What are the five biggest problems facing black Americans? Where do things like racism and police brutality rank? What about the absence of black fathers? Taleeb Starkes, author of Amazon #1 bestseller "Black Lies Matter," lists the five. They may surprise you.
Welfare programs, perhaps counter-intuitively, have institutionalized poverty among black Americans.
From 1900 to 1956, blacks were more active in the labor market than whites. From 1940 to 1960, the poverty rate among blacks fell from 87% to 47%. From 1890 to 1940, the black marriage rate was slightly higher than whites.
After the welfare laws of the 1960s, illegitimacy rates among blacks shot up to over 70% (around 75% in 2013), while the poverty rate stayed near 40%. For black married couples, however, the poverty rate was only around 8% in 2013.
The root cause of crime and poverty in black communities is the lack of fathers and the preponderance of single motherhood.
In the 1940s, only about 14% of black children were born to single mothers. In 2009, 73% of black children were born to single mothers.
In 2013, the poverty rate among blacks overall was 36%, but only 8% among black married couples—on par with the national average.
Studies have consistently shown that increases in the number of single-parent homes, particularly those in which the father is absent, lead to increases in crime in that community.
As long as African Americans see themselves as victims, they can’t flourish.
Columbia professor John H. McWhorter argues that a sense of victimhood among the black community is leading to self-sabotage.
In 2009, 73% of black children were born to single mothers. In the 1940s, that number was only around 14%.
Studies show this trend is hurting black children socially as well as economically; for example, black preschoolers make up 18% of the school population but comprise 42% of student suspensions.
Studies have also consistently shown that increases in the number of single-parent homes, particularly those in which the father is absent, lead to increases in crime in that community.
Politically incorrect fact: Blacks comprise 13% of the population, but commit 52% of homicides.
An extensive U.S. Department of Justice study of homicides from 1980-2008 found that blacks accounted for 52.4% of the offenders and 47.4% of the victims of homicides, while only being 13% of America's population.
In 2013, the poverty rate among blacks overall was 36%, but only 8% among black married couples.
One reason for high rates of single motherhood among blacks is the preponderance of welfare programs.
An extensive 2016 Harvard study found that there is no racial bias against blacks in police shootings.
A 2016 study by Harvard economics professor Roland G. Fryer, Jr. found that there is no racial bias against blacks in police-involved shootings, and, in fact, that they are less likely to be fired upon than whites in tense situations.
The study found, however, that officers did show a tendency to use non-lethal physical force more often with black suspects.
Fatal police shootings of white and Hispanic men occur proportionally three times as often as fatal shootings of black men.
For every one black male killed by police, 40 black men are murdered by other black men.
In New York City in 2014, 4.9% of black male deaths were caused by police. The remaining 95.1% were caused by other black men.
Perceived racism is holding back blacks much more than actual racism.
Trillions of dollars and decades of welfare programs have made virtually no impact on the black poverty rate.
What are the five biggest issues facing blacks in America? Here’s my list.
Nothing holds someone back more than seeing himself as a victim. Why? Because a victim is not responsible for his situation. Everything is someone else’s fault. And the victim sees little chance of improving his life. How can he get ahead if someone is holding him back? All this makes the victim unhappy, frustrated and angry.
This is how too many blacks see themselves – as victims. So much so that their victim status becomes their primary identity and their ruling ideology. I call it victimology. Unfortunately, many black churches preach this “victimology,” many black parents pass it on to their children, inner-city schools teach it to their students and the black media reinforce it. Meanwhile, the NAACP and other black grievance groups fundraise on it.
As long as this type of groupthink exists, race-reverends of the Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson type will continue to be celebrated while independent black thinkers such as Professors Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams will be shunned.
The honest race dialogue and debate -- that first has to happen -- is not between blacks and whites but between blacks and blacks. We demand diversity from others, but need to practice it ourselves where it really matters -- in thought, opinion, and even political affiliation.
As just about everyone knows, but too few talk about publicly, in majority black cities, violent black on black crime is rampant. A Department of Justice study from 1980-2008 revealed that blacks accounted for almost half of the nation’s homicide victims (47.4%) and more than half of the offenders (52.4%) all while only being 13% of America’s population.
The Tuskegee Institute conducted a study of all known lynchings of blacks that occurred between 1882-1968. During this 86-year span, which is essentially the post-Civil War era up to the Civil Rights era, 3,446 Blacks where reportedly lynched. Presently, black-on-black murder eclipses the number of blacks lynched over the course of 80 years roughly every six months.
Unbelievably, the culpability for this disproportionate amount of mayhem actually lies with a menacing 2-3% minority within the black populace. I call them urban terrorists. And since they’re literally spawned from problem #2, the black community protects them.
The disintegration of the nuclear family has led to an astronomical increase of single-mother households. According to the Moynihan Report, in 1965, nearly 25 percent of black children were born to unwed mothers. The report’s author Daniel Patrick Moynihan said this was a disaster in the making. He was, of course, vilified by so-called black leaders and their progressive allies. But he was right. Today the out of wedlock birth rate is nearly 75 percent. and even higher in some urban areas.
Unwavering loyalty to progressive, liberal policies is the primary reason these dire conditions persist. It both makes them possible and perpetuates them. It’s no coincidence that progressivism is the common thread that binds predominately black cities where single-parent homes, failing schools, rampant poverty and crime predominate.
Look at cities like Detroit, Philadelphia and Baltimore. They’ve been run by progressive Democrats for decades. If their liberal policies were at all effective, these cities should have become models of economic growth and prosperity. Instead, they’re models of dysfunction. By fostering and exploiting the victim mentality, discouraging self-examination, subsidizing baby-mamas, and making excuses for black thugs, so-called progressive policies don’t alleviate the problems that afflict the black community, they aggravate those problems.
You may have noticed that racism did not make the list. Why not? It’s simple: There will be no solution to the problems afflicting black America until more blacks recognize that the issues plaguing our community are ultimately self-inflicted.
Does racism exist? Sure. But there are other problems far more serious. And waiting until there are no more racists will mean waiting, and making excuses, forever.
I’m Taleeb Starkes for Prager University.