, a 12 year old Mexican gave birth, a 13 year old white girl gave birth. I have worked with statistics before and know that figures can be manipulated (or misrepresented) to sway an audience. Statistics are always questionable. The numbers can often be too small to represent the total population. What if the sample size was fabricated? By the way, do you also incorporate the number of remarriages by “all” races? Did you also add the number of “all” races who live together in common-law marriages? Are they considered married because the father is in the home? Frankly, immorality is happening in every race. No matter what your survey states…I see it in every race. It’s called “sin.”
I would like to say that although absentee fathers occurs across racial lines, blacks do have the highest rate of any race hands down. To be frank, you don’t need a survey for that. It is in our faces.
However, in the South, illiteracy, high school drop out, and teen pregnancies is a growing problem with whites and hispanics also.
And their rate of fatherless homes is increasing. The father helps maintain order.
I don’t believe the statistics presented.
Those presented in this post are from 40 years ago, see the current rates that are far worse here.
The numbers are a fair representation though.
Sin occurs in every race, but lets be honest that Blacks have some issues that have been known for decades that occur more often than in some other groups.
Yes, some fathers have neglected responsibilities. They have failed to stick it out for the sake of their children. However, you cannot make a man remain with his family; no more than you can stop a teen from having sex. Who are having the abortions if there are so many fatherless black families? Since, according to the statistics presented, black abortions ratio is 3 to 1 over whites? The issue goes even deeper than fatherless households. About the term “black-leaders”…why do black people have to have a leader? Are we suppose to be incapable for thinking or speaking for ourselves? I don’t recall a white person being called a white-leader. I think for myself and make my own decisions. That’s the way it has always been. I suspect that there are a lot of others who feel the same.
Regarding leaders I feel the same as you. As far as leaders of men I choose those on election day and those such as Jesse Jackson are never on my ballot and I would not vote for them anyway.
Then folks like Jesse and Al claim church leadership, which is about s bogus as the pulpit pimps. The church is not about race, so I can’t say I look for church leadership on the basis of skin tone.
The numbers are true, but you can dig deeper for yourself. Truth be told, it has been found that there are about 85%+ fatherless Black households in some heavily urban areas. The average overall is 70%. And the abortion rate is much higher than other groups too.
If men have no desire to stay with their children, then hey, the problem will continue and no, the church can’t make it all perfect although the church is to help. Sin has consequences. And 1 Timothy 5:8 shows a father leaving the family is one of the WORSE.
Though I’d venture to say that it’s the WORSE sin……especially in light of how the verse in I Timothy says you’re worse in your state than an unbeliever…
Though of course, coming from experiencing life in a fatherless household, I may be a bit bias (lol)
Ditto to your ditto Gxg. It might be the worst of all, given it is a deed even many unbelievers would never do.
In my comment above the percentages are for out of wedlock births, not fatherless homes. But the man who won’t commit is typically mobile.
And I also grew up in a fatherless home. Although it was not till age 5 when my parents divorced, so my situation is not exactly like some others. My dad was in the home till just before the divorce started and a phone call away afterward, so mom did have the “don’t let me call your father” threat to hold over my head.
Talk to any school teacher at a mostly Black school, they’ll tell you the deal. The percentages are real and they can prove it. Don’t blame them because Johnnie can’t read, Johnnie has no father at home and the school teacher can barely keep Johnnie quiet. Obviously there are exceptions such as you and I Gxg, but ask a teacher, they’re in the trenches while everybody else is playing armchair QB, telling them how to do the job of educating children.
Fathers bring discipline and a class without discipline is total chaos. Plus these days in most places, teachers can’t use the “rod” like way back when.
And I know from mentoring kids, the few with fathers in the home were usually far better disciplined.
Unbelievers such as the Jews, have a far lower out of wedlock birth rate. And they have far lower cases of most problems that can be measured with a statistic.
Fathers leaving their children has a negative impact that is felt in this life and the next.
