Absent fathers

BBC reports,"Black boys need positive role models from within their own communities to tackle underachievement, a report says. The Reach panel of experts, from fields including education and business, says too often role models for young black men include rappers who glamorise guns." Nowhere does the BBC report mention the need for a father as the first and most important role model for any boy. The silence speaks volumes. At present the boys merely follow the example of their delinquent absent fathers. Now on 21 August we hear sense from Straw. "The "continuing problem" of gang violence is due to the absence of fathers in black communities, Justice Secretary Jack Straw says. He said young black men needed their fathers as role models, otherwise their development suffered. Black girls from similar backgrounds had different attitudes and succeeded more than black boys, he said. He was responding to US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson who said inner city violence was an economic problem. " So reports the BBC. Jackson is an American problem.