In America, far too many people have “Daddy” issues. There are myriad reasons, even though some people have no idea what their own are.

Some of the nation’s men grow up without knowing how to be men themselves. They need strong models while in their formative years. Without those strong models, issues will arise whenever it is time to man up.

Even into adulthood, many of America’s men hold onto blaming the absentee father, or the father who didn’t do the things they “should” have done.

And, some of the nation’s women grow up without knowing how to interact with men. Humans tend to form their ideas and interactions with the opposite sex based on the first opposite sex relationship, which is the parent of the opposite sex.

Even into adulthood, many of America’s women hold onto blaming the absentee father, or the father who didn’t do the things they “should” have done.

For some adults, the absence of Daddy leaves them with open wounds that they may not know how to heal. Therapy or at least the forgiveness of Daddy would do wonders, but sadly, this nation has created an environment of blame, such that many people manufacture issues with Daddy, even if there is no real basis.

In such an environment of blame, many Americans avoid looking to any source that may have either removed Daddy, or contributed to Daddy’s failure to properly parent children.

But any of us with working brains realize that there are other elements, including the government and some single mothers who contribute to Daddy issues.

We know the all too familiar stories of single mothers who have “adult” conversations with their children about the absentee father, leading to otherwise avoidable resentment and larger Daddy issues.

But we all know that many people have real bases for having Daddy issues.

We know that far too many fathers are absent from the lives of their children.

We also know that many of the fathers who are present are inappropriate.

And, we know that the community father is largely missing in action.

We’ve all witnessed a young boy gone bad, shaking our heads, wondering where the child’s father could be and whether the father’s absence could be the cause of the child’s difficulties. But we should give that same focus to the difficulties experienced by young Black girls as well.

Our community father is missing in action.

Published in : Op-Ed, The Bridge

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