As a black single mother, I cannot cast any stones for I am part of that statistic. At 29 years old and pregnant, the father left me. Until this day, I do not receive child support. He had the gall to take me to court for custody and visitation rights and the courts toss the case out. Sometimes, I get mad with myself because I felt that at 29 going on thirty,which is the age I gave birth, I should have known better, compared to a teenage girl. However in life, you are supposed to learn lessons through your trials or else, how can you have a testimony and teach others? The lesson for me should be this: Get to know the person that you’re interested in. Hold back your emotions and evaluate the relationship for what it is. I believe if many of us learn self-control, then we would least likely be in this condition. The sunny side to this is my beautiful 11 year old daughter who gives me joy. She is a honor student in middle school. She goes to church with my sister from time to time. In addition to bible study at her church, when she has questions about scriptures, she would ask me and I do my best. They told me when she was seven years old, while I was in New York because of my work schedule, they gave a religious outreach play. To make a long story short, she ran up to the pastor after the play and told him I want to give my life to Jesus. They did some sort of ceremony for her. She knows that Benny Hinn and most of these WOFers are fakes. However, she loves rap music and tonight, we were talking about Fifty-Cent. Most young kids love rap music but I explained to her that he is a bad influence. Well, I pray that one day, she see what I am talking about. It is good to know that the Lord still loves us and life goes on.
art123, the important thing is that your child knows the Lord. That’s better than all the money Mr. Goldberg will leave to his children. And better than Mr. Goldberg has himself.
Some of the “so-called leaders” have such shady family backgrounds themselves that these people are unable to chastise anyone in the black community.If you are paying child-support payments,can you promote family unity within the community? (when your own family situation is not right)?I remember when Jesse Jackson was being honored back in 1993 by the Stellar Awards and he boldly exclaimed something about how black men should “stop dropping babies in women’s bellies.”Jesse did not have a clue;he dropped one in someone’s belly.I am sighing sadly.
Well there’s also the issue that the “REVEREND” Jesse Jackson is in those few hypocritical moments where he actually addresses this, he’s calling people to what he sees as “moral values” (which for him includes women being able to kill babies via abortion if they wish), he’s not calling them to repentance through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanks for examples of single families with mothers who do the “right” thing; teaching the children. God does help take up the slack. I still contend that this is a problem in the white and hispanic race as well. I live in Atlanta, and I see just as many white and hispanic bums as blacks. These are probably the dead beat dads who would rather live aimlessly than pay child support. These “bums” panhandle, sleep with whomever (I’ve seen them), and are a poor excuse for a man. Does the lesser percentages for the other races make it better for that race? Even one percent of the ills noted in the poll is horrifying for each race. The stats prove that mankind in general is in bad shape. No matter the stats, it all amounts to sin, lack of responsibility and lack of committment by the men and women.
I lived in the Atlanta area for 10 years. Never once did I see a Hispanic begging for money on a street corner.
Trying to blur it as everybody has a problem, while a true statement, all mankind has a problem with sin, but this does nothing to address when a problem is most serious with a single group. Blacks have a serious problem and much of it stems from culture.
Nothing is gained by trying to basically say “look at them” when there is a problem more horrific with people who look just like you and me. When there is a fire, you spray water in the hottest spot. Spraying at the armchair that has only a few flames does little to help the house when the couch is engulfed in flames and causing fire to spread elsewhere. And trash culture spreads and breeds.
IC, I live in midtown currently, and there are bum hispanics; not as many as white and blacks; but they are here and the numbers will probably increase. So far as trashing a race; this appears to be prevalent in this blog. This blog is predominantly “look at the blacks.” But as I said, this shows that there is trouble in all races. All this philosophy on the ills of the “black race” makes good conversation. After all the stats and spraying water on the hottest spot, what does that solve? Obviously your water is not wet enough for the hottest spot. But I contend spraying water around the hottest spot, even the ‘armchair’ of that couch does help the flame from spreading. But are you really spraying water on it or standing back saying how bad it is? Is it because you don’t have a solution for such a big fire? Or it makes good topic in blogs? You say these blacks is one of you…really? The blacks in the stats probably don’t read this blog. So what’s the purpose of black bashing? Good philosophy.
Yes, this blog is very much “look at the blacks” because that is where the fire is hottest in many a regard when it comes to issues requiring adjustment. The trouble or “fire” with others is much smaller. Not that the whole house can’t use some water, but yes the hottest spots are in Black areas and noted here. No other group is killing their own to the degree that Blacks do it. No other group is disregarding family responsibilities to the degree Blacks do it. And no other group disrespects themselves as much in mass media as Blacks do.
Yes, I’m all over Blacks’ case and not going to stop.
I have the solution, that’s why I’m blogging from my house, staying with my wife and family and encouraging other men to do the same. No, the thugs are not reading my blog much, but sometimes. You’re reading my blog though. And maybe when you see a man in your family acting up you’ll be encouraged to continually admonish him.
