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- LMAO!
- I'm suffering from an overdose of teh stoopid. Maybe I should go back on vacation.
- Why does she have to have a hair stylist? She can wash her own head in the sink just like Eunice on Mama's Family.
- Great to see the Jackson family requested whom they wanted to contribute to MJ's service. Grammys' Ehrlich tells how Jackson tribute came together By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY Tuesday's...
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Jack and Jill Politics
A black bourgeois perspective on U.S. politics
Just wanted to share some thought-provoking responses to the Jackson controversy.
Rev. Jackson:
Dr. Dyson:
Rev. Sharpton:
And, of course, the obligatory “race” conversation with no people of color on the panel (LOL):
Personally speaking, regarding that last clip, there are certain issues where concern ... Continue reading »
Rev. Jackson:
Dr. Dyson:
Rev. Sharpton:
And, of course, the obligatory “race” conversation with no people of color on the panel (LOL):
Personally speaking, regarding that last clip, there are certain issues where concern ... Continue reading »
12 months ago
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I think the thing is, that when blacks are associated with an issue like fatherlessnes, there's the implication that there's something inherent or unique about blacks that makes them poor fathers. The implication is that we are operating on an even playing field, and that if blacks can't make it work, then there must be something wrong with us, genetically.
12 months ago
No one lectures poor White people about absentee fathers, drug abuse, drug dealing, education, or welfare, even though they participate in these activities in rates that rival poor Blacks. It's not a White problem when they do it, but somehow it's a Black problem when we do it.
12 months ago
But on the other hand, elite whites could care less about the white poor.
That is why no white President, Senator, Congress person, or any other
person of leadership ever speaks of this. You see how they refer to them
as ethnic whites and distance themselves from them. The white poor are only considered to be white when their votes are needed.
votes are needed
12 months ago
Condoms, condoms, condoms. Access to all birth control methods and reproductive health care. None of this faith-based abstinence crap. Solid, scientifically based reproductive counselling/education starting at a fairly early age.
Of course, for that to happen there needs to be access to health care. Free clinics with qualified counsellors and doctors. Confidentiality. Access to free birth control for those who can't afford to pay.
In addition, kids need to be taught financial planning in school and college. They need to understand the realities of the cost of raising a family. They need to know the consequences of child support payments and custody issues.
This would be a start in equipping young adults to talk about and take seriously the business of parenting. They can then make decisions about whether they really want to become parents. Men can be honest upfront about their willingness to take on the responsibility.
That would be a start.
12 months ago
Birth control, drug use, education are key, but only nibble around the edges of the problem, IMO. The root is poverty and lack of opportunity.
12 months ago
When I thought I wanted to terminate my pregnancy I was shown a very vived film on an actual abortion taking place. Plan Parenthood made a billion dollars last year and 115 million left over. This is tax payers money clinics cant get a decent grant from the government to save lives.....
Anyway. I agree with sexual education being taught very early BUT from the perspective that abstinence is the best way to protect yourself from diseases headache and heartaches. If a rubber can only protect from a disease and even thats not 100%. My daughter is in her third year as a pre med student and still abstinent. I have open conversations with her (much to her embarrassment)she sees alot first hand working in a womens health clinic....
Single parenting is not easy, her dads family always knew where I was in case they wanted a relationship with her. That does not always work either.
Jessie Jackson is so irrelevant to the community now. He knew exactly what he was saying period. He apologized because he got caught is all.
12 months ago
Religion has been trying to control the sex drive from day one. Here we are in the 21st century and they're still at war with biology. Religion is still trying to control homosexuality...they've been failing for centuries. In the war between religion and biology, biology will always win....thankfully! But, I do give religion points for optimism..or stupidity. The sex drive cannot be controlled by outside forces, lessons, parables or religious texts.
