Around the USA many African Americans are faced with a problem. It is an issue that inevitably comes up in any conversation about African American society. The issue is one that older African Americans love to discuss because it makes them look okay. The issue is the behavior of young African Americans. It is as if older African Americans have forgotten that African American youth came from their loins. Older African Americans should look at the standards they set/created that have led to this so-called problem with their youth.
Young African Americans do some crazy things in 2026. The trend of outlandish behavior by African American youth does not seem to be going away anytime soon. Older African Americans in many cities have ceded the field, neighborhood, to African American youth. In many instances African American youth behavior is the reason. Yet, is the behavior of African American youth their fault? Is it possible that the way African American youth behave in 2026 is a reflection of the culture, and parenting skill, of older African Americans? A child only does what is programmed into them, or they are allowed to do. Let’s look at the culture, and parent, that raised many of the 2026 African American youth.
African American culture seems to rotate around one goal: get money. This goal has been one of the focal points in African American culture for decades. Pride, respect, self esteem were all traded away and replaced with the pursuit of money. African American parents in the 2020’s were once the children of the 90’s and early 2000’s. What was African American culture’s goal during these times? Was it the creation of an African American economic system based on resurrection and uplifting the African American community? Or, was it one focused on money, sex, athleticism, drugs, and unconscious selling out? Older African Americans tell the truth and shame the devil. With the previous inquiries in mind, how did anyone expect the children from parents raised in this type of culture to turn out?
Many 2026 African American parents celebrate how they were brought up by their guardians. Yet, when these same 2026 African American parents raise their children they go away from the tenets their parents used in their upbringing. It is as if the African American parent has forgotten the guidelines from their upbringing since they now have a mortgage and credit cards. One key tenet change is the way many 2026 African American youth view their parents as friends, instead of parents. Another change in 2026 parenting is the way many African American youth talk to their parents, and casually dismiss parental dictates. I guess the 2026 African American parent thinks the previous actions are a sign of “making it” in America.
The majority of 2026 African American parents will pontificate about the problems African American youth create. These parents go on about the African American youth, without looking at their own children. One 2026 African American parent flat out said that he could not raise his son the way he was brought up. His child was too soft for this. I listened and then said, “If he soft, you raised him.” This was greeted by silence. Needless to say the subject was changed. Another 2026 African American parent was getting up on a soap box and I snatched them down by saying, “How can you tell your son from the so-called thugs? He dresses, looks, wears the same hairstyle that they do.” The parent realized he was about to make a fool of himself and shrugged, “I can only go by how my son acts around me.” Right.
African Americans ask yourselves, “Is it really the 2026 African American youth? Or, is it the fact that older African Americans have failed the children?” The answer may shock you.
Frank James IV © 2026
beingfrankwithfrank@gmail.com
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer and not of the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper or HT Group, LLC, its staff or management. “Child Watch” is a weekly column available at https://www.childrensdefense.org/child-watch-columns.
