The Good Citizen Podcast #416 How to Strengthen America’s Families with Delano Squires
I often ask government officials this question: “What is the worst problem in your district/area of responsibility?” The answer is often the same and even phrased in the same way: “the breakdown of the family.” In this interview, Delano Squires explains this collapse of two-parents homes raising children in the United States; the profound impact of that collapse on education, income, and incarceration; and how we can strengthen this critical institution for America’s future by starting in our own homes, churches, and neighborhoods.
In his upcoming book The Vanishing Black Family: How Welfare and Feminism Made Marriage Optional and Children Vulnerable (and in this discussion), Delano focuses first on family breakdown in the black community leading to almost 70 percent of black children being born to unmarried parents and close to half growing up without a father at home. He then applies the same creation order principles to all families and and critiques the cultural forces pushing away from children being raised in a loving home with a mom and a dad.
Delano Squires is Director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Human Flourishing at the Heritage Foundation, where he focuses on policies and social norms that promote marriage, fatherhood, and healthy families. Squires is the author of the forthcoming book The Vanishing Black Family: How Welfare and Feminism Made Marriage Optional and Children Vulnerable. His writings have been published by Newsweek, National Review, The American Conservative, The Federalist, The New York Post, World, The Institute for Family Studies, Black Enterprise, Blaze Media, Black and Married with Kids, The Root, and The Grio. Before joining Heritage, Squires worked for the District of Columbia government for more than a decade. During that time, he ran a citywide technology program for low-income residents and served in the city’s gun violence prevention office. Squires earned his bachelor of science degree in computer engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and a graduate degree in public policy from The George Washington University. He resides in Maryland with his wife and four children.
Key Takeaways:
- The role of the church in the breakdown of the family and the resurgence of family values.
- The significance of the Moynihan report and Delano’s new book on the state of the black family in America.
- The impact of the welfare state and feminism in the disintegration of the family.
- The Greater Than Campaign.
- Practical suggestions for strengthening families and marriage in your zip code.
- Follow Delano on X.