dern society. Williams writes:
- “I thought about the power of a good name when I heard Gen. Colin Powell say that we need to restore a sense of shame in our neighborhoods. He’s right. If pride in a good name keeps families and neighborhoods straight, a sense of shame is the reverse side of that coin.
- “Doing drugs, abusing alcohol, stealing, getting a young woman pregnant out of wedlock – today, none of these behaviors are the deep embarrassment they should be… Many [children born out of wedlock] will grow up without the security and guidance of a caring father and mother committed to each other.
- “Once the social ties and mutual obligations of the family disintegrate, communities fall apart…
- “Cultural influences such as television and movies portray mostly a world in which respect goes to the most violent. Life is considered cheap.
- “Meanwhile, the small signs of civility and respect that sustain civilization are vanishing from schools, stores, and streets…[E]ncouraged by the pervasive profanity on television and music, kids don’t think twice about aggressive or vulgar language. Many of today’s kids have failed because their sense of shame has failed.
Williams cites several staggering statistics which make painfully clear that society, particularly American society, has a huge problem. More than 30 percent of American births occur out of wedlock, and this statistic does not include pregnant women out of wedlock who receive abortions. Violent crime has increased by 550 percent since 1960. As Williams puts it, “No neighborhood is immune. In Wake County, North Carolina, police arrested 73 students from 12 high schools for dealing drugs, some of them right in the classroom.” (Italics supplied.)
Williams traces the problem to the fact that children no longer worry about maintaining a positive self-image. As Williams says, “They were born into families with poor reputations, not caring about keeping a good name.” His statement indicates that the root cause of this sad situation is the breakdown of the family structure as it once was and of parenting in general. In this, he is exactly correct. The national loss of pride and shame is in truth the effect in this. The roots lie in the decline in quality parenting. In the next section of this essay, we will look at this decline in detail.