Dick Gregory's Nigger: An Autobiography

There is a systematic erosion of black families. All too often, black male fathers are absent from the home, leaving black mothers to raise young black children in single parent households. This absence of black male fathers in America originated during the days of slavery. Dick Gregory penned the autobiography depicting his struggles for acceptance and equality in a country that resented him based on the color of his skin. Unfortunately, like many African American children, Dick grew up without a father in his household.

According to Ledford (2010), father absenteeism is a common problem in African American families who reside in the inner city, and has been a primary contributing factor to poverty for Black women and their children. For

Louis, Missouri. He is easily recognizable and credited as an African American comedian, but he was a very important civil rights activist. He was born broke, but not poor and as his mother told him and his siblings, “You're not poor. You're just busted, you're just broke … [t]o be poor is a mental condition and to be broke is a temporary situation." (Explorations in Black Leadership). He wrote his autobiography to bring light to his struggles from a child to a man and bring attention to the Civil Rights fight. Gregory wrote Nigger: An Autobiography in 1964 and it chronicles the point of view of a black man who wanted change for the betterment of his people. This book provides incredible insight into the civil rights movement. It begins with a note to his beloved mother “Dear Momma – Wherever you are, if ever you hear the word “nigger” again, remember they are advertising my book.” (Gregory). By taking ownership of a word that is used to negatively depict, debase, and demean African Americans, Gregory empowers himself and shapes a different

However, the reality is quite different. Much to this point, while eighty-one percent of households were family households in 1970, fast-forward to 2012, and a downward trend is evident, whereby only sixty-six percent of households were family households. (Vespa). In fact, an estimated 28% of children are raised in a single parent household. (legalmomentum.org). Children of color are over-represented in single-parent households with fifty-five percent of Black children and thirty-one percent of Hispanic children being raised in a single-parent household. (Vespa). The lessons parents will teach their son or daughter help provide the children with the skills and traits that will prepare them for adulthood. When one parent is missing, more specifically the father, the effect has an everlasting feel to