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When I was a kid my Uncle Robert, for
whom I was named, used to say that blacks needed to “fight on all
fronts, at home and abroad.” By that he meant that while it was
critically important to fight against racial injustice and oppression,
it was just as important to support, nurture and fight on behalf of
one’s family and community.

Uncle Robert (my father always called
him Jim – don’t ask) died many years ago, but he came to mind as I was
going over the dismal information in a new report about the tragic
conditions confronting a large portion of America’s black population,
especially black males.

We know by now, of course, that the
situation is grave. We know that more than a third of black children
live in poverty; that more than 70 percent are born to unwed mothers;
that by the time they reach their mid-30s, a majority of black men
without a high school diploma have spent time in prison. We know all
this, but no one seems to know how to turn things around. No one has
been able to stop this steady plunge of young black Americans into a
socioeconomic abyss.

Now comes a report from the Council of
the Great City Schools that ought to grab the attention of anyone who
cares about black youngsters, starting with those parents who have
shortchanged their children on a scale so monstrous that it is
difficult to fully grasp.

The report, titled “A Call for Change,”
begins by saying that “the nation’s young black males are in a state of
crisis” and describes their condition as “a national catastrophe.” It
tells us that black males remain far behind their schoolmates in
academic achievement and that they drop out of school at nearly twice
the rate of whites.

Black children – boys and girls – are
three times more likely to live in single-parent households than white
children and twice as likely to live in a home where no parent has
full-time or year-round employment.

In 2008, black males were imprisoned at a rate six-and-a-half times higher than white males.

The terrible economic downturn has made
it more difficult than ever to douse this raging fire that is consuming
the life prospects of so many young blacks, and the growing sentiment
in Washington is to do even less to help any Americans in need. It is
inconceivable in this atmosphere that blacks themselves will not
mobilise in a major way to save these young people. I see no other
alternative.

The first and most important step would
be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together.
There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose
parents have effectively abandoned them. It’s the family that protects
the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional
security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a
child to believe – truly – that wonderful things are possible.

All of that is missing in the lives of too many black children.

I wouldn’t for a moment discount the
terrible toll that racial and economic injustice have taken, decade
after decade, on the lives of millions of black Americans. But that is
no reason to abandon one’s children or give in to the continued
onslaught of those who would do you ill. One has to fight on all
fronts, as my Uncle Robert said.

Black men need to be in the home,
providing for their children. The community at large – including the
many who have done well, who have secured a place in the middle or
upper classes – needs to coalesce to provide support and assistance to
those still struggling.

Dorothy Height, the longtime president
of the National Council of Negro Women, who died in April at the age of
98, always insisted that blacks “have survived because of family.” And
she counseled: “No one will do for you what you need to do for
yourself.” There are many people already hard at work on these matters,
but leadership is needed to vastly expand and maximise those efforts.
Cultural change comes hard, and takes a long time, but nothing short of
a profound cultural change is essential. Let the message go out that
walking down the aisle carries with it great responsibilities but can
also be great fun, and watching your kid graduate with honors is a
blast.

Black children can’t wait for
Washington to get its act together. They don’t have time to wait for
the economy to improve. They need mom and dad and the larger community
to act now, to do the right thing without delay.

This is not a fight only for blacks.
All allies are welcome. But the cultural imperative lies overwhelmingly
with the black community itself.

© 2010 New York Times News Service