EUGENE ROBINSON: A father's absence and a son's message

[Kingstree]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/left/orl-syn-rob0619,0,6186954.story

WASHINGTON - The subject is absent fathers. The implications for black America are dire. The fact is that "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 one."

The speaker is Barack Obama, for whom fatherhood is a defining issue, both political and personal. Father's Day has come and gone - new ties have been put away, new golf clubs tried out, new flat-screen televisions mounted - but Obama says he will continue to talk about black fatherhood in an attempt to change self-destructive attitudes and behaviors.

"Many black men simply cannot afford to raise a family - and too many have make the sad choice not to," Obama said Friday in what aides touted as a major speech.



You might have heard that Obama is running for president, which makes it impossible to ignore the politics involved. The men-acting-like-boys speech was given in a black church in South Carolina, an early-primary state where half of Democratic voters are African-American. It's not at all rare for a black leader to challenge black Americans on issues of personal responsibility - that same message, phrased in much stronger terms, is delivered every Sunday from pulpits across the country. The political significance is for the scolding to be given in such a way that white America can't help but overhear what's being said.


SNIP

While young black fathers love their children and don't set out to be bad parents, Obama told me, they have a dearth of role models and a surfeit of distractions. Their lives are often disorganized, and even if they want a steady job, their prospects are dim.

His prescriptions include job training and tax credits for young noncustodial fathers. But they also include what he called a "crackdown" on child-support enforcement, which he says is intended to collect $13 billion in outstanding payments.

A crucial issue, Obama said in the interview, is "how we support women who are carrying a disproportionate burden, both financially and emotionally."

Obama gets a good response when he talks about paternal responsibility in front of black audiences. It's an issue that "resonates around the country," he said. "We have to talk in the public square, not only about the obligations of fatherhood but the joys of fatherhood."