It’s another Fathers’ Day, and let me say a cheer for our fathers.
I was blessed with a wonderful father, who led by example and taught me all the right values. He passed away back in late 2015, but I still remember having a little Cuban coffee and enjoying a game on TV. I would love to have another of those Sunday afternoons back, because I miss them dearly. We spoke about so much in those moments.
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I remember the time that we were watching a news story about people breaking into stores and stealing things. He looked at me with a very serious face and said, ”Where are their fathers? No fathers means young men who don’t respect order.”
There is more to fathers than remembering what my father thought of young men acting wild. We do have a “father crisis” in many communities in the U.S.
Years ago, Juan Williams, author and Fox News contributor, wrote “The Tragedy of America’s Disappearing Fathers”:
The extent of the problem is clear.
The nation’s out-of-wedlock birth rate is 38%.
Among white children, 28% are now born to a single mother; among Hispanic children it is 50% and reaches a chilling, disorienting peak of 71% for black children.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly a quarter of America’s white children (22%) do not have any male in their homes; nearly a third (31%) of Hispanic children and over half of black children (56%) are fatherless.
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This represents a dramatic shift in American life.
In the early 1960s, only 2.3% of white children and 24% of black children were born to a single mom.
Having a dad, in short, is now a privilege, a ticket to middle-class status on par with getting into a good college.
Fathers’ Day is here. Let’s remember a simple truth: We need men to be responsible fathers now more than ever.
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