No I do not. I can imagine that his fathers day speech upset a few but the truth hurts.

What could Obama have possibly said to make some think he was talking down to blk folk? Maybe I missed it. Can anyone bring me up to speed.

Personally, i just think Jackson was being a coon.

Barak has the right to say what he wants,,,he said nothing that was not true. my father left the family when i was 5 or 6 years old.

talking down? no talking truth yes.

besides MESSY Jessy needs to take care of his daughter he had outside of his marriage!

GET AT me at esos1@aol.com

holla back

Absolutely not! I am a single Mom and the father of my son left when he was four and has never been a resposible parent in his life. There are far too many black fathers who continue to have children and abandon them. Of course,there are wonderful involved black men but absentee fathers far outnumber them. Barack is only speaking the truth. Jesse Jackson should be ashamed of himself for speaking about Barack the way he did.

I just wrote about this on my blog. It isn't talking down at all. Black men have left women holding the bag. If you have to get in someone's tail, then so be it. I don't understand when you criticize someone, you are considered to be "talking down" or "hating" on someone. People need to hear the truth. Our women are dying from HIV/AIDS and our men dying from homicide. We need to change this thing around, I don't care who feelings get hurt.

Did I miss somewhere in the speech were he said Black Father's need to step up. or did he say Father's need to step up? Surely Rev Baby outta wedlock understands that anytime Obama speaks he is speaking to a broader audience than those right in front of him????

And while I get the whole personal vs governmental responsibility shtick…I'mma have to call BS. I am all for governmental support for kids, but if you are grown enough to make a baby, get a dayum job and support yourself! Not denying racism etc…. but some folks wallow in mediocrity and are good and comfortable in the shit.

He was speaking in the context of speaking to black churches. If you listen to Obama's speech, he specifically points to black fathers who don't take care of their responsibility. It should be on Youtube somewhere.

Well, I, for one, was not feeling the whole Barack Obama Father's Day thing and I ain't ashamed to say it. Opportunistic to the nth degree, that's what that was. Dude aint get nary a feather ruffled when Hillary & Bill called him everything but Barack Obama. Well, don't get all heated & use the least of us to show whitefolk "See! I'm just as disgusted with Black behavior as you are! I'm more like you than they are! I feel your pain! Want me to tell them for you? I told them." Man whatever.

Furthermore, BO must have some pretty deep seated issues to get up on a Father's Day and talk about Black fathers in a Black church. His mom sent him to live with his grandparents; that must have stung. But Dude wasn't up in nobody's white church on Mother's Day parsing white motherhood. And I don't care HOW you feel about your mom; if you're Black and you're in the Black community, your behind aint TRYING to get up in no church and start talking about trifling Black mothers. Who does that? So how do you, as a Black man, come off slicing up Black fatherhood on a Father's Day? Not feeling that. What happened to HOPE and Si Se Puede and all that nonstop positivity when it comes to us? The same way the rest of America wants to believe they can change, we do too.

Now… that said, I think Jesse might have been saying some of what I feel. It's the tone… the mocking… the condescension. Who comes in the Black church on a Father's Day and uses that BillCosbyesque tone to mock Black people… I don't CARE if your subject group is trifling and can be easily mocked. You didn't treat your opponents like that. BroMan was nothing but cordial & gracious while Bill & Hillary slung every demeaning, evil thing they could sling at him. So, don't turn around, use the least of us and berate Black men for your benefit. I will vote for him, but I'm not feeling it on this.

NO I do not think that what Obama said was wrong. He was exactly right! Jesse should support what he said that more fathers need to take care of their responsiblities! Whats wrong with saying that? Our black community just happens to have the most fathers to stray away from taking care of their kids but im sure he wasnt only talking about our race. But it was the truth! No need to sugar coat the situation at hand. He is trying to better the country as a whole. I am all for that. I just happen to be a single mother myself and it is hard trying to race a child by myself when I didn't get a child by myself. And Obama was a product of a single family home. The broken homes needs to end! Its nothing that should be swept under the rug any longer! Vote for OBAMA!!!

Black men being fathers has been talked about on churches for years. My minister calls out anyone who is in the wrong. People just don't want to talk about problems. Some would rather sweep it up under the rug. I grew up in a single parent home. If people are put on blast and feel uncomfortable, then that's just the way it is. Take care of yours and you won't feel bad. Individuals use their celebrity to peddle products (CDs, clothes, movies) in the community that don't do anything positive. So, why shouldn't Obama use his name to push a positive agenda. This wasn't the first time has spoke out. Months before that, he spoke about eating healthy and educating our children. Turn off 106th and Park and read to your children.

