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As a part-time D.C. resident and a young Black man living in America, I’m not here to play nice. The time for that has long passed.
Washington, D.C., is spiraling out of control and it’s not just because of bad mayors, weak prosecutors or woke policies. It’s because too many fathers in the Black community have walked away from their responsibilities, and too many people in power are too cowardly to say it out loud.
If you want to know why our nation’s capital has become one of the most dangerous cities in America, start in the home. The reality is simple: when boys grow up without fathers, the streets raise them. And the streets are predictably doing a terrible job.
This isn’t conjecture. It’s fact. According to the American Experiment, a child without a father is five times more likely to commit crime and be poor, nine times more likely to drop out of school and 20 times more likely to end up in jail.
DC DEMOCRATS RISK LOSING PUBLIC TRUST BY DODGING YOUTH CRIME CRISIS TRUMP IS ADDRESSING
In neighborhoods across D.C., gangs have replaced families. Drug dealers have replaced fathers. Violence has replaced manhood. And yet, we act surprised when carjackings, shootings and murders spiral out of control? Spare me.
This didn’t happen by accident. It’s the predictable outcome of a culture that stopped valuing family and started excusing failure.
And if that offends anyone on the Left, good. Because this isn’t about making them feel good.
It’s about saving lives. I’ve seen the cost of fatherlessness up close: young men my age that I grew up with who’ve never been taught how to be men, making choices that lead them to a prison cell or an early grave. Little boys who never hear “I’m proud of you” from their father, so they chase approval from the only male figures they know: dope boys on the street corner.
THE CHILDREN WE LEFT BEHIND: A RECKONING WITH AMERICA’S GROWING FATHERLESSNESS
Decades of liberal policy have made it worse. Welfare systems that punish marriage. Schools that ignore discipline. Politicians who glorify victimhood over responsibility. And every time someone tries to call it out, the left screams “racism” to shut down the conversation. But the truth doesn’t need their permission to be spoken.
President Donald Trump’s decision to Make D.C. Safe Again is the first real act of leadership this city has seen in years. It’s not just about putting more cops on the streets. It’s about sending a message: chaos has consequences. The days of letting criminals rule the capital of the free world are over.
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But here’s the tough truth: if we want safer streets, we need stronger families.
That means men stepping up and taking responsibility for the children they bring into the world. It means telling young boys that manhood isn’t about how many fights you win or how much money you flash. It’s about protecting, providing and leading your family. It means telling young girls that the standard for a partner is higher than just “he shows up sometimes.”
If you’re a man who made a child, be a father to that child. If you’re not willing to do that, then don’t cry foul when your son ends up in handcuffs or worse. Harsh? Maybe. True? Absolutely.
Trump is giving D.C. a fighting chance by taking back the streets from the gangs, the predators and the career criminals. But if we don’t fix the culture that produces those criminals in the first place, we’ll be right back here in 10 years with another wave of fatherless boys and another pile of bodies.
You want D.C. to change? We may need to start in the living room.
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