If I wanted to be popular and write about things that make for good discussion on a blog, I certainly would take the opposite approach, which Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have proven is more effective if self promotion is the goal.
There’s millions of blogs out here. This one is not going to change. So if you don’t like it, start your own or find another.
Very cool post, but you know that Goldberg will be called a racist for what he said.
People today seem to have forgotten the true meaning of the word “racist” and throw it out there everytime they hear something they don’t like, especially when it is the truth.
October 4th, 2007 at 10:46 am
IC,
With your permission, sir, I discovered some interesting statistics regarding the post you gave that I’d like to give out. The statistics seem to give a good portrait of what the Black Family unit looks like today……& being Black Hispanic/a Human Services Major myself, it certainly served to alarm me to HOW DIRE THINGS ARE NOW.
http://www.saveus.org
Marriage Portrait
In 1963, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declared, “I have a dream,” more than 70% of black families were headed by married
couples. Today, 40 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, married couples head only 46% of black families.
More alarming, 45% of black men have never married and 42% of black women have never married.
Married black women declined from 62% to 31% between 1950 and 2002.
By age 30, only 52% of black women will marry compared to 81% of white women, 77% of Hispanics and Asians.
Only 6% of black men and 2% of black women marry Whites.
In 1970, just 33% of black women, age 20-29 were unmarried. By 1992, that number exploded to 70%.
“Black men and women are less likely to be married and more likely to divorce when we do marry.” -The Black
Commentator, Margaret Kimberley. Black Families – A Glass Half Empty and Half Full, April 23, 2004.
Parenting Portrait
70% of all black children are born out of wedlock.
65% of never-married black women have children, double that for white women.
22% of never-married black women with incomes over $75,000 have children, 10 times that of white women.
62% of black families with children are headed by a single parent.
85% of black children do not live in a home with their fathers.
Only 15-20% of black children born today will grow up with 2 parents until age 16.
Over 80% of long-term child poverty occurs in broken or never-married homes.
70% of African-American boys in the criminal justice system come from single-parent homes.
Abortion Portrait
43% of all black children are aborted, nearly 3 times higher than for Whites.
This fact is critical, since pastors and politicians
argue that the reason for the illegitimacy rates for Blacks being dramatically higher is because they claim, “Blacks seldom abort
their children.”
Over 15 million African-American babies have been aborted (killed by their mothers) since Roe v. Wade. This is 14 times the
total of all U.S. soldiers killed in all of America’s wars over 220 years from 1775 to present.
Blacks abort their babies 3 times that of Whites, a ratio that has grown by 50% since 1992.
“The top three moral crises facing the Black family are rooted in sexual immorality.” – Star Parker, President,
Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education (CURE).
Sexual Portrait
70% of all black children are born out of wedlock.
50% of all new AIDS cases are in the Black community which comprises only 12% of the population.
85% of all AIDS cases in Atlanta are black women.
A black woman is 25 times more likely to contract AIDS than a white woman and represents 72% of all women with AIDS.
African-Americans are 20 times more likely than whites to have gonorrhea.
AIDS is now the #1 killer of black women, age 25-44. “It’s devastating,” says Dr. Gayle E. Wyatt at UCLA AIDS Institute.
67% of black women with AIDS contracted HIV thru heterosexual sex.
Black men on the “down low” are having sex with other men behind the backs of their wives and girlfriends while claiming not
to be homosexual or bisexual (New York Times). A study among black men in 37 colleges in North Carolina revealed that of
the 84 men with HIV, 1/3 had had sex with men and women.
Black men in America engage in polygamous relationships, 3 ½ times that of White or Hispanic. In Cook County, Illinois, 21%
of black men had at least 2 partners. And, polygamy is more common among better educated black men who presumably have
more income (Univ. Of Chicago, “Sex and the City” study, Jan. 9, 2004).
Marriage for blacks “has become an alternative lifestyle. It’s considered nonessential.” -Andrew Lyke, Coordinator of
Marriage Ministry for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Chicago Sun Times
“Black women assume marriage will be monogamous. Black men don’t attach as much significance to monogamy.” -
Dr. Beverly Guy – Sheftall, Gender Talks
“There’s a huge level of distrust among young black men and women.” – Dr. Beverly Guy – Sheftell
“There is ‘an acute crisis’ in Black sexual politics creating a schism in Black male and female relations.” – EBONY, Nov.