12 months ago
obama said brothers got to man up on the fatherhood issue. rev. jackson whispers he wants to cut obama's testicles. a hit dog will holler. a scared dog will whisper. jesse wanted to be the first black president. still does.
like many, many long time black politicians, rev. is mad cause, from their point of view, obama not only jumped to the head of the line, when they think he should have waited his turn, but obama looks like he is going to win.
rev. took obama's speech as a personal critique. it's plain as day even though many people are acting like that's not the subtext when clearly it is. read jesse jackson jr.'s response again. this is not only a generational debate, not only hurt feelings by the old guard, but also a very personal expose of our public failed black manhood in terms of fatherhood. sure there are many of us who are living up to our responsibility but we're not the ones hollering (or whispering) mad at obama! stop, jesse, stop. your race is over. let's move on.
12 months ago
12 months ago
It's strange that White pits Obama as being "The Man," but criticizes Jesse for disagreeing with Obama. I don't care what color "The Man" who unfairly stereotypes us is, quite frankly, and Jesse wasn't pulling a Tavis Smiley-type, public hissy fit about Obama not cow-towing to him. He was expressing dismay in what he thought were off-the-record comments.
12 months ago
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Money quote: "We are simply not accustomed to one of our own playing real, power politics. " I think this speaks to some black folks and white liberals alike.
12 months ago
then we got some serious cultural problems, y'all.
12 months ago
12 months ago
A grown and emotionally developed man on the other hand ...
12 months ago
12 months ago
Everybody else doesn't have a 69% illegitimacy rate. Blacks have special situations, and not all of those situations are somebody else's fault. We need to get it together, and we have not gotten it together by keeping it on the low low. 69% illegitimacy rate should always be unacceptable. Black men *and* black women are at fault, here.
My understanding of Jesse's 'cut his nuts off' comment was that he was mad that Obama asked black people -- specifically, black men -- to take responsibility for their actions, when society doesn't give options that allow black men to make better moral choices. That's how I understood Jesse's explanation. I think we need to move away from that. Yes, acknowledge the sins of culture, but also strive NOT to allow that to be the final answer -- because that becomes an excuse, and instead of trying to fight the system, we got too many brothers *and* sisters saying 'why should I try in the first place?'
My own question is, why is black fatherhood raising so much of a ruckus.... and not black (alleged) refusal to deal with black community hyprocisy towards AIDS and gays and STDs and sex in general? Everything Obama is doing and saying is consistent, and they ALL tie together. But suddenly Obama is 'bad news' for putting black men on blast for not taking care of their responsibilities to that tune of 69% illegitimacy rate. A number which includes Jesse Jackson and Bill Cosby themselves, for hitting their mistresses raw (NASTY!) and then for Jesse embezzling money to pay her off and her spawn off.
I think black folk need to grow up and accept the water splashed in the face. And those black men who are offended, need to look in the mirror.
12 months ago
::
No you didn't say raw. ;)
What was TruthSpeaker saying about birth control? Safer sex education as PRACTICE not rhetoric?
12 months ago
Furthermore, we've said time and again that Obama is not the president of Black America. If he wants to lecture White people about their divorce rate or their drinking or their racism or their meth use, then maybe there is an argument that Obama can lecture Blacks. I don't appreciate our people being used to score political points.
12 months ago
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The nation's out-of-wedlock birth rate is 38%. Among white children, 28% are now born to a single mother; among Hispanic children it is 50% and reaches a chilling, disorienting peak of 71% for black children. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly a quarter of America's white children (22%) do not have any male in their homes; nearly a third (31%) of Hispanic children and over half of black children (56%) are fatherless.
This represents a dramatic shift in American life. In the early 1960s, only 2.3% of white children and 24% of black children were born to a single mom.
Rhondacoca posted a link to a Newsweek article in the LOL..thread that asserts that just because the man is not physically in the home he could still be a great father. There is some truth to this, however the statistics on this group is hard to determine.
12 months ago
12 months ago
I don't know how effective lecturing is on the group because I don't have access to any measured stats the reflect this.
Also, for me to evan want to research those stats I would have to believe someone was "lecturing" which I don't see as the case.
12 months ago
I don't know. Israel and Iran are mortal enemies.
Jesse should never be the mortal enemy of Obama. Maybe it is a 'white men can't jump' situation, instead, where Jesse and Obama are hustling fools by only pretending... but it doesn't feel like it. I think Kalamu is onto something personal regarding Jesse' crab-barreling. I hope it doesn't have anything to do with white supporters and Jesse and Obama.
