Being Frank
By: Frank James
Special to the Milwaukee Times
It is easy for someone to say that African American youth are out of control in 2018. That statement is true in many instances in the USA. How did this situation come to be, though? How did African Americans lose control of their children? These questions are the ones that have to be answered in order to understand why African American youth are so hell-bent on destroying themselves.
It wasn’t long ago that you would be in the grocery store and see African American children acting like they had sense. It would be the Caucasian child that acted out in the store because they didn’t get to choose the cereal. That day is long gone. Now you often see the reverse, the African American child cutting up and the Caucasian child watching. Many African American parents were lulled into a lie that Caucasians knew better than them on how to raise their children. You had people like Benjamin Spock pushing theories on society about raising children. These theories may have worked for other races but they have failed in the African American community.
African American youth have more material things than at any other point in US history. Even in poor areas you see children sporting Jordan shoes and Play Station games in homes. This increase of material goods has not led to an increase in intelligence or, more importantly, common sense. The African American parent has fallen into a cheaper version of the problem Caucasians always had. Whites have this foolish concept that things can replace time and positive interactions between parent and child. Since African American parents have aped after their white counterparts they have the same child issues at a cheaper price.
It is easy to blame younger parents for the lack of African American youth sensibility. Once again this falls back on a parent. If the grand parent was foolishly deceived by society, what chance does their child have? This is not a money issue either. Many of the worst children come from the African American middle to upper class home. Why? The reason is the parents have adopted a Caucasian mindset to raise the child and are getting the same results their white peers do. The difference is when African Americans do something, it gets the spotlight treatment.
African American parents have created the African American youth problem in the USA today. It doesn’t matter if you are a young parent or old parent; what does matter is the time and positive impressions you make on a child. The African American parent of today has to take back control of raising their children. African Americans do not have the luxury of buying stuff and letting their children run amok. African Americans need to start instilling a sense of confidence and pride in their children early so they will know who and where they are.
African American people, if you truly believe that the youth are the future then something has got to change. If not, just look to the past and you will see where you are going.
Frank James IV © 2018 beingfrankwithfrank@gmail.com.
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the writer and not of the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper or NCON Communication, its staff or management. “Being Frank” is a bi-weekly column exclusive to the Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper.