-- Readers Write --
SO E WOULD ARG E
that African American were
The absent father has become
somewhat of an enigma today.
He is the scapegoat for the tragic
decay of the family. We despise
the ab ent father, we blame him,
we condemn him. Its pretty
tragi how we speak of teen
mothers in such an innocuous
tone and teen fathers in such a
critical one.
Everyone has an opinion. Dr.
Snead, Superintendent of De­
troit Public Schools, noted, "far
too many Black men claim the
title of fath r but rejectthe re­
sponsibilities." President Clin-
. ton's welfare reform includes
funding for a nationwide dat­
abank which would identify ab­
sent fathers and extract child
support payments. The rhetoric
amounts to little more than fin­
ger-pointing.
If en pregnancies are a prob­
lem, blaming teenage mal for
the d lug of single-headed
hou holds j definitely not go­
ing to solve it. The problem lies
in the fa that both parties are
wrong
For too long society pampered
unw d mothers, blaming their
condition on pov rty and irre­
spon ibl mal ,The statu quo
is now beginning to realize that
may thes young women need
to handled in a more trict
manner. I pr tty hard to blame
kid for m king mistakes but
when h same innocent
worn n continue to have children
for any man th t comes along, its
hard 0 ju tify shi lding them
from ri ici In
UP. Un-
needed. � , po ibl
lathers, but we mainly need re-
8ponsible roll models to ngen­
der responsible youth who
become responsible adults. Con­
aidering women are the ones who
give birth to the babies, our focua
hould have alway been on the
responsibility of having female
organs.
No, .having a 'child doe n't
make someone a father or a
mother, attachment does. At­
tachment of mother and father
and both families does a lot to­
wards growing into these respon­
sibilities.
Many times women have chil­
dren because they are pregnant,
not considering whether or not
the man choose to have his lif -
style altered in such a way. This
is a monumental decision and
children must understand the
gravity of such a decision. Young
females especially must be made
to understand th rigors of fa­
therhood, becau their d ision
to give birth does not just aff
their life.
BEING A FATHER is prob­
ably the most pr carious and
thankless job a man can have. No
one has yinpathy wh n you
can't find a job; no on prai
you for k ping food on the tabl ;
arid no matter how much time
you spend with your kids it is
never enough. To thrust a m Ie
unwillingly into his predi -
ment is like rolling the dice.
Ye , ponsibl fathers r
n ed bu t we al 0 n to un-
derstand the psy h of th a
father. There may
tions they would lik nsw r ;
they may w nt to be hard. Th
ab ent father d serve to b
heard, it is possible he may hed
orne light on h r sons for his
absence. The tim for Critical gi -
berish h pa h im hag
com to giv th a nt fath r hi
sta
MARC A. UMMI G
I Detroit
y
READERS WRITE
We are lav
to poor educa-
o our lar r cit­
i ,fifty, j y nd ev n venty
r nt of yo un peopl drop out
of high ch I for graduation.
Too m ny of our young ople
are iura fromsu ing
in chool - ostracized by th ir
rs for having "whit" valu
and not e cted to do well by
teacher and hool ystems
which too often have low expec­
tation for African American
youth.
We are slaves to poor health
care or no h lth care at all. Af­
rican American children die at
the same rate as children in
some third world countries. Our
people face higher incidences of
cancer, hypertension, heart dis­
ease and diabetes and often have
fewer options for medical care.
E SLAVE to an
conomy in which th re are mil­
li of un ·killed, unt 'ned Af­
rican American wor ers whose
strong backs and ability to pick
cotton or emble cars are no
Ion r n ed by society.
Unemployment rates in th
African American community
can nearly double that of
whi and many African Ameri­
cans have simply stopped look­
ing for work and are no longer
counted as unemployed.
While a small percentage of
African Americans have pros­
pered over the past two decades,
millions have been lumped to­
. getber into the so-called under­
class, where they feel abandoned
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:;:;:� �__.---:-� _-
ry
By James E. Alsbrook
rvitud ."