Devaluing of Black Mothers in American Society

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You know, I was thinking the other day, and I thought it odd that we see so many men searching for a single woman over the age of 25 with no kids. But do you stop and think, hang on, that woman did not make those children by herself. Yet she's the one who sticks around and tries to raise them to be productive members of society. Where are the people looking for responsible women with great characters? Who better than a mother? Understandably, mothers come with drama and baggage, but everyone has baggage. You just find the person whose luggage matches yours. So I started looking for something, anything, praising the efforts of mothers, specifically black mothers, in American society. I came up with one or two humble pieces, but what stunned and saddened me was how many pieces on low-birth rate, HIV babies, black welfare programs, teen mothers, and social irresponsibility I saw when I typed in "black mothers". How many of us, black white and other, can honestly say we weren't raised in a completely (or at least for the most part) single parent household, with that single parent most often being the mother? Not to devalue fathers, but it's assumed that mothers must be sole parents if their children happen to be born out of wedlock. And all too often, working married mothers must be sole caregivers for their children too. When will American society begin to value the nurturing, strong side of black mothers, instead of continuing to portray us as savvy smart-as*es? I mourn the loss of respect and value we once had. I think of days in slavery when mothers and fathers were separated, and children were raised by their strong mothers. They were taught morals, values, and their history. Single black women have raised people like Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. And yet now, when I search for black mother, all I see are statistics on crack-babies and welfare programs.