There are many explanations for someones success and there are also reason for unsuccessfulness. Some of the reasons for success may be due to family legacies and long time goals flourishing. In other cases success may not come to some people, for reasons such as lack of motivation or situations outside of their control. The focus topic of this paper is the influential forces, which motivate young African American men to succeed in life in the Atlanta, GA area. The question derived from this topic is-Does having a father effect the success of young African American men? By exploring this topic, there may be a chance to understand how success among African American men differs from the unsuccessful. If there is a chance that fathers contribute …show more content…
Success according to (Merriam-Webster, 2015) is “favorable or desired outcome; also: the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.” Success is defined as something that can be worked for or given to someone. Young African American males all define what success is for them individually and their own definition may be what influences their level of success. Since not all the same factors contribute in the lives of young African American men, the common factor that they do all have is that of a …show more content…
In doing so there may be a chance to limit the amount of failure in that community. If fathers are significant in how prosperous their sons become, then fathers may need to be educated on the importance of fatherhood. In cases where “Self-determination” has driven individuals to succeed, they may be able to mentor future generations on how to project that from within. Davis, Jenkins and Hunt (2007) tell of their stories of how having a fatherless childhood effect their development, but it also tells of how they overcame their life obstacles. These three doctors were reared in homes where they experienced and saw a lot of things that lead them down the wrong path. Although they were going down the wrong path, they made a contract with each other to succeed. Their story is an example self-determination and having a non-paternal support system (p.
In Tina Miller’s, “Falling Back into Gender?”, the author explains how the role of men is different in many family households. Using studies and data retrieved from men who are experiencing early parenthood, Tina identifies the social norms that are associated with fathering. Through her research, she identifies the difference characteristics that a father posses: one being that of a masculine, strict father, and another being a “nurturing man” who is more sympathetic to the his children and serves as a stay home dad, spending times with the kids. Not only that but each has a mentality of wanting to share the responsibility and work that comes with taking care of babies. Throughout the article, Tina shows that although many young fathers have an incentive to care for their infants along with their spouses, eventually, what is expected for them through the social norm will eventually take its toll and fathers will go back to their typical duty as a man; to work endless hours and
There are many open wounds in the African-American community that have not healed what so ever. Disintegration of family structures in the African-American community has been a persistent problem for far too long. High out of wedlock birth rates, absent fathers, and the lack of a family support network for many young African-Americans have led to serious problems in America's urban areas. The persistence of serious social problems in inner-city areas has led to a tragic perpetuation of racial prejudice as well. African Americans still face a litany of problems in the 21st century today.
The two stories illustrate that African-Americans are not given an equal chance in terms of gaining opportunities for a successful life. However, it may be possible that one key factor among all can develop a whole problematic image on success and why White Americans think of the African-American society as to not having the capability for a chance towards success. At the time, the economy could have been at a huge disadvantage for the African-Americans because majority of them did not have the chance to rise up from it in terms of creating revenue for themselves. The whole world around them built this image and it is hard to come out of when no one can give opportunities for them to improve and grow. Harlon L. Dalton expresses how unfair the
In Hill’s (1972) seminal work, The Strengths of Black Families, on African American families, he states that “strong kinship bonds, a strong work orientation, adaptability of family roles, a strong achievement orientation, and a strong religious orientation were characteristics that have been functional for their survival, development and stability”. Hill (1999) states that strong kinship ties are the greatest enduring family qualities and are imbedded in West African cultural values. This strong kinship connection encompasses the significance of extended family, which is inclusion of fictive kin as family, the high value placed on children, and honor and respect for older adults (Billingsley, 1992).
In “If I Were A Poor Black Kid,” writer Gene Marks claims that poor inner city children have opportunities to be successful in life if they follow the advices/ideas he gives such as, to magnet/private school, have technology access and get good grades. Throughout the article Marks, emphasizes that poor inner city kids have the ability to be successful but they do not want to use the resource they have available. This article has been a controversial because Marks compare himself with the poor inner city kids without having knowledge about the challenges poor inner city kids face daily. The argument the author presents in the article may seem logical on the surface but investigating more deeply it can be unreasonable. Gene Marks is a man who comes from a middle class white background.