And RonnieB, you're right. But what's the fix? How to make marriage and family planning attractive (again)?
12 months ago
12 months ago
I am single mother,white, 2 children, and I am able to support myself today in a way that many woman would not have been able to in the 1960's. My grandfather was either absent or a burden, my grandmother was actually relieved when he died, it was less of a struggle without him.
I think Obama's message should not have been directed at only one group of people, esp. because it doesn't address the other factors that play into it, and also, because fatherhood and the failure of the woman's movement to include men is something that needs a lot more attention.
12 months ago
As far as Obama's message (or the Fathers Day speech that most refer to) he mentioned African American once and black once in the span of three sentences within the entire speech. The message is universal. In my opinion.
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"But it seems like he's just showing concern because he is NOT doing what is necessary to convince the people he's talking ABOUT. He's doing fine with the people he's talking TO".
It wasn't so much about Obama caring about see the people he was talking ABOUT do better as much as it was about looking better in the eyes of the people he was talking TO. And when you know he's fully aware of the effect of that kind of talk on the people he's talking to (tarring of all blacks with one brush) it's unacceptable. No, he's NOT running for President of Black America, and his success or failure is not mine. It's his. So there's no possible way that my critisizing him can be construed as me "being afraid of success".
12 months ago
he owns that experience or I don't think he would be able to say it. Yeah, I would love to
hear if anyone else has a breakdown of these statistics. Single women can do a great job if they have the resources, but our children are all lumped together as if they are doomed to fail.
12 months ago
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all families have been in trouble for some time now, with the divorce rate edging 50% in a lot of places. that's a fact.
we have had a welfare system for 60-70 years now that discourages two-parent families. in order to collect benefits in most states, the parents of a child can't be living together.
if, because of a lack of opportunity, institutionalized discrimination, and a criminal justice system that's heavily weighted toward locking up young african american men as soon as possible, if it's almost overwhelmingly difficult to keep it together and provide for a family and the only HELP available requires the destruction of that family unit, isn't that pretty fucked up?
i am not excusing anything or absolving anyone of taking personal responsibility. one of the greatest factors that i observed in 16 years of child welfare and juvenile justice work was drug/alcohol addiction or abuse and the effects of that are so widespread and sometimes subtle, it's hard to get a grip on it. but there again, if someone WANTS to deal with the problem, and there's no cost effective treatment available, isn't that pretty fucked up?
it seems ilke there's also a crazy kind of support among some folks that glorifes rampant male sexuality and looks upon the production of children as evidence of manhood. that needs to change and public shaming might be a good start.
12 months ago
Not only that, but Black defendants get longer sentences than White ones for the same crime. Qualified people are passed over for jobs if they have a Black-sounding name.
No one is saying that personal responsibility is not essential to quality of life, but Obama's dog whistling totally lets America off the hook for persistent racism.
Bill Cosby said some things right, but when he says that Black people are wrong for having funny names, absolving those who discriminate based on someone's name, he is WRONG.
Our society is ready to lock a brother up in a heart beat and provide all KINDS of resources to make that happen, but won't put equal resources behind educating him or treating him for drug addiction. Undereducate him, underemploy him, lock him up, then castigate him for not being a good father.
I know people are tired of race or racism being an issue, but being tired of it doesn't make it disappear. Jesse keeps bringing the conversation back to society's responsibilities RIGHTLY, because society has a long way to go.
12 months ago
::
No it doesn't. For one, Barack's not dog whistling. He's speaking explicitly and bluntly. And two, Barack hasn't let American off the hook for her persistent racism.
Again, for those of us who've paid attention to Barack for more than a minute, we know this.
12 months ago
Paying close and careful attention (or not) is a big issue in all of this, IMO.
I just posted a comment in another thread here (I think it's another thread) that I think may be echoing your persistent focus on paying attention to where he's actually comig from. I linked to another comment I wrote earlier this week on someone else's diary on teh Kos, and I am going to link it here also (I already have it all dolled up as an embedded link anyway):
"How do you know what you know?"
12 months ago
12 months ago
1) How accurate are the stats when in the sixties if an unwed girl got pregnant it was kept a secret and the child was adopted. I would be really interested to find out how many white children lived in orphanages during the sixties. I am sure if the truth was told that number would be higher.
