AND SO, IT GOES

AND SO, IT GOES

"White people love to talk about the tragedy of the absent black father. It's time to talk about the tragedy of the present white father. Racism is taught. It has been in this country for decades for decades, passed down from racist to racist to racist to racist. While today's events were sickening and shocking, they shouldn't have been surprising. We've allowed racism to persist. If you know a racist's kid, give him/her a hug, teach them to love, teach them not to be afraid, don't let them learn to hate." Minnesota Pete

The above was posted recently by a friend of #1 Son, so, he is a friend of mine, a fellow who I met with his lovely wife. He happens to be a writer. They are a beautiful couple, they recently married and he makes a very strong point, about absenteeism and the black father, and our tragic reality of the white father.

I had a friend who for the last 7 to 8 years since our 45ft. high school reunion was in touch. We texted and phoned each other and he was very funny, so funny that he would leave me in tears. But as we nurtured an old friendship, he started to send me clips from talking heads about conservative points of view, and sometimes I watched them and sometimes I didn't. You see I'm an Independent when it comes to national politics, and that means being free of anyone's opinions but my own.

Then one day he began his phone conversation with the ‘fact' that 80% of the black families are fatherless, and that I should believe that. I got angry that the need was to center on what is wrong rather than what can society do to correct imbalances such as that. He felt that "They" had bamboozled me. That I had to accept this ‘fact' as fact, which it is not.

I will not go into the issues that children face with a fatherless home, instead of my friend above mentioned something far more startling, the tragedy of the present white father. Not all white fathers by any means, but those that don't teach their children the basics for waving the American flag, those truths we find self-evident that all men are created equal.

If you read the statistics on fatherless children, there is a litany on horrific things that occur to the young men, in particular, high dropout rates, the likelihood of criminal involvement, gangs and disorientation as to who they are. Then, of course, there is the burden placed on the brave mother who must keep a family together, feed and house them and then try to deal with the struggles of raising children and keeping them away from gangs, drugs, and jail, and they do this under harsh criticism.

My friend and I no longer are in contact, I won't have anyone tell me how I should think and who I should believe on their say-so.

As for the friend mentioned above, he is white, his wife black, him I respect for being a man, MY friend I have no longer any use for.