THIS IS A TRAGEDY – AT 9:15 A.M. ET:  The frauds and phonies of the political left claim to be concerned about the fate of America's minorities.   If that is true, though, why do tragedies like this go virtually undiscussed?  And why, if we try to discuss them, are we called racists?

About 90 students at a Memphis High School are either pregnant, or have been recently.

The startling news was confirmed by a high ranking city official and comes as the community plans to roll out a new initiative to help combat the problem.

However, one Frayser High School graduate says teen pregnancy is not a new problem for the school.

"When we would come back from summer break, there would be a thousand people pregnant. We were like, what's going on?" joked Alicia Williamson, who graduated from Frayser in 2004.

"There were a whole lot of bellies. You had to watch out so you didn't bump into them. Being 2011, I thought a lot of them would have thought this is not the right way to go, having babies during school time," she added.

The organization, Girls, Inc. teaches girls about preventing pregnancy.

Deborah Hester Harrison, who heads the organization, says Memphis's teen pregnancy rate stands at between 15 and 20 percent, almost twice the national average.

In the Frayser zip code, the rate is about 26 percent.

And whose fault is it?  You know the answer:

Harrison partly blames the media.

"So much of our society is sexually oriented. As adults we can look at that and it doesn't impact us, but kids are different," Harrison said.

Honey, that same media is available in high schools where the pregnancy rate is close to zero.

It's why Girls, Inc. offers classes where teenage girls "care for" computerized babies to give them a feel for what teenage parenthood is like.

How moving. 

This is an ongoing tragedy.  About 60 years ago, the African-American teenage pregnancy rate wasn't much higher than the white rate.  But something terrible has happened to black family life, and the man who first warned about it in 1962, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was called a racist for his efforts.

If problems like this are not solved, no amount of inspiration by Barack or Michelle will make a difference.  But many are reluctant to discuss the unspeakable.  That word – racism – is still too potent.

January 14, 2010