The Best of Obama: Extolling responsibility and family at Morehouse College

Posted by hpayne on May 21, 2013

AP photo

In the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde existence of America’s Hope and Divide president, Hyde has ruled too often. The corrupt Benghazi-IRS-AP outrages are the lowest points in a year in which the campaigner-in-chief has politicized even White House school tours for party gain.

So it is refreshing when the brilliant Dr. Jekyll makes an appearance. He emerged at this weekend’s Morehouse College commencement for a memorable address.

America’s only all-male, historically black college – the alma mater of the great Martin Luther King – welcomed our first black president at a time when black unemployment is nearly double that of whites – 16 percent. But the president didn’t play the victim card. Instead, he spoke candidly to the Class of ’13 about responsibility and the biggest problem facing America today: Fatherless homes.

“If we’re honest with ourselves, we know that too few of our brothers have the opportunities that you’ve had here at Morehouse,” said Obama after celebrating the graduates gathered before him. ” In troubled neighborhoods all across this country – many of them heavily African American – too few of our citizens have role models to guide them.”

“One of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is there’s no longer any room for excuses,” he continued. “Not because racism and discrimination no longer exist; we know those are still out there.  It’s just that in today’s hyperconnected, hypercompetitive world, with millions of young people from China and India and Brazil – many of whom started with a whole lot less than all of you did – all of them entering the global workforce alongside you, nobody is going to give you anything that you have not earned.  Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. . . . And moreover, you have to remember that whatever you’ve gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured – and they overcame them.  And if they overcame them, you can overcome them, too.”

Powerful stuff. And what a break from the paralyzing victimization taught by a generation of Jackson, Sharpton, and Conyers.

“Keep setting an example for what it means to be a man,” Obama continued. “Be the best father you can be to your children.  Because nothing is more important.”

The speech was a reminder of what might have been (and still can be) from this president. America’s#1 problem are inner cities (and rural areas like my home Appalachia) where family implosion has doomed a generation of young males. The #1 cause of poverty in America is single-parent homes – an epidemic in places like Detroit that breeds an endless cycle of illiteracy, joblessness and crime.

Rather than dividing America for political ends, Obama might have committed himself to cultural change. For the best of Barack Obama, you can read the entire speech here.

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