African American Civil Rights Chief Praises Texas Shared Parenting Invoice – Orange Chief

Fulshear, Texas – Today, Rev. William Owens, activist and civil rights activist, urged Texas lawmakers to hear and pass a law to help children of divorce – especially disadvantaged and minority children – receive the benefits of having two parents involved.

Owens, best known as the author of A Dream Derailed: How the Left Hijacked Civil Rights to Create a Permanent Underclass, and the founder of the Coalition of African American Pastors, advocated HB803, the common parenting law in Texas and America asked Victoria Neave, Chair of the Committee on Youth Justice and Family Affairs, to give the bill a hearing.

Currently, Texas custody laws are based on a presumption that the mother prefers to be the custody parent. HB803 would replace this with a presumption in favor of co-parenting except in cases where one parent is unsuitable. As Rev. Owens explained, it is a problem that particularly affects minority, low-income families.

“The sad fact is that most families don’t have the money or the time to enter into extensive custody arrangements,” said Rev. Owens. “That means that for most families – especially low-income families and minorities – the standard solution is one where the children grow up in a single parent and the other parent, usually the father, is little more than a weekend visitor.”

“Decades of social science have proven that this is a terrible approach for everyone involved. Fathers are cut out of their children’s lives. Mothers face the burden and pressure of assuming both parental roles. And children are worst off. The data shows that children growing up in single parent homes are more likely to experience substance abuse, mental illness, alcoholism, behavior problems, teenage pregnancy and suicide, ”Rev. Owens continued.

“Passing HB803 would bring more justice to the law, but it would also benefit thousands of minorities and disadvantaged children. The simple fact is that children do better when they have two active and involved parents. This bill would help make divorce far less harmful to our children, ”concluded Rev. Owens.