I hope he doesn't lose votes for this. These are the type of things I like to speak out about in my History and Civil Rights discussions, but I am afraid to because some might assume im a racist or something



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18426890/

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is delivering pointed critiques of the African American community as he campaigns for its votes, lamenting that many of his generation are "disenfranchising" themselves because they don't vote, taking rappers to task for their language, and decrying "anti-intellectualism" in the black community, including black children telling peers who get good grades that they are "acting white."

As he travels around the country in his effort to become the nation's first black president, Obama has engaged in an intense competition for black voters -- a crucial Democratic Party constituency that accounts for as much as half the electorate in some key primary states such as South Carolina. But the first-term senator, who has sought to present himself as an agent of change eager to challenge political convention, has taken the unusual route of publicly criticizing his own community.

In a brief interview, Obama said he is simply giving broader exposure to the problems that African Americans discuss with great frankness in private. "It's what we talk about in the barbershops in the South Side of Chicago," Obama said, adding that he talks about these problems more in the black community because they are more pronounced there. "There's an old saying that if America has a cold, we have pneumonia," he said.

Aides say there is no specific strategy to target black voters by injecting these themes into the race and note that Obama speaks to white audiences about the importance of parents turning off their kids' televisions and demanding that they finish their homework. Obama says he is echoing the concerns he hears from and shares with other African Americans.

"In Chicago, sometimes when I talk to the black chambers of commerce, I say, 'You know what would be a good economic development plan for our community would be if we make sure folks weren't throwing their garbage out of their cars,' " Obama told a group of black state legislators in a speech in South Carolina last month.

Obama is not the first or only candidate to have a specific pitch in front of African American audiences. Bill Clinton occasionally adopted a tone similar to the one Obama is using. In a 1993 speech, Clinton told a crowd in the Memphis church where the Rev. Martin Luther King. Jr. gave his last sermon that, if King were there, he might have said, "I did not live and die to see 13-year-old boys get automatic weapons and gun down 9-year-olds just for the kick of it."

As his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), campaigns for black votes, she often adopts a Southern twang she does not usually use in front of white audiences and is more likely to assail the Bush administration over its response to Hurricane Katrina -- a particular frustration of many African Americans because that disaster struck majority-black New Orleans.

'Special license'
Obama, too, employs a slightly different style of speechmaking in front of black audiences, invoking, for example, a hypothetical "Cousin Pookie" in a speech in Selma, Ala., to talk about African Americans who do not vote. But while Obama has eschewed overt appeals to black voters, comparable to the way Hillary Clinton targets women with specific policy proposals, the substance of his remarks to African Americans, some Obama allies say, reflects an ability to speak about issues that a nonblack candidate probably could not have.


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"There's no one else who could say what he said about black people and their responsibility to the larger community," said Charles J. Ogletree, a Harvard Law School professor who was a mentor to Obama there and is supporting his presidential bid.

"I suspect Obama has a special license for that kind of discussion," said Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), who listened to Obama's speech in front of his state's black legislators but has not endorsed any of his party's presidential candidates.

Some of Obama's recent remarks have called attention to a generation gap among African Americans, in particular when he criticized rap music lyrics for using the same offensive words that white radio host Don Imus used before he was fired.

Al Sharpton, who has at times depicted Obama as an overhyped media phenomenon lacking in substance, praised Obama for his critique of rap music.

"I think his addressing it is good," said Sharpton, 52. "I agree with everything he's been saying because I've been saying it."

On the other hand, Lennox Yearwood Jr., 37, who runs a group called the Hip Hop Caucus and seeks to organize voting drives and other political activity for people born after 1964, said: "There's so much more to this generation than saying 'ho' and the N-word and talking about guns and drugs."

Yearwood added, referring to Obama: "Before he makes an overall statement about hip-hop, he should know more about the complete culture of hip-hop."

The African American community has been without strong positive leadership for decades now. Pretty much since MLK was assassinated. I would really like to see someone with similar ideologies of MLK start leading the African Community. Now, I'm not big on Barack Obama, but if he's truly genuine about all this, I applaude him for it, and at the same time, wish him luck. Whenever prominent African American's point out the obvious problems and offer up solutions they are usally berated by the majority of the African American community. IE: Bill Cosby.

Really dude. For someone that has to use the "race card" as a foundation for your campaign, it's only scratching the surface of what's to come if he does make it. Pathetic.

He is dead on about the anti-intellectualism and "acting white" thing.




That includes people up to 43 years old. Strange.

So when is someone going to call out non-black politicans for being to chicken-shit to say these things? Not saying no is the same as saying yes and until the national community, as a whole, is willing to stand up and say "your ignorant pop-culture is ruining your kids" nothing will change.

trust me. go look at his myspace page. most of his comments are from blacks saying "yo yo my man it's about time we got a brotha in the WHITE house"


regardless of what he says or does, i guarentee 95% of black america votes for him simply because he's black.

(is this post racist? maybe. but it's also the truth and you know it)

How bout because that non-black politician's career would be down the drain? The cries of racism, etc would be loud enough to cause riots. I can't even imagine the outrage if like John Edwards or Rudy Guliani began

That's exactly why this needs to be addressed on the naitonal stage now. An entire generation of black youth is being lost in a sea of ignorance, media hype, and pc-motivated white self hate.

I'm with you right up to the bolded part. I don't really understand what you mean by that.


I agree that this is a major issue that needs to be addressed. But in this era of being PC and whatnot, it is almost impossible for anyone who isn't black to speak up. And as somebody already said, when even a black person speaks up, like Bill Cosby, he is strongly criticized in the black community.

This will be interesting. Bill Cosby said a lot of the same things and was publicly ostracized for doing so. But considering that Obama is a presidential front-runner, I doubt any of the same critics will take him to task. The hypocrisy is going to come through loudly and clearly.

