Our community father is missing in action.
For many young Black boys in previous generations who were growing up without fathers, there were Black fathers in the neighborhoods who were unafraid to tell them what they needed to be doing and standing up to them when they were acting like damned fools. They, along with teachers and coaches, could discipline children without fear of reprisal from a permissive society gone mad.
Our community father was not only in the community and in the schools, but his presence was felt in many fatherless homes.
There were community fathers represented in the politicians, activists, religious icons and average working men who stood as shining examples for all to see and embrace.
If we say that our fathers are not in the homes, then where is our community father today?
The issue of the character of African-American group will and identity here in the early years of the 21st century has recently received major attention through two research studies produced by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the related Pew Research Center, located in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The two new Pew studies are of fundamental importance to African-Americans, so I thought I'd write an essay for BlackCommentator.com containing evaluative reflections on some implications of the Pew studies for African-Americans today. 
The Pew Research Center reported, "African Americans see a widening gulf between the values of middle class and poor blacks, and nearly four-in-ten say that because of the diversity within their community, blacks can no longer be thought of as a single race." Black people can now play out this doomsday scenario with a clear conscience and without remorse for the dismal future we are creating for our children. Now that Pew has done its research and revealed that Black people are so fragmented by "class," is there any reason for us to continue to espouse collective and cooperative anything among our people?
