Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 December 1995 — Page 3

SATURDAY, DECEMBER >, 1995

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

PAGE A3

Opinions

We must rebuild families By MAYOR STEPHEN GOLDSMITH In September, the City of Indianapolis announced a campaign to encourage responsible fatherhood and discourage teen pregnancy in Indianapolis. The campaign is called Rebuilding Families. After 12 years as prosecutor and four years as mayor, it has become clear to me that for government to ensure public safety, expand job opportunities, and improve education there must be a foundation of strong, healthy families that pass along societal values to their children. For too long, even the best intended government policies have weakened families, often in very subtle ways. It is now time to implement an explicit set of policies which strengthens families while reducing government assistance. Here are some interesting indicators that tell a troubling story about the state of the family between 1960 and today: * The percentage of births outside of marriage has quadrupled. * Almost seven of every 10 Black children are bom outside of marriage. * The percentage of children living apart from their fathers has tripled. * Only four out of 10 children will reach the age of 18 living, continuously with both parents. * Paternity is only established in three out of 10 cases. In particular for Marion County: * lire birth rate for teen-agers has increased more than 40 percent in the last 10 years. * The birth rate for Black teen-agers has more than doubled in the last 10 years. * Moms are getting younger. There were 59 births last year to girls under 14. * Fathers are getting older. Of births to girls 15-17 years old. 50 percent of the fathers are older than 20. Of births to girls 11-15, only 9 percent of the fathers were peers, 40 percent were high school boys and 51 percent were older than 18. The consequence of these trends is that fatherlessness drives a whole series of other problems: crime, poverty and low educational attainment. Studies show that in two-parent households, all other measures — race, poverty — are minimized as predictors for crime. Children from fatherless homes account for 75 percent of adolescent murders, 67 percent of rapists and 70 percent of prison and reform school inmates. A 10 percent increase in fatherlessness corresponds to a 17 percent increase in juvenile crime. Serious juvenile crimes have increased nearly fivefold in the last 10 years, and 75 percent of these crimes are committed by juveniles from fatherless households. Children from fatherless homes are twice as likely not to graduate from school, have lower GPAs, are absent more often, and have lower expectations that they will go to college. The numbers are so clear that conservatives and liberals now agree that the breakdown of the traditional family is a major problem.' > Dan Moynihan stated in 1965 that: “...Acommunity that allows a large number of young men to grow up in broken families, never acquiring any set of rational expectations about the future — that community asks for and gets chaos. Crime, violence, unrest disorder—most particularly the furious, unrestrained lashing out at the whole social structure that is not only to be expected; it is very near to inevitable. And it is richly deserved.” Anyone who watched the events of 38th Street and College Avenue, either in person as I did or on television, understands what Moynihan is talking about. I spent 12 years as prosecutor, collecting AFDC. I know the heroic job that many single moms do to raise their children in neighborhoods tom by crack, crime and hopelessness. I know that the stereotype of the “welfare queen” is both inconect and offensive. But 1 also know that we have created a series of government policies that send the wrong messages and encourage the wrong kind of behavior. Government programs have not worked. Government should support families, not supplant them. What can be done with this glum portrait of American families? We need to hold dads accountable by doing more than just establishing paternity; we need to establish fatherhood, enforce the laws for child support, and enforce the laws against impregnating little girls. We also need to change the conversation that takes place between children, by restoring a Stigma against teen pregnancy. Our challenge is to rebuild the mediating institutions in our city, by reinforcing the role of churches as the anchor of their neighborhoods. We are building a sense of community through neighborhood groups, but the most important institution of all for us to rebuild is the family. A coalition of local officials have joined together to begin the dialogue to rebuild our institutions. Marion County Health Department Director Dr. Virginia Caine, Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Esperanza Zendejas, Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman, Juvenile Court Judge Jim Payne and Deputy Mayor of Neighborhoods Irma Neal are the government leaders in fighting crime, educating our children, protecting the public health and strengthening our neighborhoods. All of these officials are united by the realization that there is only so much that government can do. Ultimately, the success of our community depends upon the health of our families.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Bus boycott a special slice of history

As an active supporter of the civil rights movement in my own state of South Carolina, I am especially pleased to join in this special salute to Mrs. Rosa Parks in the commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott. There are very few women in American history who have had such a far-reaching and dramatic impact in changing the course of history as Rosa Parks did on December 1, 1955. Noted AfricanAmerican journalist Louis Lomax wrote that “the Negro revolt began at the moment Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to move to the rear of the Cleveland Avenue bus in downtown Montgomery on December 1,1995.”

