From the time I first became aware of the out of wedlock birth rate problem in the Black community was after reading an article in a mid 70's edition of Scientific American Magazine. At that time the rate was only 50%, up from about 10% 20 years earlier. The trend line in the data was up and there did not seem to be anything that was going to slow down that trend. I explained to some of my friends at the time that in 18 years or about 1990 when you walked down the street of a Black community and met a group of 18 year olds that 50% would be fatherless and that was only the beginning. Sorry to say, my predictions have come true, but that is not the purpose of this blog. It is to share some of my thoughts about why the problem has gotten so bad.
I could take this from the male side or the female side, but I have chosen to start with the female side. Now, this is only my opinion base on years of personal observation. Some thing has changed for the Black female in the past several decades. Exactly what could that have been? Prior to the "New Deal" and the "Great Society", most people were on their own and not directly dependent on the government. Look at the Great Depression or the Dust Bowl. The government did not save those people, they saved themselves or the community including the churches saved them. Government played only a small roll. After WWII, Americans saw themselves as much more wealthy and they were. Most of the world was in shambles and we could sell our goods to them at any price. It was a "fat" time. The government had plenty of money and saw themselves as the solution. I would like to point out that there was no historical basis to think that government could make better decisions than individuals. Socialism and Communism were not popular, but they had not yet totally failed or been proven to be worse than Capitalism.
Back to the Black female. It had been historically very difficult for a Black family to prosper and raise a family. Many were share croppers where all members of the family had to work together and work hard to make ends meet. The Black female was just as important in this arrangement at the male. She had responsibilities and if they were not carried out the family would not survive. The Black female had a reason and a goal. Her efforts were visible to everyone and she was recognized for her contributions, this included the husband, the children and the community. Are you starting to get the picture. As bad as share cropping may have been, I do not think that it was as bad as the urban streets of Baltimore or Detroit are for the Black family of today.
Why did urbanization take place? The higher skilled people, mostly Whites, from the farms moved to urban areas where their special skills were in demand. For many Blacks, the economic model of share cropping proved uncompetitive with agricultural automation and mechanization. This meant that Blacks were moved "off" the land and had no choice but to immigrate to the urban areas. Isn't this exactly what happened? Those people who prosper in urban areas need special skills that most Blacks did not have. The results were that the Blacks ended up in the few low skill, low pay jobs that were available in the urban community.
Now, the Black female. What was her new roll in the urban community. Her skills that were needed in the rural community were of little value in this new urban community. They could raise their own food as share croppers, but how were they to get food in this new place? See how things changed and also notice how fast they changed. In terms of human history, this was a very major and rapid change. It was too fast for the Black community to adjust, but they did adjust and it was not in a positive way. Drugs and crime were ways to earn a living and many Blacks went this direction. For the Black female there were few opportunities. You know some of them. I think that Black females wanted the recognition and respect that they had gotten back on the farm and how do you think they did that?
Having a baby was one of the only ways that a Black female could get the respect and the "high" that this gave them. At about this time the "Great Society" and all the "do gooder" programs kicked in to support her. Of the alternative available to the Black female, having a child out of wedlock was better than most others of her alternatives. Like anyone in that situation, she made the decision that she thought was best for her. Are you starting to see where all this is headed? We are talking about going from 10% out of wedlock births to 90% in some cities. This is the problem, but what is the solution?
I have blogged before that you can not solve a problem unless you know the "cause". I think that I have identified at least one of the major causes above. How does the Black female gain the respect and recognition that they desire by a means other than having a child? There has to be a "better" alternative. When anyone is in a deep hole and looking up, it can appear to be impossible to ever climb out and I think that is where Black females must feel they are. The end game would be a Black female in a happy married situation with as many children as they could afford to support and care for. Isn't that the objective of most people every where?
Another thing that happened while the Black community was going down hill and that was the for the White community more and more of the females were joining the work force. Many did this so that they could enjoy a better quality of life and others did it just to "maintain" the quality of life that they had. The size of White families declined as families found that it was more and more difficult to support and care for a large family. Black's did not participate in this change, by joining the work force or reducing the size of their families. Why was that?
I am going to end this blog here, while I think about the answer.
PS---Did you read my blog about why Black women are held in low esteem by most races of men? Whites marry Asians much more than Blacks and Asian hardly ever marry Black women. My blog did not answer "why". Do you have any idea why and what can be done about it.
