"Crisis: The Black Family is Failing"

Admittedly William Raspberry, a black columnist for the Washington Post, brings cheers from me when I read his columns. He has the guts and status and skin color to say what I cannot. But I share his concern for the black community especially after the articles in the Sunday Journal Sentinel Crossroads section. In those articles, teens sound off on violence in their communities begging for solutions. They don't want to be ignored; to be left to choose participation or victimization. If the article had been about sex, the response would have been similar, especially among the girls. They're just kids who want to be happy kids. Adults should be able to provide that simple request.

Adults must stand up and boldly bring standards of conduct and morality back into children's lives. We can no longer cower in fear of being labeled as forcing "agendas" or religion on Americans. If our agenda is to better the lives of our children now and in their future, we have every reason we need to proceed. We also have every reason to vehemently reject what is contributing to the problem.

Adults of all races allowed a cultural shift because we didn't think it would affect us personally. We bought into the supremacy of individual rights without considering cultural and societal consequences. We would just choose what was good and reject what was bad. Those that chose otherwise would only be hurting themselves. But then our own children began making bad choices because of the influences that seemed less demanding or more fun or personally freeing or rebellious. We wonder how that happened.

As Mr. Raspberry points out what is happening is the "sociological equivalent of global warming: easier to document than reverse, inconsistent in the near-term effect and disasterous in the long run." Problems in the black community are everyone's problems. They are the mirror for every other community. Reflected is what happens when men are not involved in children's lives, when marriage declines, when higher education is not sought, when religions abandon sanctions against premarital sex, when adults do not provide for their children, when unemployment is an excuse. African-Americans might lead other ethnic groups but we are following down the same path.

This isn't a problem; its a condition. The solution requires radical change. That type of change might require individuals to give up some freedoms so that a community can heal. Just as Daniel Patrick Moynihan was pilloried for his warnings 40 years ago perhaps the radical reforms suggested and rejected in Milwaukee and elsewhere should receive a second look. Our governor touts "Kids First"--lets give that some teeth!