Mrs. Parks acted as an individual African-American citizen who became sick and tired of the Jim Crow ordinance which required black citizens to occupy seats in the rear of the bus and reserved seats in the front for whites only. This set the stage for a young unheralded 27-year-old Baptist preacher to enter the center stage of American history by helping to organize the Montgomery Improvement Association and coordinating the 381-day bus boycott. This, indeed, was the genesis of the new prophet of freedom for God’s oppressed people, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The success of this “direct action” protest was a catalyst for the civil rights movement in the South

and in America, pricked the conscience of all Americans, attracted support from all sections and sectors of the American populace, and inspired a Democratic President, a Southerner, Lyndon Baines Johnson, to lead the American people from the long, dark, shameful shadows of sanctioned racial segregation and discrimination into the dawn of a new day of freedom and equal opportunity for millions of African-American citizens. That December 1, 1995 date in Montgomery has become an important chapter in America’s own journey to make the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights a meaningful reality to all its citizens. And America today is a much better country as a result of the

heroic efforts of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Young, John Lewis, Jesse Jackson and the other heroes and heroines of the Civil Rights and Non-Violence movement. We still have some miles to go along this journey, however, before fully realizing Dr. King’s dream of an American society in which all people are judged on the basis of their character and not the color of the ir skin, a nat ion of people united in mutual respect and understanding. Don Fowler Chairman Democratic National Committee

An open letter to Bla<k Expo board members Some co-workers and I have some suggestions on perhaps how to improve Black Expo next year and in the coming years. Get everything in writing! Verbal agreements are not normally enforceable. (Your legal counsel should have told you this.) Consider finding/building your own building. In this way, money flows back into your own community. Start charging a nominal fee. $3-$5, for the free concert and moving it to another location; perhaps Riverside or Sanders park or an open field somewhere. Charging a small fee prevents undesirables from just simply coming when they have no interest in the concert. Moving the event somewhere else allows people more room to move around. Also, close off all side streets to traffic, except essential personnel. Consider finding another place for the paid concerts, perhaps even indoors. Last year, I can recall sitting in the rain for a couple of hours because I had bought tickets for a girlfriend in from out of town and myself. A cousin in from out of town also attended. We had pretty good seats up front and really wanted to see the Isley Brothers so we sat there and prayed that it would stop raining. Find some new groups for your concerts come next year. My sisters went to the concert and said that the crowds seemed smaller this year. Could it be the groups? Avoid rap stars or anyone who’s been here in the past three years. Perhaps have one night for the newest stars and one night for the famous older groups of the past, like Lakeside, Isley Brothers, etc. Consider trying not to be everything to everyone; it’s costly and time-consuming. Having a speaker, health & job fairs, boxing, basketball and concerts is all well and good, but perhaps your energy and money would be best suited just concentrating in just 2 or 3 areas each year. Try to find a way to include more local businesses. 1 attended this year’s Expo and it seemed smaller than in the past years and few small local vendors. I had hoped to see some small minority local business that I could patronize, such as small clothing stores, shoe stores, etc. Don’t local businesses want to bring more consumers? I saw this as an excellent time to do this since I, and others, have no idea where different small minority businesses are located. . Do they think the booth space is too high at Expo or they just have no interest in being a part of it? I saw many vendors that I thought would be better suited at the job fair, i.e. the many state agency booths, the U.S. Mint, UPS, etc. Instead of just having a theme each year, have a goal each year and announce it to the public so that they can feel they are a part of something important. For example, this year’s money will be used to raise money for building a recreation center for kids. Please feel free to print this letter and incorporate any or all of these ideas for the betterment of the Expo. God Bless.

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