Father Absence Is the Biggest Issue Facing Black America | Short Clips

The biggest issue facing Black America is father absence. We have children that are growing up without their fathers in the home, and that is being incentivized by the government right now via the welfare system. When the government says we'll give you more money if you don't marry the father of your children, you are incentivizing bad behavior in our community. What happens when you remove a father from the home? This is why I do not mess with feminism at all. I'm not with it. This breakdown and mocking masculinity, making it seem like there's something wrong to be a man, all of this contributes to the breakdown of family. Tupac Shakur, the late rapper, once said, I know for a fact that had I had a father, I'd have some discipline, I'd have more confidence. He admitted he began running with gangs because he wanted the things a father gives to a child, especially to a boy, structure and protection. Your mother cannot calm you down the way a man can, Shakur said. You need a man to teach you how to be a man. Children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of school, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. The Journal of Research on Adolescence confirms that even after controlling for varying levels of household income, kids in father-absent homes are more likely to end up in jail, and kids who never had a father in the house are the most likely to wind up behind bars. In 1960, 5% of America's children entered the world without a mother and father married to each other. By 1980, it was 18%. By 2000, it had risen to 33%, and 15 years later, the number reached 41%. Fathers matter. Until we have a government policy that makes that its first priority, nothing will change.