2) Just because you have a father in the home is not a guarantee that you have a positive environment. We all know that spousal abuse is at a all-time high.
3) All of the numbers are unacceptable when it comes to children born out of wedlock or without a father. Remove the percentages and give me actual numbers.
4) And, how does Mr. Obama really believe his speech that their is only one America and not a red and blue, when he chooses to give speeches that he is pointing that finger at one specific group when it's an American issue?
12 months ago
Or you can apply the percentages to the number of babies in each group born in 2007, the year the data was based on.
12 months ago
12 months ago
Damn the excuses.
12 months ago
12 months ago
not understanding that the man has never told them that he wants them to be the mother of his children. It is a lack of responsibility on both parents. This is in a day and age where every conceivable method of birth control is readily available. A lot of this is the result of babies having babies in the first place. Children, most of the time follow in their parents footsteps.. I agree with Truthseeker at the top of the page when she says this needs to be taught early. However, the educational system is also in total disarray. I watched a show on HBO about Douglass High School in Baltimore which completely depressed me. When a parent is addicted to drugs, or can't read, or is incarcerated there is almost no hope for the children .
Our community is in such a mess, it is difficult to know where to start and what to do.
12 months ago
You're also right that a critical part of our community is a mess, and we've got to get to work. The first thing to do is to openly and honestly acknowledge that there's a problem.
For the last 3 decades, we've treated this issue as dirty laundry not to be aired in the presence of Whites and others. The reality, though, is that Whites and others are well aware of the issue; privately criticize us for not admitting it; and privately criticize us for doing little to fix it. There's an entire argument that can be made about White people's hypocrisy in this regard--and I will make that in a separate post.
For now, though, the problem seems to be ours to solve. And if the statistics are anywhere near accurate--70% of Black kids born out of wedlock??--we got work to do.
12 months ago
I really appreciate this post. There really is no right or wrong here just different perceptions.
I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this because as someone said here before, it's not just a black problem, if you crunch the numbers there are probably more absentee white dads than blacks as they are a much larger population. I understand that the problem though affects us is disproportionate (sp) numbers.
I would really like the label taken away because it is a people problem. Responsibility though is either taught by parents or learned by the receptive. What to do?
12 months ago
Make no excuses for irresponsibility--but this is no 'genetic' thing at all (no matter some white suprmacists that might want to frame it as such).
Indeed, I can relate to the hurt feelings and sensitivity on this issue, but let's be real. Better community solidarity and guidance needs to be engaged, and it is hard to do this when the community is impoverished and fragmented.
The Black Panthers had some great ideas--but they were snuffed out by larger forces.
On topic: I wouldn't be surprised if this whole dust-up was planned by Jesse and Barack. If so, this is masterful politics.
Please, Jackson is savey enough to know that he was in enemy territory. Anyway, the entire thing just seems too strange and awkward.
This allows Obama to show the nervous white community that he is not a prisoner to the traditional African American political leadership.
By the way, I think that the Reverend Wright situation was planned as well.
We are dealing with a masterful politician in the person of Barack Obama, the type that we haven't seen in our lifetimes. I'd put money on it.
12 months ago
I think that's exactly what happened.
12 months ago
12 months ago
and the rev. wright thing could have been a plan too (agreeing with slave revolt). the timing was PERFECT, and barack and his team had to know that the media was never gonna let the wright stuff go.
damn, they're good! :-)
12 months ago
One issue as I see it has to do with the challenge of wanting to live up to an American dream and experiencing life chasing an ideal that may not be within reach. In this way I mean nuclear family, job that pays more than enough so as to not stress out, housing arrangements that reflect your maturity and nourish your safety both physical and mental. Poverty, and the experience of disproportionality among African American poses an immense hurdle. The stress of not living up to an ideal is challenge and has lasting impact that span relationshps. I am NOT saying it is a worthy excuse. I'm just trying to highlight the notion of an ideal.
