This is great. As many of you know, I am a single father. My son has not seen or heard from his mother in years, so its just been him and I. Our society constantly paints men as deadbeats and losers. As the article said, Black men get hit with this stereotype the hardest, but white men get it too. Our world is full of single moms who are portrayed as victims of men who ran off and abandoned their kids, and there is a whole infrastructure in our society devoted to supporting the single mother.
A single mom who is poor will have everything she needs handed to her, and she does not have to work for it. The state will give her a free apartment, free medical care, food stamps, and a monthly cash payment. They'll also hunt down the father and make him pay child support, even if he is just as poor as the mother, and will treat him as a criminal if he cannot pay.
On top of the state's support, the single mom can get money, clothes, food, and other help from countless charities devoted to helping single moms.
Single dads like Jerell and I who raise our kids by ourselves? We're invisible, and no one gives a damn if we or our kids live or die. In Indiana, there is no welfare, no private charities, no anything for poor single dads.
There are a lot of us out there. I personally know several others. In every case, the kid is better off without his/her mother. You'll never see stories in the news about that, though!
Jarell's story is important, and I'm glad to see stories like his finally covered in the media.
