From thefederalist.com
At the 2008 Democratic convention, then-Sen. Barack Obama made an observation that wasn’t always nearly as controversial as it is today. “What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. It is the courage to raise one.”
This is perhaps the strongest defense of fatherhood ever given by a modern Democratic politician, and yet, it’s hard to imagine that speech being delivered at a Democratic convention in 2026.
Obama acknowledged what decades of research have consistently shown:
“Children who grow up without a father are roughly five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime. They are nine times more likely to drop out of school. Twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it.”
Obama was right in 2008. Unfortunately, the left no longer seems willing to acknowledge this reality. America has a fatherlessness crisis. One in four children in the United States grows up without a father in the home. Among black children, the figure is close to one in two. Young people who grow up without a father have a much harder time succeeding.
When socialism in Venezuela destroyed our family businesses, our opportunities, and nearly everything we spent years building, my father taught me perseverance and the importance of finding solutions.
He taught me, especially in difficult times, a strong family can do more than any politician or government program ever could.
But too many in America would have you believe otherwise. Are you Black and poor? Systemic racism is holding you back. Are you a woman and not making enough money? Clearly you’re being oppressed by men. Are you a white man and still not having a great life? Poor you. You must be getting exploited by capitalism.
And from this misguided worldview, the solution seems simple. The government should punish the privileged and help the victims with “free” stuff.
The result is predictable. Beyond the obvious economic failure of socialist policies, you create a society of dependent individuals who expect more and more from the government and less and less from themselves.
But in America, race, ethnicity, or gender does not determine anyone’s future.
The truth is: there is one prevailing factor that actually predicts poverty, crime, academic failure, and dependence on government far more strongly than any other, and almost nobody wants to talk about it: Growing up without a father in the home.
Why? Because the family is the most important institution of civilization, and within it, the father plays a fundamental role.
A good father teaches discipline, responsibility, and self-control. A good father teaches that life owes you nothing, and if you want something, you have to get up every morning and earn it. A good father teaches you to take responsibility for your mistakes instead of looking for someone else to blame.
Socialists and politicians who want more power need weak families. Because they understand something very simple: Where there is no father, eventually the government will step in to replace him. Worse, it will charge for that assistance with something very dangerous: More political power.
Barack Obama understood something in 2008 that the left has since abandoned. Leftists turn a blind eye to the problem of fatherlessness while also attacking the very things that would solve the problem. Masculinity is smeared as “toxic.” The nuclear family is dismissed as a relic of the “patriarchy.” Fathers are treated as optional rather than necessities for raising children.
The same party that once had a president tell black men to step and raise their own children now celebrates the dismantling of the family structure that makes that possible.
That is why they love talking about race, gender, and grievance culture instead of addressing the real problem. And it is why, instead of demanding more social programs, we should work to ensure more fathers embrace the responsibility of being fathers.
Because the government can write checks, and destroy the economy in the process. But it can never replace a father.