A TROUBLED CULTURE CLOSE UP

Like so many others, I was moved by the stories about Francina Brown,
the woman raising 11 grandchildren due to the deaths and absences of
the children's parents. Her sad, stoic face touched my heart. Then I
read Juan Williams' brilliant, passionate column about the failure of
African-American culture to provide for its children - a culture he
describes as "a virtual blueprint for failure" (Victories on civil
rights squandered, Aug. 23). He mentioned the need for strong
marriages (two-parent families) and the shocking number of children
born to single mothers.

I turned back to Brown's story and saw Williams' comments in
microcosm. I wonder, where are those children's fathers? Are there any
marriages in that history? Most of all, why is a 16-year-old
six-months pregnant, perpetuating the cycle of single motherhood,
poverty and hopelessness?

Francina Brown is undoubtedly heroic, doing her best under very trying
circumstances. I think we need to examine the culture that created
those circumstances. Lawlessness, drugs, the lack of male figures in
their children's lives and teenage pregnancies must be addressed for
these 11 children (and all the others like them) to have any chance of
climbing out of the generational poverty that faces them now.

Paula Bryder

Tampa