Change is in the air

Since the start of the war on poverty as part of President Johnson’s Great Society many poor people of color have received special help from the government in an attempt to make up for past mistreatment and prejudice. After 50 years of receiving this help the statistics show that in many areas things have gotten worse especially in crime, drugs, single parent homes and drop-out rates. There has been a subtle change in attitude in the past year which has allowed people to question the wisdom of this approach. Up until recently it was considered politically incorrect to use phrases like personal responsibility as this conflicted with the idea that all problems were caused by events outside the control of these citizens. Typically the situation found in areas like Ferguson, MO were explained using the concept that these people were victims of some real or imagined mistreatment and they were not at fault for their predicament. A reported explained things this way. People in Ferguson would be stopped for minor traffic violations like a tail light out or improper parking and upon further investigation other offences would be revealed, things like driving with expired license or having no insurance. This then resulted in additional fines sometimes up to $1,000 and the people could not pay so they were hesitant to drive outside of their immediate neighborhood lest they be arrested. Since many of these people worked some distance from home they quit going to work. The reporter went on to explain how these circumstances caused these people to view the authorities in a distrustful way. He left the reader with the impression that things outside the control of these people caused them these problems when in fact it was their failure to keep their license and insurance up to date. It was a failure of personal responsibility. There is hope on the horizon for these people who have suffered the unintended consequences of good intentions. It is now acceptable in some quarters to talk about personal responsibility. Facts show that if black women will do two things it will keep 95% of them out of poverty. First is finish high school and second don’t have a child until you are married. This is asking for personal responsibility and does not require any government assistance. When black leaders begin to emphasize the importance of having a father in the home, then young black men will have responsible role models. Even Jesse Jackson said we don’t need the government to tell our young women not to have babies before marriage or tell our young men not to use drugs. Playing the victim and saying it’s not my fault doesn’t work but accepting responsibility for your station in life is the first step to doing something about it. Let’s quit selling these people short, what George Bush called the soft bigotry of low expectations.