Typical response to the violence in Chicago neighborhoods. (Lincoln, Madison: lower-class, home)

[dcisive]

about the ONLY racial group I DON"T see involved with this complete lack of accountability of banging out illegitimate babies are Asians. They seem to at least still maintain a level of the concept of being married before cranking out babies. The blacks and whites both have issues with this, mostly driven by levels of education and income. The less of either and the greater the chances of the illegitimate babies. Just the way it is. The Hispanics crank them out like popcorn, with the blacks and whites not far behind. I'd hate to think of the consequences of what would happen if public assistance vanished. There would be a lot of sick and dead babies and even parents around. We support it so we get what we support. Education is the 1st step, but enforcement is 2nd, of which there is NONE. They get paid per baby, so as long as this practice continues so will the problem. They need to convince these thugs to wear condoms....yeah I know....good luck with that.......I'd prefer opting for neutering

[sharebear63]

Lenniel, I am sure you are right.

The Courts can take away the right for a person to own a firearm, vote,see certain people, go to certain places, etc, but they are allowed to bring children, they will not provide for into the world scattered across the world, never supporting them, seeing them, and certainly not loving them. I have seen young gang members with 5 kids, all with different women, no contact with any of them.

[sharebear63]

Education has been done over and over again. First, of all, these type of people do not want to hear what you have to say. They just don't care. They are thinking only of themselves in the present. The pill has been around for 50 years. Condoms have been used for centuries. (not a new concept)

[SJaye]

Throwing money at the problem has been tried for almost fifty years, and to absolutely no avail. In fact, many of these problems have only gotten worse. I agree that a genuine change in culture is what is needed- the culture changes that lead to these communities being in this state was a negative culture movement. Firstly, the idea that someone paying attention to the teacher, taking school seriously, and wanting to get good grades is being "unhip"/"uncool"/"unreal" HAS GOT TO GO AWAY! When someone has a bright future ahead of them, they think twice about getting pregnent- they have something to lose! Will it still happen? yes, but at a lesser rate. Secondly, fathers, or "baby daddys", need to be fathers and take responsibility for what they have done. I know changing the entire culture like this is not easy, but I feel it is the only way to solve the issues and simply trying to throw more money into a broken system is not going to make much progress. It all comes down to personal responsibility- without it, unfortunately, society is a joke.

[rhawkins74]

Originally Posted by sharebear63

Lenniel, I am sure you are right.

The Courts can take away the right for a person to own a firearm, vote,see certain people, go to certain places, etc, but they are allowed to bring children, they will not provide for into the world scattered across the world, never supporting them, seeing them, and certainly not loving them. I have seen young gang members with 5 kids, all with different women, no contact with any of them.

I also though on the other hand know many gang members with 2 kids by the same mother, and are constantly in the childrens life.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by jdiddy

I'd love to see an end to the failure of abstinence-only education and provide better access to abortion clinics for teens.

Reminds me of a girl I worked with at my last job. Bright, outgoing, ambitious -- and already a mother to 4 children at 22 years old. Fortunately she's gotten herself down the right path, but she has also become keenly aware of how the decisions she made as a teenager are affecting her life today and her would-be plans for tomorrow. But the culture around her simply did not reinforce the idea that starting a family at 15 years old was not a good idea. It was kinda frustrating watching her work so hard and mostly spinning her wheels.

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by rhawkins74

I also though on the other hand know many gang members with 2 kids by the same mother, and are constantly in the childrens life.

Well, it's good to know that are friendly neighborhood gang bangers are raising their kids the right way. What great role models they'll be if they live long enough to have any influence on their children.

I'm sure their message will be "stay in school, work hard, listen to your teacher, and go to college so you can get a good job and don't have to be gang bangin and **** like yo old man."

[Wingfoot]

Originally Posted by lenniel

It doesn't 'sound awful', it sounds very sensical. Unfortunately, there aren't enough people in power with the nuts to state the same thing and then do something about it.

Here's a bet I'm willing to make: If you took the total population of Cook County jail (black, white, hispanic) and determined what percentage of the inmates were born to single mothers and/or teen mothers and/or had multiple siblings with different fathers, the percentage would be 85% or higher. Unfortunately, it's probably even higher for the black incarcerated group. What's that tell you?

IT tells me that racism is the american original sin and that it's alive and as well supported as ever,if not more so.

[Wingfoot]

Originally Posted by sharebear63

Education has been done over and over again. First, of all, these type of people do not want to hear what you have to say. They just don't care. They are thinking only of themselves in the present. The pill has been around for 50 years. Condoms have been used for centuries. (not a new concept)

And the CRUSHING effects of racism on the human mind,body, and soul have been around here for 400 years !
And still black folk,keep on keeping on. A miracle.

[It'sAutomatic]

I think it's a problem of economics. I don't believe it's a coincidence that the decay of American inner city neighborhoods came at the same time as the decay of American industry. Low-skilled jobs left, and many poor people, particularly blacks, could not or would not obtain the skills necessary to elevate themselves to a higher level of employment, OR perhaps the jobs simply weren't available at the time, giving people little reason to gain skills. This was followed by desperation among people, which led to abandonment and crime (which catalyzed further abandonment). The people leaving at this point were mostly decent folks, leaving even more room for criminals to gain hold of their neighborhoods, all the while a drainage of the middle and upper-class tax base within cities gave the state less ability to fight these criminals. Speaking of black people specifically, I think that centuries of oppression had eliminated much of the entrepreneurship spirit within the population, and from the 50s on, government aid programs have (unintentionally) made it against the interests of many people in the lower-class to make honest, independent livings, creating a cycle of non-productivity and dependence on government handouts.

Some parts of culture (gangs, unwed teenage mothers, etc.) are no doubt part of the problem, but I don't know enough to say whether they are a cause or a symptom of these economic issues, though I am leaning towards the latter.