For once it would be nice to hear a shift from the repeated narrative of "black men ain't shyt" and how we don't take care of our kids that I've heard for 20+ years of my life.
Black women are just as much to blame in this situation but the widely accepted theme here is usually that its all black men's fault. I don't believe women are being held accountable by being stuck with the children for a number of reasons.
First, I don't believe being blessed with a child and having to take care of them is a punishment. Most women look forward to being a mother and having children and would fight like hell if the father wanted custody of the child.
Secondly, many of these women selfishly use the existence of these children to their own benefit. Whether it be using them as leverage against their father for child support. Or whether women selfishly bring purposely children into shytty situations just to collect public assistance and benefits.
Third, the woman just by being the main custodial parent has possession over the child most of the time. Which gives her the ability to paint as nasty as a picture of the father as she wants. Even if she is in the wrong she can plant seeds in the minds of her children and change how they perceive their father which can cause children to harbor negative feelings about their Dad and never build a relationship with him.
it sounds like what youre saying overall is that you would like the conversation to focus on both the man and the woman, which is cool. "accountability" wouldnt really be what i would term it.
that seems really like a catch all coli phrase tbh.
i think its a great and necessary conversation to have but each side needs to put down their pitchforks and really speak to the wrongs on both sides. none of this "yeah so and so is wrong
but..."
i agree that having a child is not a punishment. it is however hard work [if you are a good parent]
raising a child with or without a mate is obviously much harder than walking away, i think we can all agree on that.
these other issues that you bring up are unique to bad single mothers [bad single mothers use their children as paychecks and alienate their children from their fathers]
not the same thing as all single mothers.
the notion of women living high off the hog on state assistance is just the continuation of the reagan era welfare myth.
nobody is balling off state assistance,
the family court system is changing slowly but surely [although it still needs work] and men who are willing to fight are enjoying physical custody much more often and 50/50 custody is becoming much more common
as far as parental alienation its definately possible, obviously the best preventive measure against that is for the noncustodial parent to be active and present in their childs lives.
thank you for taking the time to respond.
im not of the school of though that "black men aint shyt" or "fathers are uneccessary" or " baby mommas are the devil and singlehandedly ruining the black community"
the children are whats important. truthfully idgaf about the hurt feelings of any grown man or woman who just had to have a nut so bad that now their shyt is all of our problem
i dont think shaming after the fact works or will bring about any change, [you guys say weve been shaming deadbeat dads for the last 40 years and they still exxsist right?]
we need a better way forward