Obama’s Comments on Black Males Fan Old Stereotypes
New America Media, Commentary, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Posted: Jun 17, 2008
Editor's Note: Barack Obama has committed the cardinal error made by every critic of black fathers, writes NAM contributor Earl Ofari Hutchinson. Hutchinson's new book is The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House (Middle Passage Press, February 2008).
Presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama thundered to vigorous applause from a Father’s Day Chicago church crowd that black fathers don’t engage with their children. A month before Obama made this stereotypical and plainly false assertion, Boston University professor Rebekah Levine Coley, in a comprehensive study on the black family, found that black fathers who don't reside in the home are more likely to sustain regular contact with their children than fathers of any other racial group. This was not an obscure study buried in the pages of a musty academic journal. It was widely cited in a feature article on black fathers in a May issue of Newsweek. So there was no excuse to spout this myth.
But Obama’s talk about the alleged irresponsibility of black fathers isn’t new. In stump speeches, he has attacked black fathers for their alleged dereliction, irresponsibility and negligence. Whether Obama is trying to shore up his family values credentials with conservatives, is venting personal anger over his own experience of being raised without a father, or has a genuine concern about the much-touted black family breakup is anybody’s guess. But Obama clearly is fixated on the ever-popular notion of the absentee black father. And that fixation is fed by a mix of truth, half-truths and outright distortion.
Obama has committed the cardinal error that every critic from the legions of sociologists, family experts, politicians and moral crusaders like Bill Cosby has made: He omits the word “some” before his statements about black fathers. This gives the impression that all, or most, black men aren’t in the home, and are irresponsible. That being the case, ipso facto they must be the cause for the crime-drugs-violence-underachievement syndrome that young black males are supposedly eternally locked into.
In fact, the worst-case estimate is that slightly less than half of black children live in fatherless homes. But that’s only a paper figure. When income, education, individual background and middle-class status are factored in, the gap between black and white children who live in two-parent households is much narrower.
This points to the single greatest reason for the higher number of black children who live in single-parent households. That reason is poverty. A 2007 study noted that a black father's ability to financially contribute the major support in the home is the central determinant of whether he remains in the home. That’s no surprise, considering that despite changing gender values, society still dumps the expectation and burden on men to be the principal breadwinner and financial provider. Put bluntly, men and the notion of manhood are still mainly defined by their ability to bring home the bacon. A man who falls short of that standard is considered a failure and a loser.
The near-Great Depression levels of unemployment, rampant job discrimination, and failing public schools virtually condemn many young black men to wear the tag of societal failures as men and fathers. Yet in his rap against black men as fathers, Obama says nothing about the economic devastation that drives many black men from the home or prevents them from being in the home in the first place.
Obama undoubtedly is well intentioned in his criticism of black family problems and certainly doesn’t mean to slander all, or even most, black fathers, as derelict fathers. Yet that's precisely what he’s done. And since every utterance by him is instant news and is taken as fact by legions of supporters and admirers, that makes his stereotypes about black men even more painful.
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User Comments
asian-american male on Jul 13, 2008 at 10:50:36 said:
This article states that racial discrimination in the workplace and poor public schools are the primary reasons for black poverty, which places the blame outside of black culture for the problems of much of the black community, according to this article.
The author states "when income, education, individual background and middle-class status are factored in, the gap between black and white children who live in two-parent households is much narrower". Well, how much narrower? This claim doesn't work without a figure, it is merely providing imcomplete and misleading evidence, since I bet that even after this statistical factoring, being black is still an important variable in explaining family breakdown. There is something distinct about black-American culture that causes this problem, and this problem is in the mentality of the culture, not something outside of it, as proven by hard-working and strong family-responsible people from all over the world.
Why don't ethnic minorities from Asian or Middle-Eastern cultures have the same systematic problem of underachievement in the black-American culture. Why can't African-American culture be blamed for this, and then changed from within? Placing the blame on the "oppressive system" will also take initiative and ultimate success from happening by changing the culture itself.
The stereotype of the hard-working, high-achieving Asian student, professional, and businessperson, doesn't apply to everyone, but there's a general trend.
