Don’t Fuss ... Let’s Discuss
The African-American Community Forum

In The History of Wilkes County, Georgia, by Robert M. Willingham Jr., the number of African-American churches in Wilkes County had reached 40 between the 1870s1880s and 1927. There were 28 Baptists; six African Methodist Episcopal; one African M.E. Zion; Five Colored Methodist Episcopal, with an aggregate membership of over 5,000 or 49.6 percent out of a population of 10,088 AfricanAmericans.

Compare with the 2000 population of 4,606; aggregate attendance less than 1,000 members. There are at least the same or more than 40 African-American churches in Wilkes County in 2005. It appears that as the number of church buildings increases, fewer saints are worshipping and praising God for his goodness and blessings. The annual revival meetings have become the means for the saints to recharge their faith and commitment to Jesus Christ in that the “mourners’ bench” has become sinners relic of the past.

At the beginning of the 2005 school year, the number of AfricanAmerican students enrolled in the Wilkes County School System was reported to be 875. The Wilkes County Sunday School Union reported as of October 30, 2005, that the Sunday School classes of 15 Baptist churches consisted of 289 Sunday School attendants, including adult members. Applying a mathematical formula to arrive at a projection of the estimated number of the 875 public school students attending Sunday School on a weekly basis, the number would be approximately 385 students in attendance at Sunday School among the 40 or more African-American churches in Wilkes County, representing about 44 percent of children ages 4-18 years old.

The governance and control of African-American churches is established under clearly defined organization hierarchy of male domination consisting of religion politicking by the pastoral leadership, trustees, deacons, elders, laymen, etc., and their main focus is on the gospel, hierarchy pecking power, and internal church activities of the members. There is no organizational coalition of the hierarchical power structure of the various denominations in Wilkes County for the betterment of the community as a whole neighborhood in which all their members live.

Most of the African-American church leadership structure seems to be focused on Sunday worship, money collection, and plush sanctuaries with very little concern, if any, for building a coalition of church and community support systems to help the school system to educate our children, improve the quality of life in the community and be active in economic development to sustain the economy of the African American community.

In the 1870 U.S. Census, the profile information on the beginning of the African-American families after slavery began to emerge. Some 90 percent of the ex-slaves were unlettered and poverty stricken, but they had the innate love of putting together their individual family structure and sharing among themselves, their kin, and neighbors the joy of release from bondage. Immediately after release from bondage, marriage became a priority and a serious foundation for the stable family life. This was in part a reaction to the unstable situation under slavery where husband or wife and children were often separated and sold as property of the slave owners.

By 1880, as reported in the census and just 15 years after slavery, 80 percent of all families had a husband and a wife. By 1900 the average African-American household had five children. Single women headed households were about 11 percent with no reference to children.

Let’s fast forward to the 2000 U.S. Census. In 2000, 32 percent of African American households in Wilkes County were headed by married couples, a decline of 48 percent since 1880. Single parent households increased from 11 percent to 40.7 percent between 1880 and 2000. In 1880, there was no report of elderly persons living alone because any grandmas and grandpas lived within the family unit. However, in 2000, 27.3 percent of African Americans living in Wilkes County consisted of persons living alone, primarily the elderly with very little community support. Would this situation be caused by a void in the family, church, and community leaderships?

The 2000 Census reported that 37.3 percent of African-American children lived in married households as compared to 62.7 percent who lived in single parent households. The University of Georgia’s The Georgia County Guide reports that in Wilkes County from 1995 to 2002, there were 514 AfricanAmerican babies born or 103 babies per year: 46 babies or 8.9 percent were born to married mothers; 318 babies or 61.9 percent born to adult single mothers; and 150 babies or 29.2 percent born to teenage mothers under 18 years old. The age range of African-American mothers giving birth to babies is ages 15-30. Is this situation a problem or just the way things are with or without family, church, and community leadership?

The Family Connection Partnership “Kid Count” reports that between 1995 and 2002 there were 354 mothers who gave birth for the first time and named the fathers on the babies’ certificates, representing 71.1 percent first time births and named fathers. To the contrary, there were 144 mothers or 28.9 percent, who gave birth for the first time but did not name the fathers on their babies’ birth certificates. Of the 144, there were 131 African-American mothers who gave birth for the first time and did not name the fathers on the babies’ birth certificates, representing 90 percent of unnamed fathers. These mothers and fathers, evidently, have already decided that their family, church and community have support systems in place to take care of their newborn during their lifetime. What say you, family, church, and community leaders?