Since people dismiss Cosby because he's old and out of touch, why not BO since he is of our generation. He could be the next black President, why wouldn't the youth listen to him. The reason why he beat HRC was BECAUSE he showed character and didn't get down in the mud. As many times as I screamed at the TV for him to hit back, his strategy was and has worked. He let HRC and BC dig their own political grave. He has done a great job walking a fine line between Black & White.

Truthfully, what did BO really gain? White people aren't going to the polls for him because he spoke at a black church. You think they really looking at the news like that. People are going to vote on their economic and social position….job lost, high gas, job outsourcing, the high cost of war, education…not because BO stood up in a Black church. He said what needed to be said and what the rest of us need to be saying.

I try to kick knowledge when I can, not to demean anyone, but hell the truth hurts. I would rather have a brother trying to school me than someone just forget me. I have to stand together.

Jesse got straight talk confused with talking down.

When 70% of black children are born into single parent homes…it's straight talk to tell black people that they need to do better.

Jesse is out of touch with my generation and reminded me what a n188er is like. Scuse the french, but anybody that wants to cut the nuts off of a man that is making a historic movement *might* not be living in my generation.

Save nut cutting off that for rapist.

I meant….we have to stand together.

Barack spoke the absolute truth at that church, and in my way of thinking he could have stated his case even stronger.

Jesse is full of shit, and always has been. His feathers have been ruffled by Barack for a long time, as he sees Barack's rise as a threat to his own legacy as a failed presidential nominee. This is just straight up jealously, and i'm not even a Barack supporter.

Most black men do not take responsibility for their children. I was raised by a single mom, and so were most of the kids I grew up with. All those black men in prison and the ones standing on the corner, waiting their turn for prison, are not supporting their future criminal offspring either.

I think Jesse (and his fellow old school fools) are upset that Barack aired out dirty laundry to the larger white public, but guess what? White people already think most black men are dead beat dads anyway.

I"m sure Barack Obamaa was being very thoughtful in his speech! If it hit a nerve, well then good!! Jessie Jackson is so jealous he can't see straight. And this is really the lesson. Barack Obama is making history. Is he going to do everything perfectly? Of course not. But Blacks need to stand behind him, mistakes and all. This is our next POTUS, God willing and we need to embrace this moment and take it all in. We'll not get another moment like this in our life time. Blacks need to wake up. If what's happening now is not making you proud and giving you reason to believe we can be better than we are, then you're not paying attention and you're missing it! You're missing a lot!

Wow J [Posted: Jul 10, 2008 at 9:38 pm]

I think you have a great point. I'm a huge Obama supporter, before everyone else jumped on the bandwagon. But when I read some of his speech on Father's day I was a little shock in his approach. But the way you describe hit the nail on the head.

I was fuming when he just took all the crap Bill and Hillary was dishing out. I'm going to give him a pass on this one. I think he's walking a thin line of trying to get his message out but doesn't want to appear as the Black power candidate. Hopefully he will learn how to address the black community when he becomes President!

Barack doesn't want to appear as the "black power candidate", because he isn't the black power candidate. Anyone who seriously sees him in that way is deluding themselves.

The only black people Barack cares about are the 3 he currently lives with.

If and when he becomes president, he will be addressing the entire nation, and not making special speeches for blacks. People are gonna have a rude awakening when the honeymoon is over.

Kyla, I totally agree. Barack Obama *does* walk a thin line and it is very, very tenuous— pretty much a live, high wire act. This whole race thing is extremely subtle at this point in America's history. It's not 'colored' and 'White' anymore with nooses and crosses burning. It's far more nuanced than that, but same soup, different bowl– we still have to deal with Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and Don Imus and Katrina responses (or lack thereof.) This is unknown territory that he's stepping into and it clearly isn't easy for him; but this one choice that he made did not sit well with me.