2003
October 4th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Crud,
No large Copy & Paste….IS THERE any way I can go back & delete information when it’s too long, or is it stuck like that pernamently?
October 4th, 2007 at 11:32 am
We’ll just let your big old copy/paste go this time and hope the folks at saveus.org don’t complain
.
The full report from that site can be viewed here:
A Portrait of the Black Family
I think their report is honest and fair.
October 4th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Why so-called “black leaders” aren’t speaking in outrage about this epidemic is beyond belief. Then again, they can’t address an issue that’s not true in their own lives – with the divorces and illegitimate children mounting up for them.
October 4th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
In watching the video, I must admit and cannot deny that Goldberg is right in addressing the issue regarding improper family structures in the black home. He states that 7 out of 10 black homes are fatherless and as a result, kids turn to crime or any abominable thing. This man was actually standing in the gap for some black so-called leaders whom doesn’t have the nerve to speak the truth. I don’t believe that we would be cut off as a race of people, although I must admit, it just seems and look impossible. Through the grace and love of God,and coming back to Him, we will rise again.
October 4th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Goldberg was right on this.
I wish that a liberal black person would say it because conservative blacks are viewed as the devil and as an enemy.
Bill Cosby speaks and gets demonized for speaking the truth. Until the truth is faced, the problems won’t change.
October 4th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Black Men Supporting Satan and Don’t Even Know it….
If I was not a man, I honestly would cry after watching this.
The 2007 B.E.T Awards Interview
Do I really need to say anything?
Related post: Bernard Goldberg Tells Blacks What the Problem is and Who IS NOT Going to Fix it!
……
October 5th, 2007 at 4:09 am
IC,
The media twisted O’Reilly’s words when they addressed the “dress” code. He was talking about the musicians in Anita Baker’s band verses the shameful dress code of the rappers. As for Jesse Jackson he is a spin miester who is all about himself. Jesse Jackson is a Pimp who exploits his own people for his own gain. Jesse Jackson is a racist by proxy from his exploitation of African Americans so he can get money and clout.
Kyle
October 5th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Media
MattersScatters makes it their business to do that sort of thing. A White guy can try and help his mostly White audience overcome their fears THAT HE KNOWS ARE THERE and for his efforts he’s branded a racist, by the Liberals who defend programs that murder babies and destroy families. Disproportionately murdering Black babies in abortion mills, that are mostly in minority communities and destroying families with social programs that encourage doing less for a check. Ask the elders who were around when welfare came and they’ll tell you how people suddenly wanted the check and lost a desire to work. In too many cases it breeds slothfulness. Even in Christian communes, the order was that you work or you don’t eat from the community pot, 2 Thessalonians 3:10.When Jesse Jackson flip-flopped on abortion everyone should have figured out then that he’ll put his own goals above actually saving a life, in the richest nation in the world.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Honestly, though I understand where Goldberg is coming from, I think that it’s merely another case of treating the “symptoms” but not the “disease”.
As David Prowlison once said, “Diagnosis proceeds Cure”……..& in my humble opinion, the issue of the disentragation of the Black family is more than something which Blacks alone are responsible. Everyone has had a hand in this, paticularly MALES…..and more specifically, THE CHURCH!!!!
Read the WOrd of God & one will quickly discover that both the Hebrew and OT/NT society UNDERSTOOD their roles on the lives of children deprived of male leadership. ANd Scripture is laced with a call to care for those outside the bounds of a “normal family”:
Deuteronomy 10:17-19
17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 24:17
Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.
Psalm 10:18
defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.
Psalm 68:5
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
Isaiah 1:17
learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
Isaiah 1:23
Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.
Jeremiah 5:27-29
27 Like cages full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
they have become rich and powerful
28 and have grown fat and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not plead the case of the fatherless to win it,
they do not defend the rights of the poor.
29 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the LORD.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?
James 1:27
27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
The issue with the disentigration of the Black family may be a mere symptom of the fact that all too often the modern church/society acts as if the fatherless children don’t exist, choosing to focus our energy on intact family units with one man & woman.
In preparation for an upcoming “Rite of Passage” conference to guide boys into godly manhood, I recently finished reading an EXCELLENT book entitled “Passed through Fire” by ChristianYouth Worker Rick Bundschuh (who happens to be white, lol
He does extensive work with young men of all races…..& HAS had many insightful insights on the issue of training boys to be men that have greatly helped me.
