Re: Liberalism and the Black Community

A student named Donavan writes in response to the recent post titled How Liberalism is Devastating the Black Community. I thought I'd share his reply with you, slightly edited:

I would have to agree with this article in some regard. I personally believe that you are absolutely correct that guns aren't the true problem. Like almost every action we do has an underlying emotion, so does violence in black communities. The thing that's behind the violence in these communities is the absence of fathers. I'm from Harlem, NY, and most of my friends that I grew up with are fatherless. All of them that I can think of right now are either dead or in jail, they either don't know their fathers or their fathers weren't present in their lives.

So first hand, I know the patterns of what could happen when a father isn't in the picture.

To go along with the fact that Chicago already has 25 murders, Philadelphia had the highest murder rate last year and those murders were committed by black and hispanic males. The statistics don't lie about how these neighborhoods need, as you put it, self-control and just all around guidance. Most media outlets in my opinion don't cover these stories as well as they should. I was complaining about this to some people that I know and I remember a person shared with me that if the news were to report just the deaths in New York alone, there would always be breaking news. I also remember someone else sharing with me that the news is too depressing as it is, and we don't need anymore depressing stories. Both of these comments make me see how people are viewing murders in these communities.

In my opinion, the first person was really saying, "Although I agree with you, there is no hope of this ever stopping." The second was saying, "This will never stop, and I'm sick and tired of it and don't want to deal with it." Multiple murders are tough to understand and deal with. Most people in these communities want to try but don't know where to start. I believe you have started in the best place possible, with fathers. Now my question is what is the plan?

I agree that Liberalism is part of the problem. My view on welfare has changed over the years. As a person that has been on the receiving end of welfare, I do understand the relief that it provides to single mothers, on the other hand, I also see how it promotes laziness. Seeing both sides of the coin, I can still understand how you can draw this conclusion. If I had a father in my life, it would've been easier on us or manageable with more income.

I completely agree that the media has completely destroyed the image of a father. We look at fathers today and see an oppressor, someone that never understands, someone that doesn't know how to apologize and someone that gets run over. One of the things I don't like is watching a movie where the daughter dictates what happens in the house, for a young man growing up without a father, why would I want to have a child that tells me what to do and how to do it, who even embarrasses me? The media makes fathers look weak. Another reason I think that kids don't grow up talking about being fathers is because it doesn't look attractive. The question I have is can this view that is being displayed by the media be directly linked to liberalism? Or better yet, who is to blame?

Another problem with media displaying bad views of fathers is they promote violence, sex, and what looks like "freedom". If no one is guiding a child, walking with him/her, telling him/her "no" on occasion, the pleasure-filled life looks amazing. When a child grows up without a father, they hurt. In addition to the city life that always offers whatever you want whenever you want it, why would you aspire to a future of parenthood?

Most people want to be parents, until they have a child. Living in the city, the mindset is "I want it, and I can get it". Who is sitting down with these children and telling them that the fun stops, who is telling them that they aren't really having fun, who is telling them that one day you will wake up to be thirty? (Kind of hard to get a child to see that when they think they won't make it to 21) The problem with violence, sex and drugs (all linked to gangs) is that they actually medicate. They feel good for the moment, but then it wears down. The need for a father's order, discipline and guidance is so high.

I agree with your view that liberalism is a problem as it relates to lack of fathers and violence, but there are also many others. I don't think you think that liberalism is the total foundation of the problem, but if you do then I don't agree. I believe it is a huge brick but not the whole problem. The problem as we both know is sin.

I was going to go into how the church has failed the community, but everyone does that so I'll focus on my opinions how we can help. I feel that we can get out into the community more often. I think in this generation we should talk more about marriage and sex and how beautiful it is when it is the way God intended. Going along with what you said in class today, it would help a ton if we would know the culture so we can better see how distorted the picture is and show them how it is supposed to be. I think we can do a better job of going to them and not waiting for them to come to us. All in all, I agree with you that liberalism does have a huge part in the devastation in the black community.