Obama on Fatherhood

Here’s an example of why it’s great to have Barack Obama in the presidential primaries:

“There are a lot of men out there who need to stop acting like boys; who need to realize that responsibility does not end at conception; who need to know that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise a child”

…

“Too many black men simply cannot afford to raise a family — and too many have made the sad choice not to,” Obama said. “A fatherless household takes its toll. Children who grow up without a father … are five times more likely to live in poverty and nine times more likely to drop out of school”

Two points are immediately obvious. First, no other major candidate could say this and live to tell the tale, politically speaking. Not Hillary, not Richardson, and certainly no one in the Republican party.

Second, Obama is right on the money. Blacks are failing their children at an extraordinary rate and it’s largely – but not exclusively the fault of the male gansta mentality.

Ultimately more black Americans have to move themselves beyond the dream-limiting mindset of victimization. If Obama was to win the presidency I wonder if his victory could be the blow that shatters the myth that blacks cannot succeed in America. I think it could, although young black males – the very people who need Obama to succeed the most – are likely to reject him because of his success.

I wish him luck. Win, lose, or draw, all Americans will benefit from having had a mainstream black candidate in the race because the truth has to be spoken before it can be acknowledged for what it is and addressed.

If I were a Democrat, I’d be looking hard at Obama as my candidate of choice.