Fatherhood: Jesse vs. Barack

For me, the "hot mic" comments of Jesse Jackson, Sr. were less about vulgarity than about the land mine that is fatherhood in the African American community and the rest of the country.

The inability of so many couples to last has caused a pandemic of single motherhood. I'm surely a statistic.

Need I mention that sensual celibacy could go a long way in preventing single parenting, being a responsible single parent, and being a great role model for your children?

Now I know single fathers who had full custody and did a tremendous job with their children. But for the most part, the mother is usually responsible.

If the breakup was hostile, some fathers stop participating in their children's lives altogether. They just drop out. Apparently the bad feelings the father has for the mother extends to the children. So the children feel abandoned, and the mothers have the difficult task of raising children alone.

I've long struggled to understand how a man can do this to his children.

The Jesse-Barack confrontation is symbolic of how divided men also feel about the issue. Barack feels men need to step up to the plate and be responsible fathers.

Jesse, on the other hand -- well, I really don't know what he thinks, except he'd like to castrate Barack for challenging men to be responsible fathers. What seems like a no brainer to me and Barack is not so with Jesse and other men like him.

Thank God for the good men out there who are great fathers and role models to their children, regardless of the situation with the mother. That's what fatherhood is all about.