A Chicago without fathers (reposted)

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Thursday, December 27. 2012

A Chicago without fathers (reposted)

A powerful report from Heather MacDonald: Chicago's Real Crime Story - Why decades of community organizing haven't stemmed the city's youth violence.

I cannot pick out one juicy quote because the whole sad thing is of a piece: moral, family, and cultural breakdown since the 1960s. These kids are growing up in something between anarchy and Lord of the Flies. One quote:

Some members of Chicago’s Left will argue against holding fathers or mothers responsible for their children. “To blame it on the family is totally unfair,” says Gwen Rice, a board member of the Developing Communities Project. “I’m tired of blaming the parents. The services for the poor are paltry; it boggles the mind. Historically, you can’t expect a parent who can’t get a job to do something that someone with resources can do. These problems have histories; there are policies that have mitigated against black progress. What needs to happen is a change in corporate greed and insensitivity.” Rice corrects my use of the term “illegitimacy”: “There are no illegitimate births,” she says.

Posted by The Barrister in Best Essays of the Year, Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 15:17 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

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Outstanding article...and, Marianne, it doesn't mention the Annenberg Challenge/Ayres debacle either.

As one who started volunteering in the Chicago public schools and settlement houses while a student at Northwestern in the 60's, and as a former foster parent for the Illlinois Department of Children and Family Services and as a marketing consultant for a real estate developer who successfully converted Section 8 housing into highly acclaimed rentals for middle class residents (which stabilized racially and economically diverse communities), I can well attest to her every word.

Perhaps it's Obama's lack of a stabile father figure that gives him his government-can-do-it-better attitude. However, this is a slap in the face for the hard-working, responsible minority families that I grew up with in Oklahoma and Texas and later met as an adult living in urban Chicago. They are as disgusted with Obama's policies as I am. This is not a racial, class or religious divide. It's moral.

#1 jma on 2010-03-31 18:22 (Reply)

Obama got the vast majority of the black vote so there aren't many who disagree with his approach.

#1.1 indyjonesouthere on 2012-12-27 16:19 (Reply)

Oh woe; we are ALL to blame!

OK, par-tay TIME!

#2 Sam L. on 2012-12-27 16:00 (Reply)

Rice corrects my use of the term “illegitimacy”: “There are no illegitimate births,” she says.

Likewise there are no fathers who do not take responsibility for their children.

As they say in Venezuela, tell me another story about cowboys.

#3 Gringo on 2012-12-27 16:44 (Reply)

a birth is never illegitimate, that would suggest there is a law or custom against being born out of wedlock, and the child a criminal or sinner for the fact of being born.

A pregnancy may be, sex certainly may be.

IMO the concept is a bit silly, but then I'm rather more liberal on social structures than the average "conservative" who seems only interested in denying anything exists that isn't explicitly mentioned in the bible.
Same with the concept of "marriage". It's changed beyond recognition and should be returned to its roots: provide a STABLE environment to raise children. As is, it's become no more than a fiscal trick to get a tax break. My proposal: any financial and other benefits of being married only start when (one of) the female partner(s) gets pregnant, and ends when children move out or die (and yes, I have no problem with polyamorous relations of any kind, as long as they are concensual among ALL partners in the group, and neither should anyone who really values freedom, as isn't the choice of who to spend one's life with and on what terms not at the core of freedom?).

#3.1 J.T. Wenting on 2012-12-28 00:13 (Reply)

And here you have the problem clearly stated. The left began attacking the only biologically sound family structure decades ago. Strong families are the best defense against an overly ambitious state. Too strong, and you get clans running the show, like in Afghanistan. There is not likely to be any kind of central government established there. In the US, where family structure is weak, your mayor can tell you what size soda you can buy.

With muddled attitudes like this guy prevalent among the "educated" classes, we are not likely to solve our social or economic problems.

#3.1.1 LHF on 2012-12-28 08:43 (Reply)

LHF - 'like"

I would add - that unless we ALL (as a nation) have the same or similar ideas about what is moral, what is legal, and what we will allow to slip by unacknowledged, we will be forever in a state of chaos. We can't EACH have everything we want since what I want will UNdoubtedly trample on something you have (or believe). In a formerly Christian country, the strong would defer to the weakest among us. That is no longer true.
Susan Lee

#3.1.1.1 Susan Lee on 2012-12-28 09:44 (Reply)

There are third world peasants out there who are better parents, and whom I doubt would blame their predicament on "corporate greed and insensitivity."

#4 LS (Link) on 2012-12-28 10:59 (Reply)

Congratulations, Chicago! You've hit 500 murders as of today. Almost all are black-on-black crime. The majority are men under 25 with, sadly, some children under 8 who were merely sitting in their homes or on from porches when stray bullets found them.

#5 jma on 2012-12-28 12:44 (Reply)

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Thursday, December 27. 2012

A Chicago without fathers (reposted)