Nationally-renowned news commentator and radio talk show host Armstrong Williams is convinced a key problem in America today is the disintegration of the family and absentee fathers, he told a crowd in south suburban Matteson Friday night.
"Mothers are doing their best, but when their sons get to age 14 or 15, they begin apologizing for not having a father role in the home," Williams said. "They soften their discipline, and our young men don't know how to act, and they get into trouble." Williams' comment follows a theme other black newsmakers such as Bill Cosby have been recently repeating. With 10 percent of the black male population in prison, and more black males in prison than in colleges, accentuating the need for good male role models has become an emphasis among black leaders.
But it is one of several problems facing America, he said. Williams scoffed our nation's idolization of sports figures over intellectual leaders. "I don't know of any sports figure who has saved a civilization," he said. "But I can tell you scientists and educators who have."
Williams was in town Friday night to keynote a fundraiser for State Senate candidate in the 19th District, Eric Wallace. A PhD himself, Wallace said he agrees with Williams' comments, and believes education is the key to many problems in the south suburban district in which he's running. (Williams, left, is pictured above with Dr. Joan Wallace and 19th Senate candidate Eric Wallace.)
"Our children in this area are being denied a hopeful future because they're not being taught the basics at our local schools," Wallace said. "If you really think about it, the need for more crime prevention, economic development and other societal needs are because our education system is failing our children. We need to turn that around. It can't wait."
Wallace says he is frustrated with the lack of action on behalf of the 19th District's incumbent State Senator Maggie Crotty. In Crotty's early years of serving in the Illinois legislature, she demanded schools change. But while she's been in Springfield, she's never stirred the controversy and little in the district's schools' performance has changed.
"We don't need to throw more money at a system that's broken," Wallace said. "What we need is for parents to take charge of their children's education and be given what they need to make the right choices for their children's future."
Williams was introduced to the evening's crowd by Eric Wallace's mother, Dr. Joan Wallace. Mrs. Wallace served the Carter, Reagan and Bush administrations in various capacities. While transitioning between the Carter and Reagan administrations, she met Armstrong Williams, who then was the "youngest appointee ever." The two worked together, and Dr. Wallace was a mentor to him, Williams said.
The candidate Wallace said he was pleased to have support in the 19th District, and was honored to have State Senators Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin) and Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) speak on his behalf Friday night.
"I'm supporting Eric Wallace because of his demeanor, his intelligence and his beliefs," Lauzen said. "We need more men like him in our Illinois Senate."
The United Republican Fund co-sponsored the Wallace fundraiser as part of their "Six in '06" project, of which Eric Wallace is a selected candidate.
