Thus begins the new movie, Baby Boy. In it, we are introduced to Jody, a jobless, aimless 20-year-old from South Central L.A. Though he has fathered two children by two women, he flees commitment. Instead, Jody lives with his mother, who’s in her middle 30s. Apparently, he would be content to do that forever, except that mom has begun keeping company with a hulking ex-con whose very presence makes plain that it’s time for Jody to grow up.

That he seems unable to do this, we are asked to believe, is ultimately because of the white man. Which brings me to the following conclusion:

Everybody should have a white man. Even white men should have a white man.

Because when you have a white man, nothing is ever your fault. The boss says, “Why haven’t you finished those reports, Bob?” and you say, “Because of the white man, sir.”

I’m not here to sell you some naive nonsense that racism no longer exists. All of us are obligated to raise our voices in protest of this awful reality.

But black folks are also obligated to live the fullest lives possible in the face of that reality. To live without excuses.

Instead, director John Singleton begins with an excuse.

The theory he cites is by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, a black psychiatrist who has espoused black supremacy. According to one published account, she believes black men are inadvertently emasculated by their mothers, often single women, who coddle them in fear of what their fate will be in a hostile world.

Yet the world is full of white men, too, who refuse to grow up. And surely there are also profound psychological reasons those men remain boys.

Frankly, I know too many hard-working black men to believe the “baby boy” phenomenon is as widespread as Singleton seems to suggest. To the degree it exists at all, there’s something offensive about his attempt to pin it upon racial animus. There’s never been a time that animus didn’t exist and no such moment is on the near horizon.

Racism doesn’t excuse weakness — it demands strength.

And forgive me for being simplistic, but maybe if we required men to be men, more of them would.

It’s telling that in the movie, Jody never encounters a white man. Truth is, getting an education and doing honest work never seem to occur to him.

Maybe you think that means the white man is keeping him down.

Me, I think it means he has saved the white man the trouble.

Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr.’s articles appear Tuesdays. He can be reached via e-mail at leonardpitts@mindspring.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A6.