UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL
Needed words
Obama's Father's Day sermon hits home
June 17, 2008
It was a perfect message for Father's Day. And, under the circumstances, it was delivered by just the right messenger.
The message: Too many fathers in the African-American community are missing in action, missing from the home, and missing from their children's lives. More of them need to step up and take responsibility – for their own good, for the good of their kids and for the good of the country.
The messenger: Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who grew up without a father but who seems to have made quite an effort in his own life to be a good father to his two daughters.
Obama has energized and inspired the black community, and so he's in a strong position to lecture it a bit by sharing not just the words it wants to hear, but the ones it needs to hear. Politicians aren't known for that sort of thing, because their first objective is to be popular.
And so we were heartened that Obama marked Father's Day by delivering a powerful and important sermon at the largely black Apostolic Church of God in Chicago, as wife, Michelle, and daughters, Sasha and Malia, looked on. In a tone that was reminiscent of comedian and social commentator Bill Cosby, the presidential candidate insisted that African-Americans should not use past injustices, as real as they were, as an excuse for self-destructive behavior, such as abandoning one's family and shirking one's responsibilities.
You might think there is nothing controversial in those kinds of remarks, but sadly there is. Many in the black community get defensive whenever the conversation turns to the absence of black fathers, and they're sometimes inclined to attack the messenger. They certainly did so with Cosby.
Obama didn't mince words, condemning those who act “like boys instead of men” and saying the black family is weakened because so many black children are raised by single mothers. He told the crowd in the pews that he was lucky to have grandparents who helped his mother raise him. Not everyone is that fortunate, he said. That's why more black fathers have to rise up and meet the challenge of fatherhood, or we all pay for it.
Well said. Obama is a role model for millions of Americans, and his is an important voice, and not just in the black community. And there are few issues on which he has as much moral authority as this one. We hope to hear more of these types of messages in the fall campaign, even it makes people feel uncomfortable along the way.
Presidential campaigns are about confronting issues, airing ideas and introducing candidates. But they're also about something we don't often think about: inspiring people to action. Most of us know what kind of choices we should be making in our personal lives, and most of us want to do the right thing even if it is difficult. Sometimes we just need a firm nudge in that direction.
In his Father's Day message, Barack Obama provided one.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080617/news_lz1ed17top.htmlFor those who are not aware, this is probably the most praise I have seen for any Democrat (even Joementum) in this right leaning paper.
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