Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote an excellent piece citing a study that shows that black absentee fathers are more engaged with their children than white absentee fathers or absentee fathers of any ethnic group.
Many black males continue to be insulted by Barack Obama and his speech writers relying on stereotypes rather than hard evidence in his Father's Day Speech. Barack is a man whom I will always respect, but what he has done is unforgivable.
What's more interesting, as Earl correctly points out, is that Barack's father was not African American. He was a Kenyan National who wanted to leave the country. So, perhaps we should spend some time asking ourselves why we were so quick to accept this blanket indictment of black men, while allowing Obama to use his own father's choices to provide moral authority for him to use stereotypes.
I consider Barack to be one of us. But he also represents "all of us". Rather than pandering to the crowd and telling them what they want to hear, I hope that one day he can gain the courage to tell people what they NEED to hear.
What Barack Obama did to the good black fathers of America was wrong. My urgency in supporting him is not as great as it was before. With each passing day, I become more and more confused as to whether we are putting a black man in the white house, or a man who is afraid of being associated with other black men. When it is time for him to take a stand against racism, I hear that he is "everyone's president", not the black candidate. But when it comes time for him to attack black men with petty stereotypes, I hear that he is a "black man" and therefore, able to engage in these sorts of attacks.
Which one is it? I grow weary of the games.
9 comments:
Your are so determined to be right, that your are started to sound crazy Boyce, let it go. Barack said what he had to say and it' over, lets move on damn......
You are a very dangerous man, I can now see why O'Reiley is all over your ass like white on rice. Obama is going to win the Presidency regardless of your vote. Keep it if you need to. He won the election, because he represents all of our feelings. I am so very glad that his way of thinking is so very far away from yours. On behalf of my Black father, husband, son, uncles, nephews, and friends I say Yes to Obama, and No, to you and your warped analysis of this issue. There is no difference between what you are doing and the attack you put on Tavis regarding Obama. As you can see Black men that have been in the struggle longer and harder than you, are not paying you or your opinion any attention. In fact most Black folk don't even know who you are thank God!!! Stop hating and focus your attention back on O'Reily, that's where you made the most sense.
Yes, Dr. Boyce is a dangerous man. He is also a smart and honest man. Barack is not being honest in this election. Dr. Boyce is keeping him honest. You can't throw hard working black fathers under the bus with stereotypes just so you can tap dance for white people. That's messed up.
Barack Obama offended me, and I am glad that there is at least one public figure who isn't telling a bunch of lies so that he can get elected.
Keep on speaking truth Dr. Boyce, we need your voice.
We need to protect father's rights. Thats one of the main problems. Dr. Boyce is right on this one.
Be ware Dr. Boyce...you are the type that is "selected" to dis such stars as Obama And Bill Cosby,not because of what they say, but because of who they are.
Thank you thank you thank you for saying this! I am so happy that someone is seeing what I saw in Obama's speech. He needs to check himself before he wrecks himself. This kind of stuff is not going to be tolerated.
Anonymous #1: I am glad he was determined to be right. He is right! Dr. Watkins should speak up for the fathers who are doing the right thing. Fathers Day is not the time to attack black men. It's not going to solve any problems.
From what I've read here nobody's going to win this argument. In my opinion both sides have valid points. I don't think it would be wise to let this issue divide you. There will probably be even more important things coming up before the election where you will need to stand together.
I disagree the both sides have "valid" points. One side doesn't want all black fathers to br brushed as absent. The other side . . .? Cause really, I don't know about you, but what Obama said is said thousands of times every Sunday in black churches.
That aside, I agree with Hutchinson's analysis on this. But let's be clear. Hutchinson is just looking for a reason to hate. He's been hating on Obama at least since Oct 2007.
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