Organizing for America | Keddist Sellassie's Blog: Strengthen, Rectify and Heal

Strengthen, Rectify and Heal

By Keddist from Oakland, CA - Jun 17th, 2008 at 7:40 am EDT

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Refrain from the conduct of any hostile propaganda campaign directed against any group of people, and to acknowledge that the problems in the United States of America are problems of the whole society. In good faith we should acknowledge that families all over America are having problems to say the least and not just black families. For instance in the article Obama Says Too Many Black Fathers 'MIA'" removing the term black and just say fathers would go far to remove many of the causes of friction which have from time to time impaired so-called racial relations which in the past have done much damage instead of strengthening the country.

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By Dallas Rutledge Jun 17th 2008 at 8:05 am EDT

GREAT post. I often listen to black groups speaking out about the black working class, because their words match my feelings being a member of the white working class..The key words here are "working class"..NOT white or black..A greater percentage of black than whites are a member of this oft maligned class, but those whites and hispanics who are there are in the same boat as their white counterparts. I work with members of both the aforementioned races, and I can assure you that were all in the same boat..Let's grab an oar and start rowing!!

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By MandyW Jun 17th 2008 at 9:20 am EDT

You have a valid point that some blacks may misinterpret the headline as being racially divisive. But it truthfully reflects what Obama said in his Father's Day speech. His point was that it's not kindness to make excuses for men who conceive children but then ignore their responsibilities to give nurture those children to adulthood, giving them love, support, discipline and education.

The African American congregation seemed to recognize the truth of what Obama was saying: that the most insidious obstacle preventing African Americans from achieving their full share of the American dream is deterioration of family. And that it's a self-defeating cop-out for men to use lingering racial prejudice as an excuse for not accepting the responsibilities of fatherhood.

Only a black person could bluntly say that in the black community. It's not a mark of disrespect, but of GENUINE love to point out the painful truth that although families all over American are having problems, right now the problem of MIA fathers is most severe in the black community.

As Obama pointed out, government can, and should, help fathers of all colors who try their best to do right by their families, by improving access to the education needed to qualify for good jobs and by promoting economic conditions that make more good jobs available.

But the most important factor is individual responsibility. Obama, like Bill Cosby, seems to recognize the need to shock the black community into action against a problem that is reaching crisis proportions. Most people won't see this as a criticism of the black community, but just as one manifestation of how all of us have to work together to solve the problems we all face.

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