Addressing a packed congregation at one of the city’s largest black churches, Senator Barack Obama on Sunday invoked his own absent father to deliver a sharp message to African-American men, saying, “We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception.”
“Too many fathers are M.I.A, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes,” Mr. Obama said, to a chorus of approving murmurs from the audience. “They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.”
The speech was striking for its setting, and in how Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, directly addressed one of the most sensitive topics in the African-American community: whether absent fathers bore responsibility for some of the intractable problems afflicting black Americans. Mr. Obama noted that “more than half of all black children live in single-parent households,” a number that he said had doubled since his own childhood.
Accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, who sat in the front pew, Mr. Obama laid out his case in stark terms that would be difficult for a white candidate to make, telling the mostly black audience not to “just sit in the house watching SportsCenter,” and to stop praising themselves for mediocre accomplishments.
Sigh… a problem created by the kind of intrusive government social engineering favored by his party!
Father Timothy,
While there is a strong element of truth in what you say, shouldn’t we be welcoming comments like the following?
[i] “I know the toll it took on me, not having a father in the house,†he continued. “The hole in your heart when you don’t have a male figure in the home who can guide you and lead you. So I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle — that that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my children.†But he also acknowledged his own flaws as a father, citing the breakneck schedule of the presidential campaign and the rare days he spends with his children. “I say this knowing that I have been an imperfect father,†he said, “Knowing that I have made mistakes and I’ll continue to make more, wishing that I could be home for my girls and my wife more than I am right now.â€[/i]
The fact that he says these things doesn’t prevent us from examining the rest of his record, but ought we not to welcome the fact that a mainstream Democratic presidential candidate takes the time to expres such concerns? If, like Jesse Jackson and abortion, it turns out to be merely rhetoric that is later abandoned, we will have ample time to dismiss it. Criticisms from Obama may actually be attended to in communities that might otherwise dismiss such statements as political.
I have no doubt that such pain is felt by Mr. Obama but witht hte knowlege of his public record of promoting abortion I have absolutely no hope that Mr. Obama will give meaning to his very real angst.
Until there is meaning there can be no working solution in either government or family.
Don
a Sister Souljah moment. I too would like to hear what bills he has suppoorted that would do anything to combat absentee black fathers.
And I won’t hold my breath.
Well we’re not – sadly – going to get a pro-life Democrat nominated for president any time soon. So we can either adopt a purist attitude or we can attempt to make use of the crumbs we’re given. Of course what [b]we[/b] preach needs to have a coherent theology and ontology, but that’s not the issue here, nor is whether or not we plan to vote Democratic this fall. If I could (which being a foreigner, I cannot) I would not do so. But will certain people listen to Obama in the way that they won’t listen to us? Maybe.
[url=http://catholicandreformed.blogspot.com]Catholic and Reformed[/url]
#1 and #4,
Interesting that #1 tells us that absentee fathers is “a problem created by . . . intrusive government social engineering” and then #4 chides Obama for failing to support bills that would combat absentee black fathers. Can’t win, I guess.
It makes no sense, by the way, to say that this problem was “created” by intrusive government. Exacerbated, yes. Not helped, sure. But not “created.” Nobody, not even “big brother” government makes people conceive children out of wedlock or to shirk their responsibility. And the answer is not as #4 suggests in legislation but in a values transformation. This is what Obama is calling for, and speaking that truth in the black church is good leadership on his part, as much as I might disdain his view on abortion.
A generation ago, the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynahan warned that the welfare system established by his political party would destroy the black family, by discouraging fathers/husbands from staying with their wives and children. I fear it will take longer than a generation to repair this mess.
DonGander, how would fighting women’s choices change the choices of black men? I’m not sure I follow your logic.
As far as bills to “combat” absentee black fathers, I doubt there is a single thing the government can do – and as Timothy Fountain notes – perhaps its not the government’s responsibility. But William Julius Wilson, the Harvard Sociologist, has implied that jobs in the inner city would go a long way to providing incentives for people to marry.
I’m not sure what incentive a poor woman has to marry a man who doesn’t take responsibility in the first place.
“We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception.â€
Responsibility for what? Obama is 100% ‘prochoice’, fully in favor of partial birth abortion/aka infanticide, and would do all he can to subvert the minuscule limitations to abortion that currently exist. In Obama’s view there can be nothing to be responsible for, at least for nine months, since conception means nothing of moral or legal significance in his worldview.
Obama’s personal problems in growing up – described fairly graphically in his books – stemmed not only from the irresponsible men his mother married – both of them ostensible Muslims but womenizers and fond of drink – but from his ditzy mother as well.
Hey, props to the Senator: he kept the letters in his acronyms straight.
But, a man who votes against requiring that babies whose attempted abortions fail to kill them be treated as human beings has a long hard slog to get my vote.
Oh, I’m not going to vote for him, for reasons cited above and more.
However, as far as it goes, this is a good message for black men to hear from someone to whom they might listen. Bill Cosby has been making similar statements for some years, and getting ripped for it. Obama may have more standing or at least for the moment be less susceptible to criticism for it.
So one cheer for him. He’d get another cheer if he were willing to look at the government programs which have played a big part in enabling single-mother families and a huge third cheer if he’d come out in opposition to the murders of one million babies a year.
There is such a crisis about fatherhood in western society that whether you like Obama or not, he should be praised for raising the issue.
I may get in trouble with this question but I am going to ask it anyways…why do Black Men need gov’t programs, according to Obama, in order to stay and help with raising their children while White, Hispanic, Asian, etc. men do not?
Dacama, which government programs targeted only at black men were you thinking of? I didn’t see this in the article.
#13 – there are some non-racist reasons why:
There seems to be a perfect storm in many (not all) black communities of the following.
First, children are expensive. In themselves, having children is one of the primary indicators of poverty. If you want to stay middle class, don’t have children. Especially because the state doesn’t support families. Compare to Iceland.
Second, women tend not to like to marry poor, unemployed men. They’d prefer to be single than have to mother both an adult child and a baby.
Black communities are often “hypersegregated.” When the number of blacks reaches about 5% in a neighborhood, people’s perception is that it is a “black” neighborhood and begin to move away. This means that some patterns are reinforced and accepted as normal.
Whites, Asians are more likely to live in mixed class neighborhoods than blacks.
William Julius Wilson’s solution is to provide jobs – not in just black communities, but in all poor communities. The consequence of this intentional investment might be be more marriages, more wealth, fewer abortions.
We prefer to talk a lot about mandating (perhaps through big government?) marriage, rather that providing economic incentives.
Plenty of white men have that problem, and get divorced. The problem – the difference – is that white men have more resources than black men. Further, as Obama noted, middle class and white men tend to get more “second chances” than poor blacks, who quickly get sent to jail for one misstep. I know I’ve gotten lots of second chances (and first chances) that I might not have had if I grew up in the ghetto.
And once you have a record, good luck getting a job. Then you’re marked.
Of course, sometimes, with some help, people are successful. like Roland Fryer. It’s good to help people. That’s a legitimate reason for government: to help Americans.
I am not against gov’t programs in general, however if I recall, Bill Cosby said something about this subject a few years ago and he did not mention anything about the need for them. Govt Programs are not going to stop a 52 year old friend of mine who happens to teach in an inner city from being called every day in the classroom a “white bit…” to her face. But if she responded with “Yes..nigg… boy” it would be all over for her. In truth Obama offers no solutions with his Fathers Day talk, it was a waste of breath. That does not mean I would not like a solution to this major social problem. The idea of losing 30-40% of 2 generations of young black males to this dead end only makes the solution more important. I only wish I knew what it was. I would give it away free of charge.