Becoming Independent and Self-Reliant

            Independent and self-reliant families strengthen their communities and nations. In order to gain such characteristics, certain principles must be understood and lived. One such principle is that each person is responsible to provide for their own needs and wants. When individuals need assistance, they should go to their family first before seeking help elsewhere.

I have often wondered why African-Americans support Democrats so strongly when Democrats do nothing for them. I believe that liberals do not help blacks for the very purpose of keeping them under their control. They keep blacks on their plantation by keeping the racial issue alive. As long as blacks continue to blame whites for all their problems, they will never realize that they can overcome all of them. 

Democrats do not want blacks to become independent and self-reliant because they know that anyone that has such qualities would never consent to stay on their plantation. So they play the racial discrimination card at every opportunity.

            We all know that there is discrimination of all kinds in America and elsewhere. Discrimination seems to be a human weakness, but it does not need to be exploited. Most people, even those who are in denial, discriminate against someone or some group of people at some time. Anyone who denies doing so is a saint or a liar!


            Walter E. Williams, one of my favorite authors, writes about racial discrimination and the state of the black family. He also asks some hard questions, such as “How much of the plight of many blacks can be explained by current racial discrimination?” He says that “the root of most of the problems black people face is the breakdown of the family structure.” He gives the following statistics about families in black America to prove his point.

Slightly over 70% of black children are raised in female-headed households. According to statistics about fatherless homes, 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes; 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father figure; 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes; 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes; and 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions have no father.

Furthermore, fatherless boys and girls are twice as likely to drop out of high school and twice as likely to end up in jail.

            The above statistics do not show any connection to slavery, racism, or civil rights, but  they do show a direct connection to the breakdown of the family. Williams shares further statistics that show black families were stronger in past years than they are now. What happened to tear black families apart?

In the late 1800s, depending on the city, 70% to 80% of black households were two-parent. Thomas Sowell has argued, “The black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare state that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life.”

As late as 1950, only 18% of black households were single-parent. From 1890 to 1940, a slightly higher percentage of black adults had married than white adults. In 1938, black illegitimacy was about 11% instead of today’s 75%. In 1925, 85% of black households in New York City were two-parent. Today, the black family is a mere shadow of its past.

            Williams paints a sad picture of the black families of America. He also looks at crime, education, and racial discrimination. He says that about 7,000 blacks die of homicide each year, a number that is “slightly over 50% of U.S. homicide victims.” Most of the time – 94% -- the black victim is killed by another black person.


            Looking at schools that are predominantly black, Williams says that “chaos is the order of the day” with “a high rate of assaults on students and teachers.” Students who are not interested in gaining knowledge make it difficult for other students to learn. He says that “overall black educational achievement is a disaster.”


            Children of all races behave better when they have access to both parents. The crime in the black neighborhoods and the chaos in the black schools would decrease exponentially if there were more black fathers in the home. More black families would take themselves out of poverty if the parents were married. Study after study shows that two-parent families do better financially. The breakdown of the family causes many of the problems for blacks.


            Williams speaks directly to those who “blame racial discrimination for the problems of black people.” He wants to know how long blacks are going to wait for “moral rejuvenation among white people” before they act for the good of the black community. He reminds his readers that African-Americans were not the only people who were discriminated against in America. Jews and Asians were discriminated against but not enslaved, and they did not wait for whites to become better people before moving upward. Williams puts the plight of black Americans at the feet of those who benefit from blacks staying on the plantation.

Intellectuals and political hustlers who blame the plight of so many blacks on poverty, racial discrimination, and the “legacy of slavery” are complicit in the socioeconomic and moral decay.

Black people must ignore the liberal agenda that suggests that we must await government money before measures can be taken to improve the tragic living conditions in so many of our urban communities.

Black and white intellectuals and politicians suggesting that black people await government solutions wouldn’t begin to live in the same high-crime, dangerous communities, and send their children to the dangerous schools that so many black children attend.

The answer to many of the problems in America would be solved by strengthening families. If liberals were really interested in helping African-Americans, they would develop policies and programs that would teach the importance of marriage and education. The crimes in all neighborhoods and chaos in all schools would be a thing of the past if fathers and mothers could only realize the importance of marriage and education in strengthening their families. Strong families of all colors strengthen their communities and nations.