In 2004, African-American school teachers consisted of two males and 21 females, total of 23 teachers or 17.7 percent of 131 teachers (compared to 57 African-American teachers in 1970;) 19 males and 38 females, reduction of 59.7 percent, in the Wilkes County School System. However, the African-American student enrollment was 50.7 percent in 2004 of the total student body as reported by the Georgia Department of Education. Why is the teaching staff not at least 50 percent African-American to balance the socialization of the ethnic students learning skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values in a diverse multi-ethnic culture and community?

Teachers are in direct contact with all their classroom students seven hours per day and 35 hours per week between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. During that same time frame when school is out daily, the students are absent from their teachers for 17 hours per day or 133 hours per week. Therefore, the learning exposure represents 20.8 percent weekly in direct contact with the teachers and 70.2 percent weekly time away from school, except the bus drivers’ supervision cover an estimated three hours per day roundtrip. There is no teacher contact during the summer vacation period, except for course make-up requirement for a few students.

What is the point? There is no data at this time on the number of teachers living in the African-American neighborhoods where 50.7 percent of the student population is living to maintain some continuous contact with and involvement in family, church and community activities on a professional and personal level. Is this kind of socialization necessary for the children, school, and community development?

The improvement needed to continue to prepare our African-American students to compete in the global market will demand direct and wholehearted involvement of parents, extended family, and church (gospel put in action) and community active leaders in concert with the Board of Education, superintendent, principals and teachers. Keeping our children focused will absolutely require lots of personal attention, supervision, guidance, nurturing and caring from the school system and community working as a well-coordinated team.

The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement public report reveals that the Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School’s AfricanAmerican student graduation rate for 2005 was 64.9 percent of the senior class. Contrast 35.1 percent of the senior class spent 14 years exposed to all the learning activities in the school system as those who did graduate on time. What is the cause of those students who do not earn diplomas within 14 years? Would it be that some teachers throughout the system are not overly concerned about the success of certain students or could it be the slack in parents, extended family, church and community support systems?

African-American citizens make up 43.1 percent of Wilkes County’s population. By contrast, the AfricanAmerican citizen prisoners make up 73.6 percent of the incarcerated residents of the county. In addition, the February, 2005, report of the Georgia Department of Corrections showed that Georgia State prison population consisted of AfricanAmerican prisoners, 30,820, or 62.7 percent and white prisoners, 18,313, or 37.3 percent. In the Black Africans publication by Alphonzo Pinkney, in 1989, one-forth (25 percent) of all African-American men between the ages of 20 and 29 were in prison, on probation, or on parole, representing a significantly greater proportion in prison than enrolled in college.

Many of those African-American men, probably, are fathers or will become fathers, who have shortterm sentences and will be released from prison without work demand skills to support themselves and children. Does the African-American community have a collaborative plan developed among the various denominational churches’ ministers and community leaders in Wilkes County to jump start the living condition of those young adults returning from prison to Wilkes?

This columnist challenges ministers, trustees, deacons, laymen, and business leaders to spend one day each year in a teacher of choice classroom to observe teaching techniques and the behavioral conduct of students, yes, permission can be obtained from the superintendent and/or principal and they would joyfully welcome your interest.

This article is addressed primarily to the African-American church and community leaders, God’s gifted leadership. Leaders of civic groups, organizations, churches, entrepreneurships must be concerned about the next generation’s sustainable livelihood and legacy, if not, and then their people will die off! This is not my word, but it is “The Word.” How can your leadership make significantly improved changes when you are only getting the attention of approximately 1,000 or 21.7 percent of church-going citizens, out of the population of 4,606 citizens in Wilkes County, who halfheartedly listen to your messages each Sunday?

Question: Do you agree or disagree that the future of our AfricanAmerican children and their future generations are in jeopardy because we adults have almost abandoned the necessary spiritual, educational, social and economic foundations to sustain the African-American community in Wilkes County or should the white community continue to take the lead in helping us addressing and solve our problems within the African-American community or will we let our dilemma force us to become exiled and extinct as was the unfortunate situations of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 17:6) and the Native Cherokee and Creek Indians in 1835?

Don’t fuss or cuss, let’s discuss. Send your response to: docdanner@nu-z.net or P.O. Box 1328, Washington, Ga. 30673.

The opinions expressed by this columnist do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of this newspaper.