After the George Zimmerman verdict, a slice of the country protested, insisting on the guilt of the exonerated Zimmerman. The president went on air and pled “for understanding.” And Fox’s Bill O’Reilly took the occasion to chide the country’s black leadership for not doing the right kind of Public Service Announcements.
Much of what O’Reilly said was on target. The high rates of unwed parenthood in the African-American community — 73 percent — and the consequent predominance of single-parent households lies at the heart of many problems.
Yet, neither O’Reilly’s idea of PSAs “telling young black girls to avoid becoming pregnant,” nor President Obama’s efforts to give young black men “the sense that their country cares about them,” would likely change behavior.
Black unemployment and rates of illegitimate births were lower half a century ago than white rates. What happened?
Black Americans were hardest hit by the rise of the welfare state.
First, raising minimum wages placed low-skilled workers at a disadvantage, with each wage floor hike doing more damage.
Second, the general switch in state aid from assistance to intact families to aid to mothers with dependent children took away a major disincentive for irresponsible sexual practices. Throw in the sexual revolution, and you have a powder keg.
Third, the War on Drugs established the market conditions for illegal activity, and encouraged the formation of gangs. Drugs made users unfit for most work, while providing a lucrative draw for those wanting to advance economically.
None of this is a mystery. But sadly, I fear America’s black leadership would rather do Bill O’Reilly’s PSA’s than really address these problems.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
9 replies on “Give PSA’s a Chance?”
Paul, here’s the message I sent to my ex and her sister. You know Rose, probably Therese, too. Anyway, I’ll give you a nod on my own site (http://thecoffeecoaster.com) in a sidebar and excerpt you as guest from time to time. And tell my friends on my small newsletter list. Keep up the good work.
This is a nice contextual libertarian approach to real problems. And he’s a great guy, too. Kudos to Paul Jacob. I would definitely advocate subscribing to his newsletter. [Plus, it won’t trigger any Medusa responses.] 🙂
O’Reilly was brave to talk about this however he should have gone back to why this has occurred in the black community like this article does. There is a saying that if someone from the government comes to you and says I’m here to help you should run away as fast as you can. I have been saying for probably 30 years now that the welfare system (LBJ’s great society) has pretty much destroyed the black community. When you reward bad behavior such as having children out of wedlock and in a fatherless home you will get more of it and that is exactly what happened. It should be left to local churches and charities to help those that are really needy. It makes the helper feel good and it makes the helped feel like someone cares and hopefully after they get back on their feet they will then help someone else.
Darwin would be proud of the way the black race has been neutralized in America.
We don’t hear much about this aspect of Darwinism, but he viewed blacks as one (or several) of those races that simply aren’t evolving. If blacks were allowed to predominate — or worse, breed with and corrupt the “good stock” — the evolution of man would “march backwards into the swirling mists of the dawnless past.”
The ruination of black men by taking away honest work, the ruination of black women by destroying the home, the ruination of black children by compulsory schooling, the mass murder of black babies via Margaret Sanger’s eugenics (abortion) program.…
Evolutionists can rejoice in triumph.
Get pregnant, tell the welfare system you don’t know who the daddy is so they wont chase him for support, get food, housing, medical care, diapers, cell phone, computer, etc. More kids, more money. Why work? Why should government change things? The unions don’t want the competition and the citizens don’t want the crime that people with no work ethics would inflict if they weren’t paid to sit home. Society doesn’t have the guts to let people fail. They waill pay to sweep the homeless and those with cultural defects under the rug. Hide them away in public housing.
Reparations are due black Americans. Not from the children of the race that were the predominant slaveowners. Slavery was an inherited concept. The children of the slaveowners are also the children of the men who fought and died to free the slaves.
No, the reparations are owed by the Democratic Party, the media, and the lib-progs, who have done more NOW to damage Black Americans than any group other than the Africans and Arabs that originally captured and enslaved their ancestors.
Combine Paul Jacob’s comments with Bill O’Reilly’s commentary and you have it. O’Reilly did not mention the welfare aspect in the same depth that Jacobs does but the two commentators have hit the mark.
Paul Jacob, Bravo Sir.
Say it isn’t so, Paul. I can not believe that you used an apostrophe in the title to incorrectly pluralize PSA. An apostrophe is only used to indicate a possessive or a contraction. Never to pluralize something. You got it right in the body of the article. Please don’t perpetrate this widespread error. & the article itself was on target!
.… Third, the War on Drugs .…
Wrong.
That’s but the symptom of the Absolute Number One cause of the decline of every aspect of America’s Culture (and, not to forget, of our sovereign borders, language, fiscal and moral integrity and just about everything else, too!) that may be found in the Primary Drug Crime:
PROHIBITION!
And that @FoxNews’ insufferable Mr O’Reilly is too darned dumb to grasp that, but reminds that every poker player with an above-meat-locker IQ knows the difference between a Show and a Tell. And Mr O’Reilly does not.
Which is why We Who Are Right are able to tell he’s a full-blow-fascist phony! A grinning (grimacing?) graduate of the Joseph Goebbels College.
Brian Richard Allen