I mean, can you find anyone more vilified in America than Black men? From all the images of Black men we are spoonfed everyday, we can pretty much agree Black men are evil, lazy, scary, oversexed, babymaking deadbeat criminals who can shoot and/or return a punt, right? So, if you're struggling with connecting with "working class" Americans and you want to get the most bang for your buck … and you want to be most effective while getting the least resistance, why not distance yourself from the most vilified symbol in America and throw that speech on out there? After all, you had a deadbeat Black dad yourself — a man who was married to another woman and took off right after you were born– so you more than most know the sting of Black male deadbeat, triflingness, right? Who can trump you? Sounds like an appropriate Father's Day speech to me, right? SMH

Nope. I'm just not feeling it, Barack…. not in timing, tone or choice of venue… nope. Like I said, yes, you will get my vote. And yes, I'm all for you. And yes, I agree Black men have to do better. But you're going to have to not throw Blackfolk under the bus like that… especially not to further your cause. Black America has problems; yes, we do. All the rest of America has problems, too. So, I see no real need to address us any differently tah you address the rest of America. We need that same positive message that the rest of America needs. You were kind enough to give it to Hillary. Now give it to us.

EDIT:

I see no real need to address us any differently *than* you address the rest of America.

Now. With all that said…. now on to Jesse. Where will we even begin with Jesse? …OK on second thought, not on to Jesse. That would take too long. lol

All I'm saying is these people are politicians. Jesse Jackson is a politician. Barack Obama is a politician. They know the game and they know each other. They can see through each other better than we could ever see through them. I am in no way, shape or form trying to presume to know what Jesse Jackson was thinking by making such vulgar comments, but I must say, it was a little hard for me to stomach watching Barack Obama graciously pander to Hillary and Bill Clinton and all their nasty rhetoric, then hear him drop the bomb on Black men. A bit much. I think Jesse might be saying that.

I think Jesse — [in his own special, shortbus way... Lord have mercy, Ida B. Wells would have a FIT at any castration references] — might be saying 'Barack, if you're going to speak out on Black America, frame your speech in a way to have the listener take a look at the whole systemic, governmental, societal picture of Blackness in America before you get up there and drop the ball at the feet of Black men.' I think he might be saying that. (Not that I can speak for Jesse.) And I'm not excusing Black men who have no interest in being a part of their children's lives. All I'm saying is it is far more complex than that.

The truth hurts. While that is not the only story of our men, it is a prevalent one and it affects our community and must be addressed. Jesse has said some of the same things within Operation PUSH Saturday services, which draws a multicultural audience. His jealousy and conscious choice to discuss that mess in the FOX News room(fair and balanced, my ass)blew me away. He knows better than to do that dumb s**t by "accident" and I'm glad Jesse Jr. called him out on his statement.

If Jesse feels like attacking someone who represents and promotes the negative aspects of our culture and streams it to the masses, he should focus on L'il Wayne and his ilk. That fool compares himself to a venereal disease and "menstrual bleed" in a song and yet sold a million copies to a million idiots in one week. That's someone whose foolishness should be addressed. Tripping off the truth spoken by our next POTUS is asinine and not helpful at all.

Issues can no longer be sugar-coated. We are in a crisis state and we can't always expect the message to be told at the right time, in the right tone, by the right person. I have no problem with what Barack said, nor did I have a problem will Bill Cosby said it. We can't coddle the situation and our people any longer. Who and what are we waiting for to solve our problems? Bottom line is that the message is not new, and it needs to be take seriously. Period.

@ J of comment #8

Although I don't have a problem with the substance of what Obama said, I have to agree with you on what you said in that it just came off as a little disingenuous and political. I was already a little irked when he threw Dr Wright under the bus after he was finished using him for his political rise. (It was very convenient for him to specifically choose that church to shore up his black credentials then dump it and feign shock when running for President)

He is starting to remind me of a used car salesman

He has been doing the absolute opposite. Unlike Jesse and those of his generation, with all due respect, Obama speaks to the spectrum of us. Not all of us are struggling, not all of us are victims of the white man, not all of us need someone to help us, not all of us need a sermon. Many of us do struggle or need help though. I think Barack can move between these two realities better Jesse ever could.

Jesse isn't black anymore. He's green. With envy.

Tariq, yes. Like I said, I plan on voting for BO, but there are going to be some things that I don't agree with him about and that was one of them.

It would be one thing if I saw him get all heated at other things and other people, but it seems all his heat is reserved for us (J. Wright & Black men.) Go up in the Mexican church and go tell them too many of them are entering the country illegally (and it wouldn't hurt n-o-t-h-i-n if yall learned some English.) Then go on over to the Irish Catholic church and go tell them they need to quit drinking and molesting children. Then roll up in the synagogue and tell them … Not feeling it.

