Chaos Rules In Chicago, The Lack Of Two-Parent Homes Is To Blame
Mayhem has hit the streets of Chicago yet again after more than 100 teenagers rioted this past weekend throughout the Windy City. In a city where a large number of children — particularly minorities — are born out of wedlock, that disorder is no surprise.
As video evidence shows, young Chicagoans jumped on cars and buses, set fires, and engaged in otherwise unruly conduct over the past few days. The police, by their own admission, were simply too overwhelmed to stop the chaos. Here is what some of it looked like:
🚨#BREAKING: Chaotic Scene Unfolds in Downtown Chicago as Teenagers Vandalize Cars and Gunfire Erupts
📌#Chicago | #Illinois ⁰
There is currently a significant police response taking place in downtown Chicago due to a large group of teenagers causing chaos. They have been… pic.twitter.com/n7xhBpsTKs— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 16, 2023
Cell phone video shows group jumping on vehicle along Michigan Avenue https://t.co/vyGYiYnHpp pic.twitter.com/gm00vZdwrO
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) April 16, 2023
In reaction to it all, one young Chicago woman asked, “Where are the parents at?”
The better question is, “Where is the father?” Since 1980, more than 70% of black children have been born to unmarried mothers in Chicago. Meanwhile, 56.7% of Latino children in Chicago were born out of wedlock — a remarkably high number in its own right. Meanwhile, just 12.5% of white children in the Windy City are born to single mothers, and even fewer Asians are born in that situation.
Perhaps it is no surprise then that Asians are the most likely demographic to do better in school and graduate high school. Whites follow, then Latinos, and black Chicagoans are least likely to graduate high school.
In Chicago in 2021, black Americans accounted for roughly 73% of all arrests, Hispanics made up 19% in that category, white individuals accounted for 8% of total arrests, and Asian/Pacific Islanders comprised just 1% of arrests, according to police data.
Again, those numbers, like high school graduation rates, are inversely proportionate to the rate of out-of-wedlock births per each racial group.
The data also show that children in black households with two parents are more likely to graduate high school, have a better quality of life, and avoid breaking the law.
That is because a mother and father provide the emotional support and stability needed for children to have a solid start in life. Without that foundation, they are starting at a disadvantage. This has been true in every culture and country to ever exist.
In modern America, that fact is no different in rural areas. According to the data, as of 2018, “Whites accounted for 78.2 percent of the rural population compared to 57.3 percent of urban areas.”
In such places, “Among whites, 33% of births in rural areas are to unmarried women, compared with 20% in urban areas and 26% in the suburbs.” Children there are more likely to have what the Centers for Disease Control and Protection call Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES). Aces include, but are not limited to, violence in the home or community, abuse and neglect, or having a family member attempt or commit suicide.
“Across children of all ages, more living in rural areas (45% for children birth to 5) experienced at least [one] ACE compared to children in the other two geographic areas [urban, large rural],” according to one study. It is not a peaceful existence for those innocent little ones — and just like minorities in Chicago, that degeneration spreads the longer it occurs.
“ACE exposure [is] linked to risky health behaviors and chronic health conditions in adulthood,” according to the CDC, and “may also result in an intergenerational cycle of experiences.”
While the form of tragedies may present in different forms — more likely drug overdoses and domestic abuse rather than riots and smash and grabs — the trend of dysfunction is comparable to the inner cities.
As Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), who grew up around such a community explained, “Chaos begets chaos. Instability begets instability. Welcome to family life for the American hillbilly.”
The same can be said for American city dwellers — for at least the past 50 years.
One should consider that in 1969, Elvis Presley released “In the Ghetto,” portraying a single mother raising a boy in Chicago who turns into a criminal. The absence of a father is heavily felt throughout. At the end of the song, a single mother births a new baby boy and the pattern continues, resulting in more violence.
Chicago’s Democratic Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson’s solution to that problem is a bigger government and one that taxes corporations more in order to increase. Of course, in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson launched the “war on poverty” using a similar framework.
In 1970, just 11% of all households in Chicago were headed by single parents. That number has increased by roughly 200% since that time.
The answer to this disarray is to promote strong fathers and male role models, getting married then having children, and encouraging parents to stay together. That can’t be done through the government alone — communities, men’s groups, and religious organizations will have to play a role.
Until that happens, more scenes like this past weekend in Chicago will occur. The children growing up today, like their fathers before them, will not know any better and the cycle will continue.
The issue here is not one of race. Broken families upend every community, and the more of them that exist in a given area, the more likely societal decay will occur. Remember what Vance said, “Chaos begets chaos.”
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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