by Latoya Peterson

The Father’s Day Speech

Average Bro checked out the full length speech on YouTube and came to the following conclusion:

I suspect many black male bloggers (I’m not doing any links, find them yourself) overreacted to perhaps the few soundbites of this speech that aired on the evening news without giving the entire YouTube recap the proper time and analysis. Because seriously, if this speech is anything, it’s mundane and maybe a bit cliche, but it’s hardly offensive to me as a black male on any level.

Many said Obama’s lambasting of the stereotypical black father was over the top. I don’t really agree with that. He thankfully did note that half of black households do indeed have a Dad present. Again, not great, but certainly not the dire 70% picture many people usually correlate with the unfortunate percentage of out of wedlock births. And while he did lay it on Black fathers who aren’t active, he did praise the men (especially Michelle’s father) who do indeed sacrifice and put in work. And given the occasion (duh, check the holiday) I think such a speech was timely and appropriate, not pandering. What did you want him to talk about, burning bushes and whales? Sheesh.

Furthermore, much of his speech was about the importance of education (the 8th grade graduation point was especially good) and active parenting (as opposed to parenting via TeeVee), points not necessarily aimed squarely at Dads. The speech was really about self-sufficiency, drumming up collective effort to improve communities, and personal responsibility[1]. It’s the kind of speech conservatives would be fawning over if it just happened to be delivered by John McCain.

And even if the speech was aimed squarely at Black men (and I don’t think it is, these points are universal), who’s to say that’s such a bad thing? Reality is, if you’ve been on your J.O., you shouldn’t be offended. If you are offended, maybe, just maybe this is the impetus you need to step your Daddy-game up.

One Drop, blogging for Too Sense, found a reason to be concerned:

(For those of you unfamiliar with political cartoonists, this is the work of Pat Oliphant, a heavily syndicated illustrator. I found this comic in the Washington Post archive.)

Headscarves Not the Right Kind of “Diversity”

Abhi at Sepia Mutiny blogs about a dust up at an Obama rally where some volunteers decided that it was not a good look to have women in headscarves appear onstage behind Barack:

The Obama campaign got itself into a crap load (a unit of measure used in politics) of trouble today after a couple of its junior campaign staffers (who no doubt had some guidelines from higher up advisors to Obama) decided that women wearing headscarves should be “discouraged” from being in the background when pictures of the candidate were being taken in Detroit (of all places!)

[...]

This incident is D-Punjab all over again. I have no doubt that Obama is disappointed in his staffers over this but the buck has to stop at the top of the ticket. By forcefully refuting rumors that he is a “secret Muslim,” I think he is beginning to overreact and hurt his reputation among the very people who believe in him to bring a change. I mean, how in the world do you expect to campaign in Detroit and NOT be associated with Muslim supporters?

Abhi later updates the post, noting:

[...] [I]t is almost unreasonable to believe Obama had any hand in this and set this policy from the top. He had Muslim roommates in college and went to Pakistan with them. He’s also appeared with women in headscarves before. It is also most unreasonable to believe that two unpaid volunteers came up with this idea on their own. No freaking way! It is very reasonable to believe this policy started somewhere in the middle. As some commenters have said, this is what politics does to even the “purest” of candidates.

Ali Eteraz also comments:

a) Islamophobes are going to use this event to smear Obama (i.e. he has something to hide about Islam).

b) Muslim ‘mainstream’ organizations are going to heap some kind of affirmative duty on Obama to become the anti-Islamophobia crusaders that they are supposed to be. You just watch.

c) Muslims (and Democrats) — like yours truly — who don’t get all frothing at the mouth about this, who don’t sit around and say “That Obama needs to do something about Islamophobia!!!”, who call this a non-story, are going to be accused of being anti-Muslim just for the simple fact that we treat anti-hijab bigotry as any other kind of bigotry — condemnable, deserving of an apology, but not the end of the world. This is still America; the best place in the world for a Muslim to exercise her faith, way better than Muslim countries).

(I can feel the disagreement rising already – I’m just collecting it, y’all, no commentary from me today.)