I have waited a long time for someone to ruffle Jessie Jacksons feathers like Obahma has. Thirty-five years to be exact. There is now hope in my eyes for Obahma to be President. Because he has let go of what the so called Reverand said. It seems Jessie Jackson needs to gargle and swallow his own medicine. I would not be suprised to have heard the "N" word after his so called private statments to a fellow speaker. It's now time to strip Jackson of any Reverand title. And throw him back to the sea for the bottom feeders to devoir. Jackson didn't say Obahma is talking down to whites and blacks. But, to "his own people." Now that is hypocritical. That statement would not have sat very well with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. Knowing Obahma is HALF BLACK. There may be a joining of hands in the "HUMAN" circle over this. I honestly am a small percentage American Indian. The rest of European descent. Other than the T.V. show Boondocks. I have never heard a black man speak like this. It goes to show, that on the inner circle, all can be racist. Given the right circumstances. I "was" on the fence. The fence of not voting because I didn't think that Obahma had it in him. Now….? Barrack Obahma……….YOU GO BOY. I'M VOTING FOR YOU!

I'm sorry yall, as a black male who grew up in a 2 parent home, i can't really say that I know what it's like not to have a father, because mine has always been there for me, however, I stand with the cats in the lesser 30% of the black population.

Some of you guys are saying that Obama came down too hard on blacks/ is talking down to them, or wahtever complaints you have with the speech he made on Fathers day. But when it's all said and done and even after cats finish bitching about how what he said was "mocking" or whatever, the fact still remains that blacks make up less than 15% of the American population, and yet 70% of us grow up in single parent homes. This is Obama's way of saying "What the fuck is this shit?!" And that's the question that we should all be asking ourselves: What the fuck is this shit?

How do we represent a small portion of American society, and yet most of us are fuckin up with only a small percentage of us in institutions of higher education or in successful positions job wise? You can't honestly know thas to be true and say that you feel mocked or insulted or talked down to.

Cats these days cant face the truth but everyone needs to be accountable. If youre fuckin up, you need to be told that youre fuckin up and take accountability for that fact and change it. Dont get mad cause someone told you youre fuckin up and you dont wanna face it. You cant change what you cant face, and this shit needs to be changed cause its pitiful.

Sorry for the long post, but this shit has me heated.

@whitey

Why are you here, and who is "Barrack Obahma"??

I'm not saying he came down too hard on the trifling. All Im saying is there's a mocking tone that he used that he would NEVVVVVVVVVVer… let me say again N-N-N-EVER…. again NEVErrrrr use to talk to white people, Mexican people, Asian people, Muslims, Arabs OR Jews (not and think he would get their votes, he wouldn't.) Not in 1,000,000 years. Why? Because they wouldn't have it.

Think about it. Why be all about lifting everybody else in America up, but when it comes to Black men, you need to show you can say something very different to them. There's stuff in all communities that's just as trifling. I say it's because there's something very psychologically deep in America & in the American psyche about how we see Black men…. about the monolithic image of Black men and how they should be treated and talked to.

Yes, we need to get our collective act together. Aint no question about that. And yes, we can do much better. And yes, many Black men have not lived up to their role of father. But Black people have gotten so used to the deriding tone used to talk to and about us that we laugh along.

Our children are talked to in a way in schools that children in other schools NEVER get talked to. If other people had to go through the daily indiginities of being Black, they would lose their minds. If Cindy McCain had to go through being Michelle Obama, child would lose her mind. And you can see she's already fragile.

These people protested for an 'Airline Passenger Bill of Rights' because they had to sit on the tarmac. Middle and upper class whitepeople please. Go ride Greyhound and tell me about your 'rights.' So sorry you were inconvenienced for three hours.

I just think we have gotten used to being mocked. Do you mock people into change? Do you? Do you? What came out of that speech? What's the plan? The man is running for president. So Mr. President, what's your plan to help make Black America stronger? Tell us what we should do, then tell us what you will do. Talk to Black America like you talk to everybody else. Si Se Puede, too.

Oh…..my bad I mispelled his name………and I am here cause I can be anywhere I want. What am I segrigated from reading these posts? ok I get it!
It's a Black thing. Right. Whatever. I'm interacial. What am I not dark enough? What if my post name was………….hhhhm.let's c "Blackey." Would you have said anything? Forget it. I know when i'm not wanted. Don't worry I won't make a movement outta your racist post.

I don't really care if I was purple with rings around my head and a moon in orbit. Why do you care.