African-Americans lived in impoverished neighborhoods and received inadequate education and resources. African-Americans struggled to have better lives and generational poverty became prominent within African-American families. Along with generational poverty often times involves; emotional and physical abuse, substance abuse, violence and an ongoing need for survival. Individuals are raised on survival and not on the love and care that they need as children. Significant interactions with their parents are rare, because they work a lot just to keep their household in order.
In the article, “Stop Blaming Black Parents for Underachieving Kids”, Dr. Andre Perry defends the negative comments being thrown at black parents based on their child’s academic success. He expresses his feelings and ideas in forms of anecdotes and factual evidence. He also uses his knowledge as a dean of urban education. In his article “Stop Blaming Black Parents for Underachieving Kids”, published in the Washington Post, Dr. Andre Perry defends black parents’ participation in their kids’ education by providing facts and anecdotes discussing what the parents are willing to provide for their children’s education.
In today’s society, many black African American men struggle due to our gender. We struggle to survive. The struggle of surviving, leads to the struggle of being stereotyped, and finally ends with the struggle of being successful. No, we’re not talking success on the court or running down the field. We’re talking Chief Executive Officers, Engineers, and even doctors.
In many instances masculinity can be an avoided topic amongst African-American men. Black men are seemingly expected to show no signs of emotion, fear, and happiness. If so, black men will be categorized as feminine or weak. In American society, black men are deemed the providers and the leaders, so they must not possess any aspects that may be exemplify their fear and vulnerability. During the class on Week 9, LaShonda Coleman touched on many of these topics.
Though family and kindship were rooted in African American traditions for its use of “linking lineages and villages” (Goode, Jones, Jackson 155), it is also immensely valued for the reason that numerous African American families were broken up and disorganized for so many decades due to slavery and unequal rights, thus many families had to rely on extended family, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and close friendships to care for, and socialize their children, highlighting their perseverance to reestablish a strong family presence despite conditions where biological parents were absent. This still true in African American culture today, for multiple generations frequently reside in the same household to provide social and emotional support for the child if the mother and father are working or generally absent, as well as extended relatives, outside of the home, providing financial support, following a cultured valued belief of a collective community where many African American’s “pool resources for a common benefit” (Goode, Jones, Jackson 156), strengthing the family and community as a whole and improving the political and societal status of the group, while keeping racial consciousness in
The weak job market outcomes of teen fathers virtually none of whom are married--means that a large segment of unwed, nonresident fathers starts far behind other groups of fathers, but their earnings rise rapidly as they age into their twenties.” Lerman also found Fathers who work fewer hours, work at less demanding jobs, engage in less intensive job search, or work less hard at keeping a job may not realize their full earnings capability which affects their ability to care and connect with their children (Lerman, 2010 p. 63). Other areas that may affect African
Social Group: Fathers During this time period, fathers were the “breadwinners” and expected to work and provide for their families. However, black fathers in the 1950’s particular had to work long hours because the only jobs available to them were often low paying. This directly correlates with African-American’s low place on the social ladder during this pre-Civil Rights era. It was also extremely difficult for African-American women to find work during this time, placing the financial buren solely on the father.
The tradition of education in the African American culture implies the cultural values of the better opportunities for the family. Education provides an efficient ways to avoid the struggles that other African American’s families had to endure to provide a stable life for their families. An understanding of your ethnic culture
The importance in the role of a father is so needed in society, since the current trend is thrusting broken sons into positions reserved for well-prepared men. The lack of fostering healthy father-son relationships has resulted in an incomplete and inadequate society that contributes to the other social problems that America faces today. Lack of confronting this issue as a culture, only insures we continue to damage our young men and undermine their potential prospective happiness and success. We have freely placed our future in a culturally-approved cycle of behavior that unmistakably does not
Success can be interpreted In many different ways. From having success by going to college or success by being able to reach the highest point of a tall tree. One thing you must know is that success has the same meaning even though it may be used for different reasons. In our generation there are students who lack the ability of being able to succeed and being able to recognize the importance of succeeding. Success is just a simplistic word, but the meaning behind this simple word is much more what meets the eye, it may not be noticeable at first nor it may be recognizable to others in the end.