What's wrong with blaming black culture, if the problems can be treated entirely from within? Stop playing the victim!
Pearl Barkley on Jul 11, 2008 at 18:57:06 said:
Once again, Black people are not victims of racism, instead we are our own worse enemy. I have lived upstate around poor white people where some of fathers sodomized their children, used drugs and alcohol and beat their wives. I have seen Black men right in my neighborhood behave excellently as fathers. I am tired of Black men being stigmatized as shiftless, lazy, and neglectful. We have our share of men with these characteristics as do every other group. The whole conversation is irrelevant to a point and is old news.
Lonzie Cox Jr. on Jul 03, 2008 at 12:34:28 said:
I live in Western Pa in a very small town.My parents raised their children together until all were grown and beyond.As a black male, now a grandfather, my wife and I are proud to have worked together and raised our children to adulthood, often looking back and wondering \\\"how we got over\\\". So if my experience is limited or unexciting, so be it. I took great exception to Sen. Obama\\\'s remarks about irresponsible black fathers. Mr. Obama shows a blank spot in his knowledge of black males growing up in America. He said black men act like BOYS. Somebody oughta tell Obama that we don\\\'t play that s^^t. OK, I know the game of vote getting. But I think we are just an easy target on which he can impress white folks that he\\\'s OK for them. But hell, what about US. Singling out the black father was just too dang easy while the white guys skate as usual.
Denise Sheppard on Jun 22, 2008 at 11:36:00 said:
Okay so what is Obama prepared to do on his end to break the cycle? I have not heard anything about that. What?
Denise Sheppard on Jun 22, 2008 at 10:55:17 said:
I respect the fact that Obama spoke to black men on the subject, but this is one of the major problems we have in this country. Obama's speech leaves all of America to believe that ALL black father's are absent when it is not true. Furthermore, having worked matrimonial law for 3 decades, I can assure you that there are just as many non-black fathers who are absent and on and on and on. This is not a black problem. It is an American problem. The American family is dysfunctional period and the family structure is broken. As it turns out, our black children suffer the most from such a dysfunction, but it is a problem across the board. Will it take Gloucester, MA and white kids to bring the problem that strikes America to the forefront? Is that what it is?
mike on Jun 18, 2008 at 05:30:12 said:
The article says "Put bluntly, men and the notion of manhood are still mainly defined by their ability to bring home the bacon". Defined by who? I agree with Derek: Sometimes the woman has more marketable job skills and it should be perfectly acceptable for the woman to bring home the bacon and the man to be in charge of raising the children and of the house. If black men or any other men (or women) can't handle that self-image, whose fault is that? If people aren't interested in being a homemaker, or waiting on people for a living, or being a nurse's aide, or trying to do construction for a living, then I recommend a good education. No one should have children until they are financially and emotionally ready for it.
CarlosnLA on Jun 17, 2008 at 22:42:33 said:
The color of one's skin does not denote nor necesarily match the mind-set and soul within. Obama is only skin deep.
MarcG on Jun 17, 2008 at 19:03:15 said:
Kiki. Decontextualized criticisms of Black men aren't attempts at community betterment but are part of the framework of blaming victims of white supremacy. I criticize Black men and women within the context of understanding why the problems of our community exists. Reading Obama's speech (actually read the speech), it is clear that he had no intent on contextualizing the situation, only to make good with whites by demonstrating that he won't blame poverty and its domestic cousin, white male supremacy for the problems it produces in communities, he'll point to character flaws of the victims of poverty and white male supremacy.
Context determines the difference between a criticism intended to foster improvement or a point-scoring attack. There is no context to Obama's criticism. And we all know who that context would piss off which is the reason he excluded it.
