“You know what’s wrong with America?,” The cab driver asked me. I wasn’t too sure on how to respond. As I know there is plenty wrong with America.

I could have started with immigrants and the issues with the US Border Patrol. I could have gone as far as telling him about the outdated education system and the fact that “No Child Left Behind” is truly leaving our children behind the remainder of the world in terms of intellectual competition. I might have even suggested the environment and the government’s weak policy.

But this didn’t come close to what the cab driver had in mind.

What’s wrong with America is Black men. And, not just any black men, but black men who come from single parent homes.

At first, a look of shock and awe came across my face (I’ll tell you why later). But I had to think, lets give this guy the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s come from a single parent home.

The cab driver, Mohammad, is from Pakistan. He has five kids, all boys, and wife at home. Mohammad arrived in America 15 years ago. His wife works, though I’m not sure what she does, and so do three of his sons.

Values and the support of the family are key to Mohammad. He shared that, each son, that works has helped purchase a house in Queens for the family to live in. His older children are helping to put the younger children through college. It’s about giving back to your collective unit. It’s about making sure everyone is educated and has the proper tools to survive in the world. I’m all for that but I still want to know what’s so bad about single-family homes in his eyes.

Mohammed says that Black men have the power to change the world and they don’t have the proper skills and education to make that happen. When the father is not around the mother doesn’t have the strength to control her male son(s). It sounds mighty ignorant to make such a broad statement. But what I would agree on is that Black men need to step their game up or they will be further degradation amongst the bunch.

I know Black women. I know the power that they have. But, the one strong Black woman I truly know is my mother. She has done the whole, damn thing. Every opportunity that presented itself she took advantage of - in order for me to see life outside of my underprivileged neighborhood.

The Black women I know step up to the plate when Black men haven’t been there to support their seed. I’m not a fuck trophy. I’m someone’s son; my mother’s son. The cabbie’s words did a tad irritate me but at the same time, he hasn’t lived my life. He doesn’t know what’s going on in my world. People who come from single parent homes aren’t as bad as he makes them out to be.

People who come from traditional homes (both mother and father in the house) aren’t always as picture perfect as one would want to believe. You don’t need two parents in the house, although it would be ideal. What you need is a lot of love and a great support.

Mohammad has provided both for his family. Mother supplies that for me. Is his situation better than my own? From where he sits, yes. From where I sit? I’m happy. I work. I’m able to support myself now.