Black Girls Get Pregnant and Get Scorned...

[sista]

Black Girls Get Pregnant and Get Scorned; Why Do the Gloucester Girls Get Tea and Sympathy?

Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008
By: Tonyaa Weathersbee, BlackAmericaWeb.com

By now, another racial stereotype ought to be biting some big-time dust.

It seems that in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a fishing town described as white, Catholic and blue collar, students who walk the halls of the local high school this fall may find themselves bumping into classmates who will be returning with their own bump. Seventeen girls at Gloucester High School are pregnant -- more than four times the number of pregnancies that the school of 1,200 has had in a year.

Time magazine recently reported that the pregnancies may have been part of a pact that the girls entered into to give birth to and raise their children together. But the principal of the school, Joseph Sullivan, has been silent since making that assertion -- possibly to quench the media firestorm ignited by that sordid tale. The mayor of the town, Carolyn Kirk, is vigorously denying that there was any pregnancy pact -- saying that Sullivan now claims his memory of the details is foggy.

Me, I believe Sullivan's memory is just fine. It's his courage that has lapsed.

But Kirk and others needn't worry too much about the town's reputation because ultimately, the Gloucester girls will receive more of society's sympathy than its scorn. The fact that the media is focusing on whether there was a pact and whether the girls are victims of a celebrity culture that spawns movies like "Juno" and "Knocked Up," says that when white kids do something that smacks of antisocial behavior, people are quick to dig for explanations.

When black kids do antisocial things, people think that all they need are sermons.

By now, everyone should know that becoming pregnant isn't a wise career move for any teenager. Despite anecdotes of how some teenage mothers, like the singer Fantasia and others, grow up to become successful, studies too numerous to name here show that children who are born to teenage mothers are several times likely to grow up in poverty -- and to suffer all the problems that come with that package.

Yet it seems that over the years, as black teenage births continued to grow, many people seemed content to treat it as some kind of inner moral deficit; as part of blacks' inability to control their sexual urges. As a columnist at a daily newspaper, I can't begin to tell you about the numerous calls I get from whites -- racists who have found a new best friend in Bill Cosby -- who are convinced that black immorality is the sole reason for our teenage pregnancy epidemic.

One caller, who claimed to be a middle school teacher, once left a rambling message on my voice mail about how disgusted she gets with all the little black girls in her class who gleefully share pictures of their sonograms with each other.

I wonder if she's as disgusted by what the Gloucester girls did.

Chances are she isn't. Because chances are sociologists, psychologists and all other manner of experts will be trying to explain why those girls happened to get pregnant at the same time. They'll talk about the influence of popular culture, which brought us Jamie Lynn Spears, and phrases like "baby bump." It's a culture which treats the public and vulnerable girls to aisles full of magazine racks with covers of the latest, unwed celebrity mom-to-be.

They'll probably even coin this debacle as "The Gloucester Syndrome," when it's imitated at other, mostly-white high schools. It'll be treated as a trend, not as a depravity.

Teen Pregnancy & the Gloucester Pact

[cc5k]

The author is off the mark. The white community (and myself) are outraged and disgusted by this, just as we would be if they were black students.

[sista]

she's not off the mark, she's right on.... peep a few sites and read the comments by readers.... for the most part, folx are very sympathetic to THESE girls...

[cc5k]

I've heard it discussed on two radio stations and on MSNBC (all 3 were hosted by white people) and I have not heard a single person be sympathetic to these girls. They're a bunch of morons and everyone seems to see it.

This bitch (the author) just seems to have an axe to grind.

[sensitiveguy]

I think the author’s comments are right on target. I don't recall the white media asking, "Where are the parents?" or talking about "responsibility" like they would have if the girls were black.

[KweenSparky]

She has an axe... sure does...and it needed the sharpening she's giving it. While the white media may not be sympathetic, they also are not pointing fingers and automatically blaming thier race and upbringing as the cause for this "epidemic".

[Jamal]

Originally Posted by KweenSparky

She has an axe... sure does...and it needed the sharpening she's giving it. While the white media may not be sympathetic, they also are not pointing fingers and automatically blaming thier race and upbringing as the cause for this "epidemic".

RIGHT ON MY SISTER!! Well said Kween, I agree 100%

[sista]

Originally Posted by cc5k

This bitch (the author) just seems to have an axe to grind.

why is she a bitch? absolutely uncalled for....

[cc5k]

Originally Posted by sensitiveguy

I think the author’s comments are right on target. I don't recall the white media asking, "Where are the parents?" or talking about "responsibility" like they would have if the girls were black.

Like the original author, someone else around here is known for having the same kind of axe to grind. ...but I won't name names.

[cc5k]

Originally Posted by sista

why is she a bitch? absolutely uncalled for....

Because I hate when people try make things look like racial issues when they're not. IMO, we have MORE THAN ENOUGH racial issues that need our attention that are undeniably race-based. Shit like this just adds confusion and distraction; it's like the boy that cried wolf.

[sista]

then you should've stated that as opposed to callin her out her name.... goodness, your disdain for black women never ceases to astound and dismay me...

[cc5k]

Originally Posted by sista

then you should've stated that as opposed to callin her out her name.... goodness, your disdain for black women never ceases to astound and dismay me...

I didn't know, or even consider, that she was black. When I insult a woman, "bitch" is my preferred name to use... and it has nothing to do with race. Same for "asshole", which is what I primarily use for men.

[sensitiveguy]

Originally Posted by cc5k

Like the original author, someone else around here is known for having the same kind of axe to grind. ...but I won't name names.

No, I just call the shyt as I see it: a double standard.