Happy Father’s Day 2015
Hope all of the dads out there have a wonderful day.
Thank you for your important work.
I wanted to include this Dove ad this year.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Not bad for a soap ad, huh?
Juan Williams wrote about the tragedy of disappearing fathers back in 2008.
I am reposting his words again this year.
The nation’s out-of-wedlock birth rate is 38% . Among white children, 28% are now born to a single mother; among Hispanic children it is 50% and reaches a chilling, disorienting peak of 71% for black children. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly a quarter of America’s white children (22% ) do not have any male in their homes; nearly a third (31% ) of Hispanic children and over half of black children (56% ) are fatherless.
This represents a dramatic shift in American life. In the early 1960s, only 2.3% of white children and 24% of black children were born to a single mom. Having a dad, in short, is now a privilege, a ticket to middle-class status on par with getting into a good college.
As we celebrate Father’s Day tomorrow, we should reflect upon a sad fact: It is now common to meet young people in our big city schools, foster-care homes and juvenile centers who do not know their dads. Most of those children have come face-to-face with their father at some point; but most have little regular contact with the man, or have any faith that he loves or cares about them.
When fatherless young people are encouraged to write about their lives, they tell heartbreaking stories about feeling like “throwaway people.” In the privacy of the written page, their hard, emotional shells crack open to reveal the uncertainty that comes from not knowing if their father has any interest in them. The stories are like letters to unknown dads — some filled with imaginary scenes about what it might be like to have a dad who comes home and puts his arm around you or plays with you.