Taking this idea further the role of the father in American society is idealized and reminiscent of a time that was oppressive to women and families, but this sexism ALSO affected men. Sexism has limited the ways that men are valued. For generations, the man was the hunter and the mother was the gatherer/ nurturer. In a society where sexism arguably has solidified the disenfranchisement of Black men (seeing as there more Black men in jail than enrolled in college,) it is clear that the ideal is not within reach for most Black men. Fast forward... if you cannot provide financially which is what most people see as the PRIMARY role of the father, any other contribution (time for example,) is not as valued and downright emasculating.
Another aspect I think we often don't think about is the notion that many people are at a loss for mentoring relationships. This goes WAY beyond a role model. Bill Cosby can be a symbol but he wasn't ever there to encourage black men and women to consider the larger picture. What do you say to repair trust issues after a hurtful break up? What can men say to acknowledge they feel bad for not being able to contribute as much as they would like, but want a relationship anyway? Who can help young men (teen dads,) with defining manhood as the willingness to learn to brain your little girl's hair?
I know babies need to eat and that takes money, and I also know that you can't get blood from a stone... If there is no money to give, how valued is just help walking the child home from school? The courts have reinforced this notion, for example withdrawing visitation if a father cannot pay child support. There's an awesome book, a sociological study, called What It Means to be Daddy: Fatherhood for Black Men Living Away from Their Children (Jennifer Hamer) that speaks to the issue I raised.
I think its worthwhile to raise the issue across the dinner tables...
That said, its time to rearticulate the "problem" by acknowledging that we are beefin' about symptoms that are embedded in both racism and sexism.
12 months ago
Evita, that brought tears to my eyes. It's so easy to forget what being a real daddy is about. It's love and relationship and affection, no matter how hard the times.
And you've absolutely nailed it when you speak to the double-edged sexism that plays into this. Men are still primarily valued for what they financially contribute to a family.
And heaven forbid I make excuses, but when the world is set up to value men as the breadwinner, with the bread being the main thing, then the way that bread is earned is secondary. Coupled with the societal issues that truly do discount African American men AND the devastating loss of unions since Reagan, it's very difficult for many young men to provide through legitimate means.
IT'S NOT AN EXCUSE if it's reality. And the reality doesn't mean that it's okay to do nothing. Sometimes it's lifechanging to just admit This is the way things are and This is what you have to deal with and that's the way life is and let's be pissed off for a bit about that and fight it every way we can, then pick ourselves up and dust off and keep trying.
To not be allowed to talk about what's really happening in this society in terms of racial discrimination, because HEAVEN FORBID WE NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!!! closes off that avenue of discussion and leaves every individual completely separate and alone and feeling unworthy and as if the fault lies solely within them.
Sorry, but that's a classic right wing talking point and it's been incredibly effective in this country in the last 28 years. You are a success or you are not, and if you it's because of what you did and if you are not it's because of what you didn't do. Parts of that are true, but it completely discounts the FACTS of living in this society, right now, the US of racist A.
12 months ago
How would a woman feel if she was NOT the primary caregiver, and daddy was and she had to cut a check... You know the other side to the check issue is SOME men thinking if they pay the child support then they are absolved from other contributions (time, affection for the children, face time etc,) because they "handled their responsibility."
I don't want to oversimplify the issues. This is nuanced and complex stuff. I'm just trying to highlight something I've been thinking about...
12 months ago
12 months ago
I'm up for a brainstorm.
12 months ago
Where did I hear that?? Anyone?
I am convinced that a whole lot of our social problems today stem from the obsession with media and television and constant screen-related entertainment.
This is as good a summary as I could come up with:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationwor...
Telling, I think, is the reason most often given for giving pre-school children their own televisions, because the parents and siblings want to watch their own stuff. Talk about disengaged!
A national campaign to get people to shut off the television would be welcome and I think it could impact a lot of things from school performance to delinquency.
I expect any such campaign would come smack up against the corporatocracy, which is heavily invested in marketing to youth. Getting Channel One out of the schools would be a great idea too. It increases the urge to consume and it decreases empathy. How messed up is that?
Limited television. More adult interaction. But of course you have to have real grownups who are interested in bettering themselves.
Too easy to numb out in front of the tube to escape. And that brings up the need to escape a life of hopelessness and limited opportunity, so it's kind of a vicious circle.