Kevin Tewey on Jun 17, 2008 at 15:35:03 said:
All those poor fatherless children and sympathisizers who posted listen up. MOST fathers are not abandoning children. WIVES are abandoning husbands with children for...(another discussion). This is a scientific fact; read about fathers and custody. The educated author just forgot to mention fathers that may find themselves in poverty who are non-black. We hear "deadbeat" and we know, not all are. Yet here we suffer unimaginably on "fathers day".
eliana on Jun 17, 2008 at 12:01:45 said:
Barack Obama, whose own dad abandoned the family when young Barack was two years old, brought his wife Michelle and their two young daughters. He noted that \"any fool can have a child.\" The entire text of Obama\'s speech can be found here. However, we suggest the version annotated by Barack himself: www.236.com/news/2008/06/16/obama_tells_black_men_to_act_l_7171.php
KiKi on Jun 17, 2008 at 11:52:32 said:
Here we go again, a black man who can't stand criticism for a situation that is rampant in the black community, but can sit around by the fire side talking about how he understands how his "boy" dates nonblack woman because black women are no good. Grow the hell up and take it with one lunp or two.
MarcG on Jun 17, 2008 at 10:49:42 said:
"Obama is undoubtedly well-intentioned in his criticism..."
What Obama intends is to get elected, Earl.
And you f/kin know it so stop carrying water for this sophisticated minstrel show designed to win white voters at the expense of Black males.
Obama deduces that we US males of African slave descent will have no choice but to vote for him in November no matter how many times he channels Rush Limbaugh in his speeches about us.
Hutchinson, get a damn spine and stop making excuses for the national degradation of men, like myself, whose soul and skin looks like yours.
dudeabides on Jun 17, 2008 at 09:21:28 said:
...fixated on a notion...? He makes a statement and cites how he has been inspired to "do the right thing" compared to what his own father did..It was Father's Day, so a clear context. I don't recall him ever saying all black fathers are negligent or remiss.
Anyway, how is this a bad message? Fathers (all) in the home or otherwise are not simply taken to task but reminded of the importance of their duty and responsibility.
He wrote an entire book dedicated to his absent father....I don't think he really need to: "shore up his family values credentials with conservatives". It may actually reflect a topic of value and importance to him on Fathers Day. What's not to like in that message?
Mark S on Jun 17, 2008 at 08:34:49 said:
Apparently, you missed this
"You and I know this is true EVERYWHERE but nowhere is it more true than in the African-American community."
You also must have missed the important part of the speech when he talked about "excuses". Why is it than when anyone makes a speech that is talking about "doing the right thing".....certain voices in the community criticize a guy for talking about responsiblity. It's those voices that are holding back everyone. It's also those voices who wouldn't have a career if their wasn't the cult of victimization.
Joe www.urbanradionation.com on Jun 17, 2008 at 07:20:53 said:
We need to become more media savvy and politically astute. Obama is clearly pandering to the political pundits. Obama is a politician, a lawyer, a senator, and a former community leader. Obama gives a speech with no solutions at a church full of women on Father’s Day condemning Black men that the whole world can view via YouTube. Obama said that we can’t blame past setbacks for the situation we are faced with now. In effect ignore the past. Ignore history. What has he said that hasn’t already been said.
WHY doesn’t Obama call for a meeting of all Black men …let’s say on the steps of the Capitol… about a million strong …oh my bad… that’s already been done. The likelihood of that happening is zero. In addition, Obama did not mention once his Indonesian stepfather, who took the family to Indonesia to live. He mentioned his white mother and grandparents. His African father abandoned his family to pursue a doctorate degree at Harvard… I see a slick disconnect here. Why I guess Indonesian men need to step up to the plate also…
quince on Jun 17, 2008 at 05:36:06 said:
obama’s statement was a well Constructed criticism. For the record I am a black man who grew up without a father and I have got so many friends and acquaintances that passed through the same unfortunate situation.
You call this Stereotype... far from it!!!
Derek on Jun 17, 2008 at 03:30:17 said:
Thanks for this piece. I really liked Obama's speech, but you raise some good points. I agree that as our society moves away from the woman-has-to-be-in-the-kitchen model we also have to move away from the man-has-to-be-the-bread-winner model as well. A father's primary responsibility is to love his wife and children and to contribute to the family in some way or another, depending on the specific family dynamics.
-->That being said, I do think that Obama tried to balance his speech by talking about his father in law and about how the government needs to meet fathers half way. Maybe he didn't balance things perfectly, but he did do more than simply pick on black men.