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at the high rate of female-'headed
families in the ghetto, when in
marriage a 50 percent divorce rate
in the United States is par for the
course?
Why should we be shocked over
the escalating illegitimacy in the
ghetto, when ..let's live together"
has become an American motto?
Why should we eringe at crime on
ghetto streets, when white collar
crime increases on Main Street?
The big difference is that what's
happening in the ghetto is much
more deadly and vicious. The lives
of whole generations of people are
being wasted because of families
without fathers. But what can be
done? How can the black family be
restored and the character of many
a delinquent father be improved in
the ghetto?
The past is a key to the present.
Poor black families have not always
been this way. Black people histor–
ically are not irresponsible when it
comes to family and work. A look
at the black family of yesterday
will help us solve the problems of
today.
During the hardest of times
black families have had a deep
commitment
to stay together. That
commitment flourished even in tbe
face of the system of American
slavery. When a family member
was sold off, the bonds of affection,
love and loyalty remained. When a
slave escaped,
it
was not uncom–
mon for him to risk his life by
returning to try to free his family.
After slavery, in the face of dis–
crimination and associated poverty,
the black family thrived. The un–
quenchable commitment to family
endured.
During those difficult years fol-
Homeless family receh·es help
at urban family center in
metropolitan New York. Former
Govemor James R. Thompson
of Illinois stops along route of annual
"Bud Billiken" parade-named
after fictitious character created by
the
Chicago Defender.
Parade was created to give youths
summer fun.
It
is
paid for by black businesses.
Juna
1986
lowing the American Civil War
(1861-1865), the black man was
the center of bis family. He worked
hard sharecropping, or at other
semiskilled jobs, providing for his
family. Often, his children worked
side by side with him developing a
close relationship.
His hard work as provider and
protector won him the respect of
bis family, and that respect trans–
lated into a sense of self-esteem.
He was a husband, a father- a
man!
The traditional black church also
lent stability to the black man and
his family.
If
they just kept on
striving, things would get better
..by and by," they were told.
After World War I, many black
families began migrating to the
"Promised Land"- the big cities
of the American North. The black
man's aspirations and hard work
overcame his lack of skills and the
prejudices of society. His goal was
a better life for his family, and he
began to prosper.
Through the migration and new
prosperity, the family stayed ,to–
gether. According to a 1925 study,
in New York City, five out of six
children under the age of 6 lived
with both parents. The principies
of commitment to family, hard
work, self-esteem and inspiration
from the Bible continued to bring
them success in the big cities of the
North.
By 1948, black maJe employ–
ment had reached its peak. At 87
percent, black maJe employment
was a full point above that of white
males. A small highly educated,
prosperous black middle class be–
gan to emerge. Even the unskilled
could still find meaningful employ-
ment and provide for their families.
Causes and Effects
But as we moved into the 1950s we
began to see those employment fig–
ures erode, and along with that
erosion went the black male and his
family. Today, only 54 percent of
all working-age blacks (not count–
ing females) have jobs. and what's
even more alarming is that the
black maJe population over 18 has
doubled since 1960.
What 'happened to the family–
committed, less educated, hard–
working, religiously oriented black
man of yesteryear? ..Progress" has
left him behind.
In agricultura! and in industrial
America, hard work helped the less
skilled get by. But in the develop–
ing technological age of the 1960s
and 1970s it was not brawn, it was
not sweat (except in sports) that
made the big money.
The worth of the semiskilled,
labor-intensive man has been per–
manently
deva/ued.
In a society
that equates manhood with the
ability to make lots of money,
many black men have been psycho-