Laura over at PopPolitics did a little digging and came up with a quote from an Obama campaign organizer on the situation:

One of the things I find most enjoyable about this campaign is the ability of individuals to use their own gifts and abilities to contribute in the best way they can. When I volunteered just before Iowa they asked me what I wanted to do and I said I would sweep floors if they wanted and I meant it. I would encourage Muslims regardless of their political beliefs not to stay in the shadows, but to form groups and let people know that they love their country as much as all of us. When people get to know you better we realize we’re not that different. To be sure Muslims are under more scrutiny, that comes and goes, and it’s the history of this country.

I will be glad to help you and your friends find a way to participate, be [it] in phone banking, getting hooked up with other groups, etc. Think of your life experience, skills, your time allowance, and how you might apply them.

Laura notes:

I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand it contradicts the notion that Obama’s campaign is overtly distancing itself from Muslim support, and that’s reassuring.

Yet that line — “let people know that they love their country as much as all of us” — troubles me. It implies that Muslim loyalties remain in question, and that any Muslim critique of American foreign policy
is somehow more suspicious than that which comes from other sources.

Granted this note came from another campaign volunteer, not Obama himself, but it’s a sentiment consistent with the feeling that Muslims are welcome in the political process only if they first make strenuous efforts to pass and assimilate. “Change” might be fine for other people, but Muslims need to prove their commitment to the status quo. (Does anyone doubt the women above would have been accepted in the photo if only they hadn’t veiled?)

Certainly this sentiment isn’t limited to the Obama campaign, but it’s especially disappointing to find it there. Obama of all people should understand that many of the “gifts and abilities” Muslim Americans could contribute to his campaign will be directly related to their status as Muslims. They bring an in-depth understanding of Islamic history and culture. Fluency in the languages of the Middle East and Central Asia. First-hand experience living under the corrupt regimes the U.S. alternatively supports and invades. First-hand experience fleeing those same regimes. And, crucially, first-hand experience of the diversity within the Muslim community, in the United States and abroad.

Juneteenth

From the Senate Files:

[WASHINGTON, D.C.]–U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Carl Levin (D-MI) today introduced legislation recognizing the significance of June 19, 1865, commonly known as “Juneteenth Independence Day”. The day commemorates the arrival of Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended. African Americans who had been slaves in the Southwest celebrated June 19 as the anniversary of their emancipation. The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Barack Obama (D-IL) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Representative Danny Davis (D-IL) has introduced a similar resolution in the House.

“As Americans, we can’t afford to forget the lessons learned from slavery and its terrible stain on our nation’s history,” Durbin said. “Juneteenth reminds us to stay vigilant in our efforts to secure justice and equal opportunity for all Americans. True freedom means equality for all citizens, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity.”

“Juneteenth Day marks the time when slavery finally came to an end in the United States over 140 years ago,” said Levin. “This anniversary of emancipation recognizes one of the most tragic periods of our nation’s history. While the suffering, degradation and brutality of slavery cannot be repaired, the memory can serve to ensure that no such inhumanity is ever perpetrated again on American soil.”

“We solemnly mark this date as a significant milestone in the abolition of slavery,” said Reid. “People around the world now look to June 19 – the anniversary of the very last day Americans were slaves in the United States – as an historic moment in the fight against injustice. We commemorate Juneteenth to celebrate the triumph of liberty and the first day it was enjoyed by all people in every corner of America. As we do so, we continue our work to ensure all Americans enjoy the liberties our nation promises.”

“Juneteenth Independence Day symbolizes the extraordinary sacrifices that generations before us made for freedom,” said Obama. “While this resolution celebrates an incredible triumph over injustice, it also renews our commitment to ensuring equality and fairness for all Americans.”

“Juneteenth Independence Day marks an important day of celebration and reflection on the abolition of slavery over 140 years ago,” said Stabenow. “It’s hard to imagine that despite the adoption of the Emancipation Proclamation, many people across our country were still not free from the brutality of slavery until years later. We must keep the lessons of Juneteenth close to our hearts and utilize it as a day to recognize the abomination of slavery which stains our nation’s past. We should also recognize Juneteenth as a reminder of how far our nation has and continues to move towards a society in which all Americans enjoy equality.”