At one point, the author pointedly states, “Among the problems of our modern culture, childen who are fatherless as the result of divorce, casual parterning, or a womans’s single choice may prove to have the greatest negative repercussions of all. WITHOUT THE HELP of fathers, we are raising males who can’t find their way to being men.”
The author of the book described a study done in a nature Journal once showing how young bull elephants raised in a herd lost of all adult male members were easily agitated, became wild/destructive, killing and causing chaos at random. …..which of course wasn’t typical elephant behavior.
Destroying these violent youngsters seemed to be the only option……but then wildlife managers captured them, & shipped them off to a herd with a healthy population of adult males. The results were dramatic, for the young bulls settled down as the older males began to imprint “correct male elephant behavior” into them.
That study was what the author felt to be symbolic of our society as well, for what is true in the wild is also true in civilization….& a boy without the imprint of a good man will join together with other boys and turn toward the brutal, twisted, and desolate
As the author makes clear, “An imprint of a godly man on the heart of a boy forms the contours and diagram of what he needs to become. This by the way explains the reason gangs are so prevelant in urban cultures. The numbers of fatherless boys far exceeds that in the surburbs…..& the pull toward violence/cruelty is amplified in these situations. Repeat teenage pregnancies and unmarried liasons have produced streets filled with young boys desperate for a man’s guidance…..without nature to challenge; with limited places to release energy; without a father, grandfather, or positive male mentor, the boy views the streets as his proving ground….& the wrethced cycle of violence, sexual conquest, abandoment of children, substance abuse, and irresponsibilitiy repeats itself over & over again……& what ha been the norm for fatherless children in the inner city is quickly becoming the norm in the heartland”
Needless to say, I felt that the book was dead on the money, for MEN HELP BOYS TO BECOME MEN……& TOO often those with the privelage of seeing what a healthy family looks like will never take the time to enter into the lives of those who lack it & show male guidance. They simply sit back, look at the problems, & say “Blacks need to deal with it”…..when the reality is that it’s the responsibility of MEN—-REGARDLESS OF COLOR/RACE—to CARE FOR THE FATHERLESS.
Of course, idealy, the person to teach boys to become men are a young man’s own father….& there has been increased awareness in recent years by evangelicals of the NATURAL dynamics BETWEEN a father & a son & various resources/ideas to stregthen things, with some resources like Robert Lewis’s “Raising a Modern-Day Knight”, the Promise Keepers’ Passage program, & James Dobson’s “Bringing Up Boys”.
However, despite what many Christian men are doing to help their own sons, the reality is that doesn’t aid/adress the fact that for a enourmous amount of men, a picture of manhood is absent…..& no one wishes to get involved with it/wish to actually sacrifice by actively demostrating it, whether through mentoring or “big brother sister” programs & other venues.
Many are simply content to call out the problems they see but never go further than that…..
As a youth worker/deacon myself, I’m amazed at the effects that take place when those who know what it means to be men get involved in lives of black males without it. And even if the men weren’t black themselves, it was powerful nonetheless.
I was fortunate enough to have that myself/witness the difference. Growing up as single child, with a mother who was a foreigner & trying to make it through med-school, I was raised predominately by Godly women…..& though the Lord did TOO MANY AMAZING THINGS IN OUR LIVES, it was still different not having any male leadership in my life. When I got that, however, in the form of my step-father & other godly mentors later in life, it was amazing to see how much I developed.
They didn’t have to do so……..& many of them could’ve easily stepped back/watched my situation…enjoying the “positive family structures” they were privelaged to experience while simply saying of mine that it was a “Black Problem” & that we needed to help ourselves. But thank Heavens that they choose to get involved in my life…..despite their own issues or the children/families they were already raising….& realized the importance/duty of the local church/society to provide an imprint of MANHOOD for those in our community who lacked man in their lives.
Without it, I’d probably be apart of the statistics mentioned on Black families.
Sorry for the length of this post, but this is a very emotional subject for me…….but I hope someone feels where I’m trying to come from. The issue here with Blacks isn’t just a Black related problem. Everybody’s GUILTY, IMO.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:42 am
Hope I’m in the clear for typing long on this one. To note, It’s not copy/paste……..& I think it needs to be said.
Appreciate you bringing this TIMELY issue up in your post, Mr.IC…..
