Some of you Negroes are saying that he was just having a Sistah Souljah moment at the expense of the Morehouse men, and that he is always airing black folk's dirty laundry when he speaks to a large black group.
I have to respectfully disagree. That message the president sent today was on point and it needed to be delivered.
"Obama spoke in very personal terms to the 500 young men as he urged them to not only become leaders in their community, but also good fathers and good husbands. Obama, who was raised by a single mother and grandparents, lamented the absence of his father in his life and urged the graduates to make family their top priority.
Obama told the Morehouse men they are also obliged to set an example for other black men.
"Keep setting an example for what it means to be a man," Obama said. "Be the best husband to your wife, or boyfriend to your partner, or father to your children that you can be. Because nothing is more important."
What is wrong with what he said? Last time I checked his daddy was a black man, and he wasn't exactly a role model. I am not sure I can blame the president for having some issues with that.
Look, without getting too personal, I work in an area of law that unfortunately has to confront a lot of dysfunction when it comes to families, and I can say without question that not having a good father figure at home is a major cause of problems with families here in my city. I suspect that this is the case all over the country. Asking young African American graduates to go out into their communities and be good family men is exactly the type of message that the president should be sending.
"But Field, why didn't he deliver a similar message to the graduates of Ohio State University? Why doesn't he talk about being a responsible parent when he talks to white folks? Why does he only choose to lecture us?
Because, as a black man, he has a stake in how we progress as a race. More than likely one or both of his daughters will marry a black man, and he understand that in spite of his white mother,his place in the American melting pot is with you black folks.
Mitt Romney, as America's president, would not have spoken at Morehouse College (or any other HBCU), and Anne Romney would not have been caught dead speaking at Bowie State University in her capacity as First Lady. (Loved how Michelle Obama went there about black kids thinking other black kids are acting white if they are hitting their books.) So rather than rip the man for telling you Negroes what you need to hear, you need to take stock of yourselves and see why there is a need for him to say it in the first place.
Sadly, this is what happens when you don't know too many black people; you tend to have to pick your friends from a very small pool.