12 months ago
Where was mom (PLURAL)? Why did feel like it was ok to allow this? Why not have them at home? I fee like you don't have to be trained to be a parent. If you don't know what structure and discipline is, you can't teach it or require it of others.
We are in a cycle (Parents who weren't parented,) and I do not believe people can step out of it without support, encouragement, and nurturence from a gang of people in an ONGOING way (not monthly appointments!)
By the way I refuse to blame our generation for this problems we experience today... we have had generations on the path.
12 months ago
If I may indulge the sexism dynamic. If it's true that sexim indirectly affected Black men and their perceived value, then does it also hold true that sexism indirectly affected White men and their perceived value in society? If so, then shouldn't we expect to see similar statistical trends in White fatherlessness?
I ask this while being mindful of the affects of racism and classism affecting Black men and women more than others.
12 months ago
12 months ago
They ain't no dummies.
As pissed and disappointed as I was with Jessie, Sr.'s 'love child' affair, I do admire the positions that he has advocated on myriad issues. That said, he, like most African American leadership, did piss-poorly on the issue of Haiti, and the US sponsored attack on democracy in that nation. Serial imperialism--where white supremacy is focused in a vile paternalistic manner for, literally, hundreds of years.
Sorry for the off-topic--I like Jesse very much, but he is, indeed, a politician.
By the way, yesterday I did some internet research on Nina Simone. Incredible human being--smart, sassy, pissed off, and an artist that has few comparisons.
Some of the best folks they do their best to submerge from the forefront of our awareness.
12 months ago
We also live in a corporate media culture that perpetuates stereotypes in very hurtful ways.
To me, Cosby, wanted desparately for all African Americans to personify the upper middle class lifestyle of his ideal television family--while eliding history and contexts.
When he chastised black folks giving their kids African names it really creeped me out, big time. This signaled to me that he tends to embrace a type of Uncle Tomism, the type that is joined with the ideal of the family as defined by a white supremacist culture that is rendered almost invisible by its sheer ubiquity, the 24/7 corporate media culture where the stories of the upper middle class and white are given preference over other, equally legit and valid narratives.
The sound-bite media culture makes near impossible the deeper discussions and solidarity that is necessary to think-through and address problems that are critical to many communities.
When they off-shore jobs from already profitable companies to the third world, and the minimum wage doesn't keep pace with living expenses--and as companies slash health benefits and pensiions--this is the context that is missing from discussion of 'responsibility' in the larger public discourse through which Obama must compete for his goal of belng elected president.
Indeed, as many young folks know, the deck is stacked against 'the people'.
Now it comes down to what folks do about it.
Watching television is NOT the answer--this subtle brainwashing is part of the problem.
Organize the community!
Side note: one of the Angola three has a chance of getting out of prison--why is this not being discussed?
12 months ago
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And it's not just kids, it's adults. Too many, too shallow, to meaningless an existence when there is so much work to be done trying to reclaim our nation, to come together to save ourselves.
We buy the advertising and the "lifestyle" and all of the bullshit that goes along with believing we are what we buy. And meanwhile the debt increases and the work hours grow longer and in the end, it's an empty, miserable, soulless existence waiting for the next fix of glitz, of glamour. Lord help us. Sorry for the rant.
12 months ago
What the hell are people supposed to do? We set out this example ~ strive for this, for riches, for jewels, for cars and women and clothes and whatever because that makes you a man, makes you important ~ yet it's impossible for folks to get by legitimate means. We don't emphasize education, we emphasize wealth. Whatever it takes. The more money, the better. We glorify criminals if they're wealthy. We let white collar crimes go unpunished, hell we have a white house full of criminals and nothing happens to them. And they are rich. And they have the lifestyle. And they are famous. And what kind of a freaking message is that????? Oh, I need to hush up.
12 months ago
Nita mentioned - "69% illegitimacy rate" and/or 7 out of 10. Pjamma added – “(56%) are fatherless.”
Obama mentioned numbers, and also pointed to the serious problems, repercussions, and results from such…like – “that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and TWENTY times more likely to end up in prison.” (BOLD added)
I lost count of how many times the word “white” (Jack White not included) was used in this thread. The numbers, percentages, and RESULTS are not going to be solved by ‘Pointing Fingers of Guilt’ at whites or the government, in the usual Jesse’s or Al’s fashion.