October 5th, 2007 at 11:31 am
I think the best comment Goldberg said was at the end of the interview, where he made clear what Whites often do with Black Problems. They’ll often keep quiet about things that they wouldn’t let people of the color get away with…..even people in general….when they know that it’s CLEARLY WRONG/In need of Adressing, but when it comes to Blacks, they’ll keep quiet.
As he said, “It’s White Racism/Paternalism”…….& I’m glad he pointed that out. As a Black Hispanic myself, I cannot tell you how often I’ve heard the phrase “Because they’re White, they don’t really know what Black issues are like/cannot speak into your lives”.
To a degree, I agree…..for it’s improper for one to get involved in the issues of another race and speak presumptiously without ever interacting/forming good relationships with people of that culture, understanding the culture they come from, never affirming/approving of the positive/godly characteristics inherent in that ethnicity/culture or not having ANY RESPECT/Empathy for the unique issues they deal with because it’s something they don’t deal with….consequently belittling/minimizing issues.
I used to go to private elementary school that had only black kids when I was younger…..& later in life, left the public school system to experience life at a Christian Highschool:
http://www.dominionchristian.org/
Seeing that the school was predominately white (& paticularly whites from rich, surburban areas) I was privy to seeing/hearing all of the constant conversations about racial issues like Affirmative action, Welfare, CALLING blacks the “N” word , & a host of other issues. Quite often , those who’d speak would be people never having close connections with the people in those situation & not understanding of the dynamics involved….& far too often speaking from their perspectives only as if that was how the world operated….& if I as a black person would try to adress the issues/inform them of how things were in the black community, the facts would be dismissed. I was extremely sadden for them, seeing that they were adding to the problem…….& seeing that I went to a MULTI-CULTURAL CHURCH, with people of all races/cultures involved & being forced to see issues from all perspectives, & THAT EVEN MY BEST FRIEND WAS WHITE (LOL), I was EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED QUITE OFTEN
However, I was also priveledged to associate in that school with many GODLY WHITE FRIENDS/TEACHERS….WHO TOOK the time to be respectful in not only understan ding the issues/seeing things beyond their privelaged perspectives/situations, but made certain that they adressed them from a Christian Worldview. The same happened with me regarding the issues they dealt with in White culture.
Due to that , we both learned from each other/care more deeply for one another. Moreover, we were more connected/in-tune with the issues plauging our society….& it didn’t matter when something was adressed as out of line with myself or in the Black Community…..
For they were doing it in a godly/respectful fashion, realizing that ISSUES ARE ISSUES, regardless of Race…..& all that matters is whether we have God’s Perspective on the matter. For anything less is futile.
“Wisdom Is Meaningless’
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
15 What is twisted cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I thought to myself, “Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.”
17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.”
there are two kinds of wisdom highlighted in the book: (1) human knowledge, reasoning, or philosophy, and (2) the wisdom that comes from God. In these verses Solomon is talking about human knowledge……& the consequences that come from it.
For The more we know & understand, the more pain & difficulty you experience. For example, the more you know, the more imperfection you see around you………..
& when human knowledge ignores God, it ONLY HIGHLIGHTS OUR PROBLEMS because it cannot provide answers without God’s eternal perspective and solution……
& most Christians dealing with issues of ANY KIND fall at this point because they decided to investigate the study of it without first having a SOLID view of what the WORD OF GOD has to say on the issue of life.
October 5th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
I have traveled in many states in the US and was raised in the South. I know that absent fathers are a problem in African-American families. However, in the South, illiteracy, high school drop out, and teen pregnancies is a growing problem with whites and hispanics also. I don’t believe the statistics presented. When I lived in Arizona, a 12 year old Mexican gave birth, a 13 year old white girl gave birth. I have worked with statistics before and know that figures can be manipulated (or misrepresented) to sway an audience. Statistics are always questionable. The numbers can often be too small to represent the total population. What if the sample size was fabricated? By the way, do you also incorporate the number of remarriages by “all” races? Did you also add the number of “all” races who live together in common-law marriages? Are they considered married because the father is in the home? Frankly, immorality is happening in every race. No matter what your survey states…I see it in every race. It’s called “sin.”
October 5th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
I would like to say that although absentee fathers occurs across racial lines, blacks do have the highest rate of any race hands down. To be frank, you don’t need a survey for that. It is in our faces.
October 5th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
And their rate of fatherless homes is increasing. The father helps maintain order.
Those presented in this post are from 40 years ago, see the current rates that are far worse here.
The numbers are a fair representation though.
