Barack Responds to Jesse Jackson

[JaJae]

Barack Obama made some statements that to me is a response to Jesse Jackson's comments and those who support him.

I have to say, I strongly disagree with Jesse Jackson. Jackson seems to follow the ideology that blacks should be handed all their opportunities, live from immunity of criticism and go about their daily lives however they choose without dissenting opinion. This mentality hasn't worked. Obama's main message that Jackson was upset about was his speech which could be summed up with:

Originally Posted by Obama

"The change we need must come from each and everyone of us . . .," he told the Apostolic Church in Chicago. "We need fathers to recognize that responsibility doesn't end at conception . . . that doesn't just make you a father . . ."

Jackson has a problem with a black political leader telling the black community that they need to have personal responsibility if they wish to see an improvement in their lives as well as within their communities.

I don't know about most of you, but as a white American I have been told since I was very little that if I want to be a good man and a productive member of society I need to take responsibility for my actions. I guess I can understand people being upset because it seems Obama was targeting only blacks. Which is true, but his audience was a black church in Chicago. And to be quite frank there are some issues in this country that are more prevalent in the black communities the same as there are some issues more prevalent in white communities. Obama was trying to be as PC as possible while still targeting his audience. His message goes for everyone, it's universal to all races.

Anyway, back to Obama's response:

"If we're serious about reclaiming that dream, we have to do more in our own lives. There's nothing wrong with saying that," Obama told a crowd estimated at 3,000. "But with providing the guidance our children need, turning off the TV set and putting away the video games; attending those parent-teacher conferences, helping our children with their homework, setting a good example. That's what everybody's got to do."

He added: "I know some say I've been too tough on folks talking about responsibility. NAACP, I'm here to report, I'm not going to stop talking about it. Because as much I'm out there to fight to make sure that government's doing its job and the marketplace is doing its job, ... none of it will make a difference — at least not enough of a difference — if we also don't at the same time seize more responsibility in our own lives."

Obama tells NAACP blacks must take responsibility - Yahoo! News

Does a statement like this take a lot of courage to convey? I remember the backwash Bill Crosby received for giving similar statements. I think despite all of Obama's recent flip flops, it's good to see he's standing firm on something and defending his views, and it's views that I can agree with. I think the politics within this arena are dated by people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and they've become counter productive. It's good to see a new message being delivered and one which is positive rather than accusatory and angry.

[lew]

[WickedLou9]

I was glad to hear that he stood up and stuck to what he said. I think it's also noteworthy that his audience was members of the NAACP and they gave him quite a bit of applause when he said that stuff.

[Stylerod]

Wow. Can't do anything but admire him for those words. Good job Obama.


But, is this proper English? "That's what everybody's got to do."

[WickedLou9]

Originally Posted by Stylerod

Wow. Can't do anything but admire him for those words. Good job Obama.


But, is this proper English? "That's what everybody's got to do."

It's not proper english, it's more something that I guess I would call common english or maybe conversational english. I woudln't think twice about someone saying it out loud to me but if it were written down it would look strange.

[7960]

Originally Posted by Stylerod

But, is this proper English? "That's what everybody's got to do."

for spoken english, yes it's ok.

my english teacher in high school made a huge deal out of the differences between the spoken and written word.

when speaking, you speak to the audience. if they're "regular" people then you speak in a "regular" fashion. if you know you're speaking to a group of english teachers and librarians then you speak appropriately.

but when writing you always assume it's the librarians and english teachers reading it.