Raising kids ain’t easy, but personal responsibility has to start someplace, and that someplace is “Mom and Dad.” The Democrats’ themes of – “It Take a Village” and…“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs!” have already been tried by the former Soviet Union, Cuba, Red China, etc. and have proven unworkable. Socialist Europe is the next one to learn that lesson.
As to your question: The statistics look right. However, the “village” mentality of “WE” and “OUR” seems unworkable, especially without individual responsibility leading the way.
12 months ago
12 months ago
We've all heard the constant criticism by Whites for our referring to ourselves as African Americans instead of just Americans. But if we're all Americans, why is it that White and others view crime, poverty and absent fathers as a "Black" problem that we Black folk need to solve on our own? If we all "one America", then it seems to me that America has a problem that all Americans have vested interest to solve.
White folks, your thoughts?
12 months ago
You know the answer to this question. And, this is the issue at hand and why folks are calling Obama on the carpet. He using this tactic to validate his own Whiteness. Yes, this might be a problem, but it's a problem facing all communities. We just happened to have more people in poverty, which pushes our numbers higher. Also, we have now heard this myth of the missing Black father for over a quarter of a century or more. One night I literally counted how many of my chilhood friends lacked a father in the home. Guess how many?
I only had two close friends with missing fathers. The majority had fathers in the home. The small few who lacked a father in the home knew their father and had a relationship with him. I am now 40, so I decided to look at my nephew and nieces friends. The majority of their friends had a father in the home or had a relationship with their fafher.
12 months ago
I must admit, that I find Obama's approach interesting, i.e. to point out the multipliers of the results of “missing” or the inactions of any fathers, e.g. "five time", "nine times", and "TWENTY times". The denial, sensitivity, defensive, and "Tender Sensibilities" habits need to be broken, e.g. Dallas County's Commissioner John Wiley Price and Judge Thomas Jones getting upset over the use of “black hole” by a white Commissioner. Sheesh!
12 months ago
Where was his scorn when Rev Jackson humiliated his mother?
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12 months ago
12 months ago
Let's be clear. Poverty is mean and vicious. Having a father in the home is not the be all and end all solution. It takes more than just having a father in the home if he is unemployed, undereducated, and lacks real opportunity. That is the issue at hand. People continue to throw these stats out, which don't mean anything at this point. We knew over forty years ago that this country was moving into this direction. And, when Barack starts using these stats and presenting his situtation as similiar to Black children in the inner city--it's a joke. First, his mother had a support system. She had two White parents. Secondly, he grew up fairly middle-class and seemed to lacked for very little. Check out his schooling in Hiawai. He lived in a insulated bubble, and I am not sure how much understanding and compassion he has for the situation. He can chant I was a community organizer, but I have met several shrewd and self-centered organizers (White and Black) in Chicago. These folks are in the game for themselves and could careless about anyone else. I am not sure where Obama fits in, but my gut is telling me to be aware.
12 months ago
Unlike Obama, McCain will make sure to never mention any problems hurting the Black community. McCain knows such talk will embarass the Black Community and that should never happen. The best thing to do is for Obama to shut his mouth and ignore all Black issues. Just like Whites have been doing for years.
Vote McCain 08
12 months ago
Well, the thing is, WE really don't have a "We" and "OUR" attitude, as a practical matter. In fact, we're the only people who have allowed ourselves to be duped into not actually practicing a "WE" and "OUR" attitude. The world works on the principle of group competition. It's not that we don't know that, it's just that we're the only ones who have been convinced that it's wrong to want to be that way. Meanwhile, every other people in this country is SAYING it's wrong, but behaving otherwise. Kari is a white advocate, and every letter of every comment she types here represents her advocating for and competing on behalf of her people and her culture. Objectively, there's nothing wrong with that. We have to stop thinking that there's something wrong with US doing the same thing.
12 months ago
12 months ago
Good gawd.
12 months ago
When will the rest of the nation understand that Jesse (and Al) do not speak for Black Americans? These two are so far from the point and issues at hand that it seriously sickens me that they have the platforms that that do to speak their nonsense.