And another thing— (sorry… but all this has me thinking) I'm not a deadbeat dad. I didn't have a deadbeat dad. I'm not even a dad… just a Black person.. but I can't even begin to wrap my mind around how that trifling train of thought functions. But I know some deadbeat dads and Ive seen these deadbeats since Father's Day and somehow I don't see all these deadbeats now spurred to action. I know it will take some time for all of us to change. And folk aint gonna all of a sudden jump up out of bed at 2 oclock in the afternoon to go pay their 15 years of back child support, but primarily the people I hear cheering on Barack Obama & saying how wonderul his speech was are folk who weren't deadbeats to begin with. Uh, there's a problem with that. If the whole point of the message was to begin to rid ourselves of triflingness in our community, it seems to me that you have to do it in a way that you're not preaching to the choir. It seems we need to come up with a way to speak to The Trifling and light a fire under them for them to change.

Maybe you all are seeing something different and you're seeing some changes among The Trife in your communities. Maybe you're hearing different conversations from them. I don't know. For me, I'm just hearing Blackfolk yelling at them saying "yeah! I told you you need to be a man."

@ J

Couldn't agree with you more man and you bring up some interesting points to think about. He is pandering to every other group out there while throwing us under the bus because we make a great punching bag.

It will be interesting to see what he has to say on Tuesday night at the NAACP.

Tariq,

(don't know if you know it, but I'm a woman… a *cough*ratherfinewoman ::pushes up Afro puffs:: lol)

…man all I know is the saaaame Black women who are all 'ohhhh BarAAAck, here's my drawls' re: Barack Obama's Father's Day speech would, TO THIS DAY, be pitching a tent village outside the Capitol Building if his behind strolled up in the Black church on Mother's Day this year & lit into She'-naynay, Shanique-Qua annem. Please try to picture that with me. Please visualize Barack Obama running out the church with 3.2 million Black women running after him. Not pretty. lol

Again, I'm not making excuses for bad Black behavior. We have our problems… some very serious, critical problems, not the least of which is a dearth of good Black fathering… although my present personal obsession is how 50% of Black females over the age of 12 have— herpes???!?!? Huh? SMH. But yes, many Black men need to do muuuuch better by their families. That is true. BO wasnt standing there making up stuff.. that's true. All I'm saying is THINK about everything that is said. Think about *why* it is said, think about *how* it is said… *when* it is said…think about it.

BO is not your pastor (for those who say he spoke like their pastor speaks to Black people.) Your pastor is speaking to the people in that church. BO was speaking to the nation while he was in that church. BO is running for president; your pastor is not.

And as for the Blackfolk who say Cosby said it, too… Cosby is a comedian. BO is not. Cosby is not running for president. BO is. Cosby doesn't need a plan. All he needs is a joke. Cosby can throw his 'social critiques' out there any time he wants — just like me and you — and not a soul is holding him accountable for anything. Presidents need a PLAN. Please tell me what plan BO gave. Yes, you could say he gave the 'Black Man, You Need to Take Personal Responsibility' plan but what is the plan to strengthen the stability of the Black family once the Black man takes responsibility? Will said Black man have a job? Will there be a book in his child's school? How bout some toilet paper?

Yup. the NAACP thing will be interesting.

@ J

Soooo sorry about that. (looking silly)

Like I said, I'm with you 100% on what you are saying. I am also still supporting BO for President.

LOL at your comments about the angry black women chasing him out of the church.

He certainly wasn't making things up and I actually agree with him 100%. I just don't like him trying to use it as a political footstool in stead of (like you said) offering some genuine solutions.

Men need to take responsibility. Period. This is not just a black mans problem. I know alot of good, strong black fathers, my dad being one of them. I understand why he geared his speech toward black men because he was in a black church but I do think he was out of line. He should have addressed men in general.

But I still plan to vote for him.

He said black in his speech twice and only once was the referral to black men, the other time he said black was when he said that whether you're black or white, fathers need to step up. So he was talking to fathers in general, but he just used the black man statistic as one of the points in his speech.

Jesse Jackson is a hypocrite. When his good friend Mr. Cosby made these exact statements he wrote a piece defending him to the teeth. So why be so critical of Obama. Furthermore, Jesse himself has spoken out on this issue as a child brought up without a father. I don't see anything wrong with what Obama said or did. Also the fact that Jesse claims that BO needs to stick to what the gov't should do for us, really takes away from personal responsibility. While the government is here for the people, the US gov't has proven over and over again that they are not for us - so personal responsibility is key. WAKE UP FOLKS.