By Dr. Daryl D. Green
When I wrote my book, A Call to Destiny: How to Create Effective Ways to Assist Black Boys in America, my co-author and I were able to analyze what was happening to young black boys in America. We found some troubling trends. Without any intervention, young black boys, regardless of their social class, will not survive in the 21st century.
With Father’s Day approaching the nation, the adequacy of fathers will eventually be dissected by media pundits and culture experts. There are 26.4 million fathers in a traditional family environment. Yet, one of the biggest tragedies and failures of our society is the neglect of millions of black males in America that are failing in life. One of the key problems is the abandonment of black fathers to take care of their parenting responsibilities. Over 70% of black children live with a single mother.
The storyline for black boys is frightening. From the low social condition of black boys, it is easy to understand that every major institution has failed them and allowed to them to become the prey of urban culture. Young black males lead every negative statistic you can imagine. They have the worst test scores, the highest drop-out rates, and highest unemployment statistics. While they may fail in school, they become more successful in America’s prison system.
Reggie Jenkins, founder/director of UUNIK Academy of Tennessee, notes, “We are in a state of emergency.” While individuals may find black males missing in honors classes in most high schools, you can be assured that they will make up most of the special education students. For most involved black parents, the problems with their sons happen regardless of socioeconomic standing. Parents must deal with the calls for medication, special education placement, or holding their child back. Many boys lack any meaningful male involvement.
Therefore, an emergency call must go out to fathers! Act now or we will all regret it! Ryan Bomb was born to a biological mother who was the victim of rape; he was adopted as an infant into a family of 13 children. The adoption was a positive force. In order to combat the fatherlessness, he created the Radiance Foundation. He notes, “We’re calling out men for shirking their responsibilities. This is not a blame game on women. This is all of our responsibilities.”
Last month, President Barack Obama spoke at the Commencement Address at Morehouse College and attempted to speak the issues of personal responsibility for young men. President Obama cautioned them about the common issues that some men make: “We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices…Growing up, I made quite a few myself. Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. I had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years, is there’s no longer any room for excuses.”
America is in trouble as it witnesses millions of fathers missing from today’s homes. The black community is no exception. Unfortunately, there are unintended consequences when men don’t take ownership or personal responsibility for being a father. Despite all of the government and social support available, today’s children still need a strong male role model in their homes.If we allow black boys to become an endangered species, we will be laying the foundation for all American children to eventually suffer the same fate. We must hold on to the hope that things will get better for them. However, if good people decide to do nothing in the face of this impending danger, it will be a fatal mistake. If so-please forgive us, young brothers, for not saving you. Rest in Peace (RIP) or live.