I don't expect anything out of Jesse (and Al) and wish they would go ahead and pack up their glad rags and retire from ever speaking in public. They put the Black race behind 5-10 years every time they speak.
12 months ago
12 months ago
In 2004, he was trading in them stereotypes. Change and convention are mutually exclusive and the stereotypes Obama specializes in are those that are part of the racist and internalized racist conventions Blacks and Whites buy into.
Obama needs to know his role. He's a politician. His business is politics. His role is to talk about, push and, as president, implement policies. No more. No less.
And Taritac is showing the hypocrisy of posters here. When it's time for Barack Obama to treat Black people like they he does every other demographic group and talk about POLICIES (personal responsibility isn't government policy) he intends to work on in the interest of that group then it was "he's not running for president of Black America."
So the message is Black people needn't think they should be respected or ever treated equal to others, much less rewarded for their support to politicians. Most of the people quoting out of wedlock birth aren't intelligent enough or earnest enough to actually identify what makes that an issue.
I'd like to see someone explain how those non-marriage numbers rose the way they did and Black poverty went the opposite direction. Is that kind of surface level thinking that has Black people jumping at anything someone says that's doesn't speak well of the Black community. That's why Obama's dumb azz (and you're a dumb mf when you believe) that "Acting White" stuff the way it's presented in the media.
I'm like Al Sharpton. Don't give me Republican or racist lite... When I won't bs racist stereotypes about Black people I'll go to hardcore not trying to fake like they're something else racist.
12 months ago
12 months ago
MUST READ: New Article !
Is This Why Jesse Hates Obama ?
An Open Letter From Najee Ali
EXCERPT: “Over the years I have had the pleasure to spend several holidays with your daughter including Christmas, her birthday parties and other milestones in her life. I will never turn my back on Ashley her mom and their family.
Your daughter has never traveled or taken a trip with you, you have an annual birthday party in Beverly Hills every year…”
To read FULL LETTER VISIT:
http://www.Blacks4Barack.org
A Multi-Racial, Net/Grassroots org…Dedicated To Truth !
Obama news updates, photos, Celebs 4 Obama, volunteer info, videos, voter registration, Create-Your-Own Obama Logo (FREE), SpeakOut4Obama, Join B4B, Media Lies of the Week and Much More !
p.s. Also, see B4B’s Official Obama Hater Watch
12 months ago
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July 13, 2008 9:43 AM
ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., says that he won’t back down on his “tough love” message to African Americans -– a subject that prompted Jesse Jackson's angry open-mic gaffe this past week.
Obama told reporters aboard his plane to San Diego that Americans need to recognize that there is a problem when more than a half of African American children are growing up without a father in the house.
“That is a problem and I won’t back up one bit in asserting that that’s a problem that we have to be honest about," he said.
Obama’s tough love message to African American fathers came most notably in a Fathers Day speech last month in which he told fathers that “any ol' fool” could conceive a child –- but it takes a man to be father.
Many, including Jesse Jackson, took issue with the speech, and the manner in which Obama spoke to his audience. This week, Jackson sparked a controversy when Fox News Channel released a video in which Jackson was caught with a hot mic saying that Obama was “talking down to black people.”
Obama confirmed that Jackson’s feelings were well known to him before the tape was released –- communicated to him from Jackson himself.
“I had spoken to him before, a few days before what he said was released," Obama said, "and we had actually discussed some of the concerns he had raised about my fatherhood speech.”
Obama said that he told Jackson be believes that there are structural inequalities in the country that have to be dealt with.
“My argument is simply that it’s not an 'either-or' proposition, it’s a 'both-and' proposition," Obama said. "The government and society as a whole has an obligation to deal with poverty, particularly poverty that’s deep-rooted not just in the inner cities, but in rural communities all across America.”
Obama said his conversation with Jackson was not met with a lot of open resistance on the other end of the phone.
“In my conversation, I think it would be hard for him to disagree with that since many of the things I have said are the things that he has said in the past,” Obama said.
The presumptive Democratic nominee has since accepted Jackson’s apology for his remarks, but confirmed they have not spoken since the controversial tapes of Jackson were released.