Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wisc.) stumped D.C.’s top elected officials in a recent hearing on public safety when he asked what they’re doing to ensure that a higher percentage of children in the city are born with a father in the home.

I recall making the same connection between family structure and social outcomes when I worked in the city’s gun violence prevention office. It exposed the most important — and least discussed — racial disparity in the nation’s capital.

Close to 80 percent of babies in Wards 7 and 8 are born to unmarried parents. These are also the parts of the city where 60 percent of homicides occur. In contrast, 88 percent of babies in Wards 2 and 3 — where gun violence is far less common — are born to married parents.

Given the District's racial demographics, such the disparity means that black and white children in D.C. begin life on very different paths.

This local reality reflects a larger national trend. Today, close to 70 percent of black children are born to unmarried parents. Forty-four percent of black children live with a single mother. Simply put, most black children in America today are no longer born to or........

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