Barack Obama and Negritude in France

The New York Times reports:

A new black consciousness is emerging in France, lately hastened by, of all things, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States. An article in Le Monde a few days ago described how Mr. Obama is “stirring up high hopes” among blacks here. Even seeing the word “noir” (“black”) in a French newspaper was an occasion for surprise until recently.

Meanwhile, this past weekend, 60 cars were burned and some 50 young people scuffled with police and firemen, injuring several of them, in a poor minority suburb of Vitry-le-François, in the Marne region of northeast France.

Americans, who have debated race relations since the dawn of the Republic, may find it hard to grasp the degree to which race, like religion, remains a taboo topic in France. While Mr. Obama talks about running a campaign transcending race, an increasing number of French blacks are pushing for, in effect, the reverse.

Having always thought it was more racially enlightened than strife-torn America, France finds itself facing the prospect that it has actually fallen behind on that score. Incidents like the ones over the weekend bring to mind the rioting that exploded across France three years ago. Since it abolished slavery 160 years ago, the country has officially declared itself to be colorblind — but seeing Mr. Obama, a new generation of French blacks is arguing that it’s high time here for precisely the sort of frank discussions that in America have preceded the nomination of a major black candidate.

This black consciousness is reflected not just in daily conversation, but also in a dawning culture of books and music by young French blacks like Youssoupha, a cheerful, toothy 28-year-old, who was sent here from Congo by his parents to get an education at 10, raised by an aunt who worked in a school cafeteria in a poor suburb, and told by guidance counselors that he shouldn’t be too ambitious. Instead, he earned a master’s degree from the Sorbonne.

Then, like many well-educated blacks in this country, he hit a brick wall. “I found myself working in fast-food places with people who had the equivalent of a 15-year-old’s level of education,” he recalled.

Conservatives Heart BHO?

From the article “Mr. Right?” published in the New Republic:

Conservatives of almost all ideological flavors (even, gasp, some supply-siders) have been drawn to Obama–out of a genuine affection and a belief that he may actually better embody movement ideals than McCain.

There have been a few celebrated cases of conservatives endorsing Obama, like the blogger Andrew Sullivan and the legal scholar Douglas Kmiec. But you probably have not have heard of many of the Obamacons–and neither has the Obama campaign. When I checked with it to ask for a list of prominent conservative supporters, the campaign seemed genuinely unaware that such supporters even existed. But those of us on the right who pay attention to think tanks, blogs, and little magazines have watched Obama compile a coterie drawn from the movement’s most stalwart and impressive thinkers. It’s a group that will no doubt grow even larger in the coming months.

The largest group of Obamacons hail from the libertarian wing of the movement. And it’s not just Andrew Sullivan. Milton and Rose Friedman’s son, David, is signed up with the cause on the grounds that he sees Obama as the better vessel for his father’s cause. Friedman is convinced of Obama’s sympathy for school vouchers–a tendency that the Democratic primaries temporarily suppressed. Scott Flanders, the CEO of Freedom Communications–the company that owns The Orange County Register–told a company meeting that he believes Obama will accomplish the paramount libertarian goals of withdrawing from Iraq and scaling back the Patriot Act. [...]

In nearly every quarter of the movement, you can find conservatives irate over the Iraq war–a war they believe transgresses core principles. And it’s this frustration with the war–and McCain’s pronouncements about victory at any cost–that has led many conservatives into Obama’s arms. Francis Fukuyama, the neoconservative theorist, recently told an Australian journalist that he would reluctantly vote for Obama to hold the Republican Party accountable “for a big policy failure” in Iraq. And he seems to view Obama as the best means for preserving American power, since Obama “symbolizes the ability of the United States to renew itself in a very unexpected way.”

You can find similar sentiments coursing through the Boston University professor Andrew Bacevich’s seminal Obamacon manifesto in The American Conservative. He believes that the war in Iraq has undermined the possibilities for conservative reform at home. The prospects for a conservative revival, therefore, depend on withdrawing from Iraq. Thus the necessity of Obama. “For conservatives, Obama represents a sliver of hope. McCain represents none at all. The choice turns out to be an easy one,” Bacevich concludes.

Random Obama Reggaeton Moment!

(Thanks to Ericskis, Fatemeh, Jasmine, Wendi, and Octogalore for the tips!)