Will we ever reach the Apex in this country where we are no longer hyphenated or balkanized Americans? We may all have come here on different boats, however, we are on the same ship now and we are to either sink or swim together.

The term “Minority” has been widely used in American political discourse over the last thirty years. The underlying idea in this term is that members of a particular race, ethnic group, or religious sect are somehow different. It suggests that, because a person’s skin color is black, or because their native language is Spanish, somehow they are not full participants in the American experiment. The minority label traps individuals into identifying themselves on the basis of their differences rather than shared values. The notion of a minority class, or race, has to be erased in order for America to live up to its true potential as a place where liberty and happiness can be achieved by all.

The so-called minority groups in the country have been growing by leaps and bounds over the past decade, with Asians leading the charge. According to the 2000 census, the Asian population grew by more than 72 percent over the previous ten years, making it the fastest growing ethnic population, followed by Hispanics at almost 58 percent, and blacks at 21 percent. White non-Hispanics were the slowest growing population, with 8.6 percent growth over the previous decade. These rapidly changing demographics beg the question of what type of America will exist in 2010 or 2020. How will people view themselves, and who, in fact, is a “minority”?

In the case of Blacks, a legacy of racial discrimination and economic marginalization has been their defining characteristics, almost to the exclusion of more closely held values and beliefs they share with all Americans. Indeed, Blacks find themselves trapped into identifying themselves as victims of racism rather than victors in the American struggle for equality. This makes them vulnerable to all kinds of promises to relieve their perceived racial suffering, often in exchange for the core values that strengthened and sustained Blacks since they arrived on America’s shores.

American Blacks share conservative Christian beliefs, but find themselves politically aligned with the ACLU, feminists, and the secular Left who endorse abortions, stem cell research, and the celebration of same sex unions – ungodly practices in the eyes of all kinds of promises to relieve their perceived racial suffering, often in exchange for the core values that strengthened and sustained Blacks since they arrived on America’s shores.

American Blacks share conservative Christian beliefs, but find themselves politically aligned with the ACLU, feminists, and the secular Left who endorse abortions, stem cell research, and the celebration of same sex unions – ungodly practices in the eyes of most devout Christians. Whereas mainstream America is turning away from the Left, American Blacks find themselves more closely aligned with it than ever, and thus relegate themselves to the fringes of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. “As long as …groups are fragmented along racial lines,” writes Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson, “they will fail to see how their combined efforts could change the political imbalance and thus promote policies that reflect their interests. Put another way, a vision of American society that highlights racial differences rather than commonalities makes it difficult for us to see the need and appreciate the potential of mutual political support across racial lines.”

While modern liberalism promised Blacks relief from segregation, unemployment, and other forms of publicly sanctioned oppression, it did so at the price of American Blacks’ legacy of unwavering commitment to Christian principles. Blacks were duped into forsaking closely held values of family and hard work in exchange for entitlements from government programs that, in the end, weakened and encouraged the breakup of the family. Before 1960, 78 percent of Black households were headed by two parents and out of wedlock births were nearly nonexistent. However, since that time, the Black community has experienced a legendary decline in two-parent families, making this the age of the single black mother.

Unless this country moves quickly to address the issue of absentee fathers in the Black community we will have allowed ourselves to raise an entire generation that has no concept of fatherhood, family or moral values which are the true foundation of the greatness of our nation. To address this problem will take no less than the full moral intellectual, culture, and financial resources of this great nation. If terrorists were doing to America what we allow the inner culture of irresponsibility to do to our young people, we would have declared war on this problem ages ago.

What are we waiting for?