The ridiculous violence in N.O.
There are a lot of young single mothers who shouldnt be having babies but they do for whatever reason. With so many young black males getting killed or locked up or addicted to drugs, dad is often not around to influence the kid's life in a positive way. Most observers recognize that this is a problem but how do you fix it? The same people criticizing the young single motherhood epidemic as a problem, are the same people saying to lock up young black men on drug offenses and throw away the key. Louisiana is the most incarcerated place in the ENTIRE WORLD, so its no wonder dad isn't around. Again, its a closed loop.
Yes, there are a lot of young single mothers having babies. I have my thoughts on why but that is not the point. The fact is that for whatever reason, they are.
The question is, if we stop arresting black men for selling drugs, will anything change? First we have to ask if drug selling black men are good parents? Are they good role models?
Lets assume we go ahead and stop arresting them. Will they stop selling drugs? Probably not. Is having a dad that is a drug dealer going to provide any beneficiary improvements to the children? Will it remove the children from the violent life of drug dealing?
I know you question the thought of locking up these dads on drug charges. I think you make the assumption that if these dads are home, the children will somehow have better role models and a better upbringing.
The whole "get a job, get married and start a family" model is gone. It has been replaced with "get knocked up, jobless dad sells drugs, kid is left on street" model.
The problem is, these mommas keep having babies under these circumstances. The black women in these areas know the guy they are banging is a drug dealer and a gang banger. They know that chances are, the dad will never be in the kids life.