Sin occurs in every race, but lets be honest that Blacks have some issues that have been known for decades that occur more often than in some other groups.
October 5th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Yes, some fathers have neglected responsibilities. They have failed to stick it out for the sake of their children. However, you cannot make a man remain with his family; no more than you can stop a teen from having sex. Who are having the abortions if there are so many fatherless black families? Since, according to the statistics presented, black abortions ratio is 3 to 1 over whites? The issue goes even deeper than fatherless households. About the term “black-leaders”…why do black people have to have a leader? Are we suppose to be incapable for thinking or speaking for ourselves? I don’t recall a white person being called a white-leader. I think for myself and make my own decisions. That’s the way it has always been. I suspect that there are a lot of others who feel the same.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Regarding leaders I feel the same as you. As far as leaders of men I choose those on election day and those such as Jesse Jackson are never on my ballot and I would not vote for them anyway.
Then folks like Jesse and Al claim church leadership, which is about s bogus as the pulpit pimps. The church is not about race, so I can’t say I look for church leadership on the basis of skin tone.
The numbers are true, but you can dig deeper for yourself. Truth be told, it has been found that there are about 85%+ fatherless Black households in some heavily urban areas. The average overall is 70%. And the abortion rate is much higher than other groups too.
If men have no desire to stay with their children, then hey, the problem will continue and no, the church can’t make it all perfect although the church is to help. Sin has consequences. And 1 Timothy 5:8 shows a father leaving the family is one of the WORSE.
October 5th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Ditto on the thoughts, Brah..
Though I’d venture to say that it’s the WORSE sin……especially in light of how the verse in I Timothy says you’re worse in your state than an unbeliever…
Though of course, coming from experiencing life in a fatherless household, I may be a bit bias (lol)
October 5th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
Ditto to your ditto Gxg. It might be the worst of all, given it is a deed even many unbelievers would never do.
In my comment above the percentages are for out of wedlock births, not fatherless homes. But the man who won’t commit is typically mobile.
And I also grew up in a fatherless home. Although it was not till age 5 when my parents divorced, so my situation is not exactly like some others. My dad was in the home till just before the divorce started and a phone call away afterward, so mom did have the “don’t let me call your father” threat to hold over my head.
Talk to any school teacher at a mostly Black school, they’ll tell you the deal. The percentages are real and they can prove it. Don’t blame them because Johnnie can’t read, Johnnie has no father at home and the school teacher can barely keep Johnnie quiet. Obviously there are exceptions such as you and I Gxg, but ask a teacher, they’re in the trenches while everybody else is playing armchair QB, telling them how to do the job of educating children.
Fathers bring discipline and a class without discipline is total chaos. Plus these days in most places, teachers can’t use the “rod” like way back when.
And I know from mentoring kids, the few with fathers in the home were usually far better disciplined.
Unbelievers such as the Jews, have a far lower out of wedlock birth rate. And they have far lower cases of most problems that can be measured with a statistic.
Fathers leaving their children has a negative impact that is felt in this life and the next.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
As a black single mother, I cannot cast any stones for I am part of that statistic. At 29 years old and pregnant, the father left me. Until this day, I do not receive child support. He had the gall to take me to court for custody and visitation rights and the courts toss the case out. Sometimes, I get mad with myself because I felt that at 29 going on thirty,which is the age I gave birth, I should have known better, compared to a teenage girl. However in life, you are supposed to learn lessons through your trials or else, how can you have a testimony and teach others? The lesson for me should be this: Get to know the person that you’re interested in. Hold back your emotions and evaluate the relationship for what it is. I believe if many of us learn self-control, then we would least likely be in this condition. The sunny side to this is my beautiful 11 year old daughter who gives me joy. She is a honor student in middle school. She goes to church with my sister from time to time. In addition to bible study at her church, when she has questions about scriptures, she would ask me and I do my best. They told me when she was seven years old, while I was in New York because of my work schedule, they gave a religious outreach play. To make a long story short, she ran up to the pastor after the play and told him I want to give my life to Jesus. They did some sort of ceremony for her. She knows that Benny Hinn and most of these WOFers are fakes. However, she loves rap music and tonight, we were talking about Fifty-Cent. Most young kids love rap music but I explained to her that he is a bad influence. Well, I pray that one day, she see what I am talking about. It is good to know that the Lord still loves us and life goes on.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
IC,
Now my eyes water as I share this with you and others.
