Rev. Jesse Jackson claims that Sen. Barack Obama's speeches on morality, fatherhood, and personal responsibility that he has given at black churches come off as speaking down to black people...so much so that he wants to cut off Obama's, well, you know. He asserts that there are other important issues to be addressed in the community, such as unemployment, the mortgage crisis and the number of blacks in prison. He apologized yesterday for his crude, off-the-record comments about Sen. Obama.
Personally, this is a side of Sen. Obama that I do like. Sen. Obama isn't talking down to black folks, although he can be accused of preaching to the choir by targeting this message in black churches. More folks need to speak up, and Sen. Obama's comments don't go far enough. Also, contrary to Rev. Jackson's implied claim, what issue is more pressing to Black America than fatherlessness??! Fatherless black households are significantly poorer than two-parent black households, and the issue has a high correlation with the likelihood that a black male will go to jail. You'd also believe that a reverend of all people would understand that - contrary to what leftists want us to believe - that not everything in life is about materialism and money-related matters. Most people care about the non-material stuff too.
That's my take. What is your opinion? Despite his crudeness, is Rev right or wrong about Sen. Obama?
UPDATE: Is this a case of the HNIC syndrome, with Rev. Jackson's generation worried that they are losing power? I mean, even Rev's own son condemned his comments. Also, the only person who should be talking about toying with Sen. Obama's genitals is the lucky Michelle Obama LOL.
Debate: Is Obama Talking Down To Black People?
Posted by Shay Riley at 7/10/2008
Labels: Black America, U.S. Presidential Elections
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1 comments:
I agree with you. I think this is partly a generational difference between Jackson and Obama. Obama is part of the rising majority of black Americans (53% in a recent survey) who think that the condition that most blacks find themselves in has more to do with what they do themselves than with racism by others. I think that is one of the premises of Booker Rising.
Jackson, whatever he thinks personally, seems to believe that saying such a thing out loud would constitute blaming the victim and "forgetting where you come from."
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