Grandparents Today: Articles: Keeping Cousins Close

Grandparents Today: Articles: Keeping Cousins Close

IBNLive : Extended family system in Kashmir

IBNLive : Extended family system in Kashmir

Jamaica Gleaner News - ... life - Family reunion - Saturday | March 25, 2006

Jamaica Gleaner News - ... life - Family reunion - Saturday March 25, 2006

Grandparents Today: Articles: Your First Grandchild

Grandparents Today: Articles: Your First Grandchild

30 years ago today, the first Vietnamese boat people arrived - National

30 years ago today, the first Vietnamese boat people arrived - National

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My Uncles plus my Grandparents

My Uncles plus my Grandparents

Macmillan English Dictionary Resource Site � New Words � extended financial family

Macmillan English Dictionary Resource Site � New Words � extended financial family

Residential Real Estate; Adding Affordable 3-Family Homes to Bedford-Stuyvesant Mix - New York Times

Residential Real Estate; Adding Affordable 3-Family Homes to Bedford-Stuyvesant Mix - New York Times

Aunties and Uncles Home Page

Aunties and Uncles Home Page

Single, with children | IndyStar.com

Single, with children IndyStar.com

The Theme For April : The Role Of Uncles

Last week, I was listening in on a conversation about the absence of fathers among certain minority groups. A list of social ills were listed. A frightful image of despair and hopelessness emerged. Children without fathers socialized into a cyclical system of unmarried women giving birth to sons and daughters who will continue the cycle.

One thing struck me as the conversation moved to solutions. In the past, cultures that lost the influence of fathers were able to make up for this by the presence of Uncles. Often, this would be a matriarchal Uncle taking on the role of father.

It struck me, that there must also be an absence of Uncles. It is too easy to conclude: the same factors that contribute to the absence of fathers leads to the absence of uncles. This may prove to be the case. However, I want to avoid that assumption in the hope of seeing something new and constructive emerge.