October 5th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
art123, the important thing is that your child knows the Lord. That’s better than all the money Mr. Goldberg will leave to his children. And better than Mr. Goldberg has himself.
Please check out something I put together a while back, Something Great My Mother Did For Me, That Every Mother Should Do.
October 6th, 2007 at 8:20 am
Some of the “so-called leaders” have such shady family backgrounds themselves that these people are unable to chastise anyone in the black community.If you are paying child-support payments,can you promote family unity within the community? (when your own family situation is not right)?I remember when Jesse Jackson was being honored back in 1993 by the Stellar Awards and he boldly exclaimed something about how black men should “stop dropping babies in women’s bellies.”Jesse did not have a clue;he dropped one in someone’s belly.I am sighing sadly.
October 6th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Well there’s also the issue that the “REVEREND” Jesse Jackson is in those few hypocritical moments where he actually addresses this, he’s calling people to what he sees as “moral values” (which for him includes women being able to kill babies via abortion if they wish), he’s not calling them to repentance through the Lord Jesus Christ.
October 7th, 2007 at 2:51 am
Thanks for examples of single families with mothers who do the “right” thing; teaching the children. God does help take up the slack. I still contend that this is a problem in the white and hispanic race as well. I live in Atlanta, and I see just as many white and hispanic bums as blacks. These are probably the dead beat dads who would rather live aimlessly than pay child support. These “bums” panhandle, sleep with whomever (I’ve seen them), and are a poor excuse for a man. Does the lesser percentages for the other races make it better for that race? Even one percent of the ills noted in the poll is horrifying for each race. The stats prove that mankind in general is in bad shape. No matter the stats, it all amounts to sin, lack of responsibility and lack of committment by the men and women.
October 7th, 2007 at 3:27 am
I lived in the Atlanta area for 10 years. Never once did I see a Hispanic begging for money on a street corner.
Trying to blur it as everybody has a problem, while a true statement, all mankind has a problem with sin, but this does nothing to address when a problem is most serious with a single group. Blacks have a serious problem and much of it stems from culture.
Nothing is gained by trying to basically say “look at them” when there is a problem more horrific with people who look just like you and me. When there is a fire, you spray water in the hottest spot. Spraying at the armchair that has only a few flames does little to help the house when the couch is engulfed in flames and causing fire to spread elsewhere. And trash culture spreads and breeds.
October 7th, 2007 at 4:48 am
IC, I live in midtown currently, and there are bum hispanics; not as many as white and blacks; but they are here and the numbers will probably increase. So far as trashing a race; this appears to be prevalent in this blog. This blog is predominantly “look at the blacks.” But as I said, this shows that there is trouble in all races. All this philosophy on the ills of the “black race” makes good conversation. After all the stats and spraying water on the hottest spot, what does that solve? Obviously your water is not wet enough for the hottest spot. But I contend spraying water around the hottest spot, even the ‘armchair’ of that couch does help the flame from spreading. But are you really spraying water on it or standing back saying how bad it is? Is it because you don’t have a solution for such a big fire? Or it makes good topic in blogs? You say these blacks is one of you…really? The blacks in the stats probably don’t read this blog. So what’s the purpose of black bashing? Good philosophy.
October 7th, 2007 at 9:30 am
Yes, this blog is very much “look at the blacks” because that is where the fire is hottest in many a regard when it comes to issues requiring adjustment. The trouble or “fire” with others is much smaller. Not that the whole house can’t use some water, but yes the hottest spots are in Black areas and noted here. No other group is killing their own to the degree that Blacks do it. No other group is disregarding family responsibilities to the degree Blacks do it. And no other group disrespects themselves as much in mass media as Blacks do.
Yes, I’m all over Blacks’ case and not going to stop.
I have the solution, that’s why I’m blogging from my house, staying with my wife and family and encouraging other men to do the same. No, the thugs are not reading my blog much, but sometimes. You’re reading my blog though. And maybe when you see a man in your family acting up you’ll be encouraged to continually admonish him.
If I wanted to be popular and write about things that make for good discussion on a blog, I certainly would take the opposite approach, which Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have proven is more effective if self promotion is the goal.
There’s millions of blogs out here. This one is not going to change. So if you don’t like it, start your own or find another.
October 11th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Very cool post, but you know that Goldberg will be called a racist for what he said.
People today seem to have forgotten the true meaning of the word “racist” and throw it out there everytime they hear something they don’t like, especially when it is the truth.