I have to disagree with Harry C. Ward, who asserts that crime, broken families and other problems in the black community began with the collapse of the steel industry.
The problems Mr. Ward laments are widespread across America, not limited to steel towns. I think there are two main causes:
First, the "Great Society" welfare system gave poor women a financial incentive to bear illegitimate children and poor men an excuse to eschew marriage.
Second, declining moral standards removed the stigma that had traditionally limited sexual promiscuity.
The result in both black and white neighborhoods has been an explosion of youth who do not receive the benefits of a father's loving discipline.
But statistics tell us that in the black community the problem is worse. More than two-thirds of black children are born to unwed mothers. The correlation between single motherhood and poverty is very high.
It is a sad irony that most black Americans continue to vote for the political party that supports the twin scourges of the black family: welfare dependency and sexual irresponsibility.
Brad TupiUpper St. Clair
