With the current structure of child support, a number of things are happening to our black children:

-They are lacking in their basic needs

-They are deprived of being raised by both parents

-Their fathers are neglectful at times and respect is lost

-Their mother’s are neglectful at times and respect is lost

-Their black family is broken

A number of things are happening to our black fathers:

-They are forced to take care of two households

-They are criminalized when they are unable to but not assisted by the state

-They are economically stripped and then separated from and put down by their children 

  rather than assisted by the state

-Their black family is broken

A number of things are happening to our black mothers:

-They are struggling without enough support

-They are left unable to work due to lack of child care

-They are struggling to meet the needs of their child  with some fully employed, some on assistance from the state and some         fathers supporting

-They are degraded being called low income or left hanging because they aren't

-Their black family is broken

So what do we do? We petition for a reform of child support that holds both parents EQUALLY responsible for the support of the child as well as EQUALLY supporting BOTH parents without criminalization that snatches the parent away from the child and assisting to make sure the parent is able to meet the child's needs in both households.

We petition for automatic joint custody with a legal requirement for both parents to be employed and continuously assisted.

We need to realize that the current guideline for child support is illegal, but exception is made for minority single parents. We no longer engage in practices of debtors prison, but they will place a single parent in jail for not being able to pay child support. Criminalization of nonpayment is not benefiting the child at all. New approaches must be taken to LEGALIZE child support.