Resurrect the Family

An Easter call for renewal

Social change

RESURRECT THE FAMILY

An Easter call for renewal

Kendall Qualls

As we approach Easter Sunday, it is time for native black Americans, especially descendants of American slaves, to conduct a self-reflection on the current state of affairs within black culture.

It is time to admit that after 60 years of the post-Civil Rights movement, American black culture has collapsed to a godless, lawless, and fatherless culture no longer able to self-govern even in cities where black leaders control many if not all the seats of power.

How could the black community that for so long had a sense of self-respect and dignity despite the unfair hardships of the nation’s past descend from 80 percent two-parent families to nearly 80 percent fatherless homes in a single lifetime without one national initiative to reverse the trend?

Much like addicts, we won’t be able to solve this problem until we admit we have one.

Based on my organization TakeCharge’s own national polling data, a majority of black Americans believe that it is preferable for children to be raised with two parents and that adults should wait until after marriage to have children. In this poll, the majority of respondents do not believe their children are getting an education to prepare them for the future and they believe parents should have the ability to select the best schools for their children, allowing tax dollars to follow the child. This issue spans politics with most respondents self-identifying as Democrats.

Why the disconnect between the stated desires of everyday black Americans and the institutions that claim to represent them? One major reason is that the desires of black Americans are subordinate to the objectives of progressive elite leadership, many of whom are aligned with fatal socialist or Marxist ideology (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

For decades, we have been told that social disparities were and still are a result of systemic racism and white privilege. Sadly, these false accusations have been used by people sympathetic to socialism and/or Marxism as weapons to divide the country, undermine and weaken the United States, and attack capitalism, which by any objective measure is the driver of prosperity in America and the world.

Our universities, particularly Education schools, are replete with self-identified Marxists, up to 40% according to some studies. Many of these professors proclaim openly that their objectives are to transform America and destroy capitalism. Bettina Love, a professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, is just one example out of many. According to a recent interview with her, “Destroying capitalism is a part of our freedom dream. It’s part of the long-term goal.” Education school professors like her indoctrinate America’s teachers who in turn indoctrinate America’s children to despise their country and to misunderstand and hate capitalism.

Many of these believers in socialism/Marxism see the destruction of the black family and the resulting social fallout as nothing more than the sacrifice needed to accomplish their objectives of transforming America and destroying the free-market system.

Unfortunately, most Americans, including black Americans, have no idea of the failures, evils, and mass killings resulting from communist ideology throughout history. The younger you are, the less likely you are to know the truth. Coincidence? (Figure 2).

Figure 2

When we look at the decades’ long destruction of urban centers where black people live, high rates of murder (often spilling out to the broader society), three times the rate of abortion compared to the general population, mass drug addiction, and failing public schools, we have to analyze the situation through a wider aperture than race to determine what has been driving these disasters.

Beyond the ranks of academia’s self-declared socialists/Marxists, when we evaluate members of the Congressional Black Caucus, many of whom have amassed wealth without ever having held a private sector job or started a business of their own, we find that they are some of the wealthiest people in some of the poorest districts in their states. This is the same group that visited the communist country of Cuba in 2009 and praised the country’s leader as “…one of the most amazing human beings [they’ve] ever met!”, completely ignoring the decades of human rights violations, lack of freedom, and imprisonment or killing of political opponents.

Ironically, in contrast, black immigrants and their descendants are thriving in the United States, mainly because they have not been indoctrinated to feel disempowered the way native-born black Americans have been for the past 60 years.

Only in the United States can a black man become a CEO of a chain of high-end Chinese restaurants. Nigerian born and naturalized American citizen, 37-year old Damola Adamolekun was CEO of P.F. Changs and has recently been tapped to revitalize the flailing Red Lobster chain. Adamolekun is not alone. Take Virginia Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, an immigrant from Jamaica who won statewide office to become the second in command of a former Confederate state. Before her political career, she was the President/Owner of Shenandoah Appliance Plumbing & Electric, the Director of a Salvation Army Women’s Shelter, and served as a Marine. She is currently running as a Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia.

Adamolekun and Sears represent two examples of a broader theme of black immigrants thriving while native-born black Americans are at the bottom rung of society. There are multiple factors involved of course, but the fact is that we simply do not see the same level of self-destruction and family breakdown in these communities that we see among native black Americans (Figure 3).

Figure 3

What is the ultimate solution to our woes?

Not surprisingly, it must begin with acknowledging our departure away from our Christian heritage. After 60 years of wandering through the desert following godless leaders, this Easter Sunday is a perfect time to chart a new course, resurrect our Christian faith, rebuild families, re-establish excellence in education for our children’s future, and embrace our American citizenship instead of despising it. As a first step on this path, consider reading and signing TakeCharge’s “Declaration of Revival and Redemption,” which articulates a renewed commitment to faith, family, and education.

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Kendall Qualls is a Faculty-in-Residence at Crown College, School of Business and Founder/President of the non-profit foundation, TakeCharge. Mr. Qualls is also a former Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota.

Mr. Qualls was raised in a broken home in poverty. He worked full-time to pay for college, and served as an officer in the U.S. Army. He earned his MBA from the University of Michigan and worked as a Global Vice President of Sales and Marketing at an $850MM business unit.

Mr. Qualls recently authored a book, The Prodigal Project: Hope for American Families. He is also on the President’s Advisory Board of the Heritage Foundation and the Advisory Board for the National Medal of Honor Center of Leadership. His message has reached millions of people as a speaker and through his articles published in the New York Post, Washington Examiner, The Washington Times, The Federalist, Real Clear Politics, The Christian Post, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. His previous articles in the Journal of FBT include “The Scandal Hidden in Plain Sight,” “Declaration of Revival and Redemption,” and “A Movement for Revival and Restoration.” He has appeared on the FBT Podcast with host Connie Morgan in an episode titled “Bucking the Narrative.”