At least he's trying, because this is shit that NEEDS to be said. No one is doing anything because they know that since the majority of the problem is black, pointing out the problem makes you a racist. It sucks, and Philadelphia is becoming a war zone because of it, and I doubt it's the only place.

We need to put political correctness aside, and we need to confront the issues head on before they get worse. It sucks. It's terrible to say, but it's the truth.

yea, effe PC'ness

[chant]
show us your cans
show us your cans
show us your cans[/chant]

I bet its his white half speaking for him

I mean that it's only our self-instilled fear of having a racist thought, or even worse saying something that could be perceived as racist, that prevents white people from speaking out. We hate ourselves for allowing these 'racist' thoughts to enter our minds and thus we are afraid to speak for fear of someone calling us out for being 'racist'. As if bigotry was the exclusive domain of white people.

Barrack Obama could be the first candidate, to use Howard Dean's phrase, to 'speak openly about race'. The fact that he's black (half black) and saying these things allows white America to silently absolve themselves of that guilt they feel every time they get nervous about walking on the same side of the street as a black person at night. Or that silent disdain from seeing a black teenager herding her 5 kids and thinking welfare exploiter. He's making us feel better because he, as a black man, is justifying our prejudices.

A lot of politicians and RM'ers will probably line up behind Obama, with the 'he's saying things that need to be said' mantra. But if they really needed to be said, why isn't everyone saying them? Why are we scared of speaking the truth? That's the real issue that goes beyond just the modern struggles of black America, and is probably the main reason that black people have made so little cultural progress in the last 20 years after several decades of giant leaps towards economic equality.

Wait. This is not how I think, nor how I feel at all. I'm not afraid to walk past a black person in the city at night. I do it all the time, and I nod and smile at them the same as anyone else who happens to make eye contact.
Where I do think we need to stand up and admit a problem is in the high crime areas, that around here ARE prodominatly black. It's time we stop catering to a culture of entitlement that we as 'white folk' have created. I do NOT think it's right that they get next-to-free housing, that my boyfriend get shot at for fixing up - again at no cost to them. When was the last time the government came out and re-stuccoed the front of your 3 bedroom for free? Whatever the good intentions were in the begining, they've spun out of control and it needs to stop before the entire city, then state, then country is swallowed up by this shit.

What in god's name are you talking about?

BI, did you just skip the part about the way Clinton talked to black audiences? Obama is hardly the only politician to recognize these problems, though I think focusing on hip-hop and rap is an horrible way to approach the problem. It'd be like trying to get rid of the mafia by attacking The Sopranos.

NaT,

I didn't mean to imply that any one in particular felt that way. It's just been my experience with white society on average. We tend to react differently when a black person does something wrong versus, say an Asian person.



I wouldn't count one quote to be 'the way Clinton talked to black audiences'. I was in high school/college for Clinton's terms and I don' recall any specific instances where he took a strong stance about the cultural issues facing black America.

I totally agree that changing hip-hop is not how to deal with the problem. IMNSHO, censoring hip-hop would make things worse by not addressing the real social issues within black communities, like economic opportunity and illegitimacy.

Obama placed under Secret Service protection
Story Highlights
• Illinois senator placed under agency's protection
• Homeland security secretary authorizes protection detail
• Secret Service says no specific threat made

(CNN) -- Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has been placed under the protection of the U.S. Secret Service, the Secret Service said Thursday.

A statement from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he authorized the protection detail for Obama.

"As a matter of procedure, we will not release any details of the deliberations or assessments that led to protection being initiated," the statement said. "For security reasons we will not release the timing, scope or details of any protective operations."

The Secret Service told CNN no specific threat had been made against Obama.
________________________________________________________

I wanna hear speculations. GO!

Bush ordered him to be destroyed!

Even though attacking hip hop will be fruitless and probably only serve to get a person mocked, I believe it really plays a major role in the problems of black America. Not just the actual songs, but the entire culture. It really breeds a culture where ignorance is cool. Where studying, doing homework and trying to break out of the ghetto by going to college is mocked. Something that'll get a person jumped. That is really sad. I have several friends whose parents were born and raised in the ghetto or projects or whatever you want to call them, but they worked hard to get out of that lifestyle and to give their child better opportunities than they had. And that somehow makes them less black?? To want to gain success and leave the ghetto is an accepted goal, depending on how you go about it. Rap, basketball, entertainment....those are all fine. But God forbid someone take advantage of the extra opportuinites extended their way for education, etc.

There are major problems facing blacks. I know that they have been the objects of dispicable racism, and sometimes still are, which is even more disdainful now, since it is really unacceptable culturally as opposed to 50 years ago. However, basically every immigrant group in this nation has experienced discrimination and very poor treatment (admittedly, not to the same extent) but have overcome it. For the most modern example, look at Hispanics. I live in So. Fla, so I'll speak what I know. Cuban immigrants often arrive and begin in small project like conditions, but many of them quickly make a better life for themselves. Yes, there are often government handouts, but even with all the handouts you give a person or a group, they still have to do something themselves. Cubans have quickly and easily passed right by blacks on the economic food chain, at least as best as I can tell.

I believe that the answer has to come from within the black community. There must be strong leadership, who rather than wait for an idiot radio guy or commentator to slip up and say something stupid, should be attempting to help their community to help themselves. Nothing would stick it to whitey more than black people rising up out of the squalor of crime and poverty and become successful contributors to society. And no matter how many white people belive this, I think it needs a strong verbalization from within to have any sort of affect. I'm not jumping on the Obama bandwagon, but I believe this may be a good start. But what needs to happen now is other black leaders to join him, and do more than talk. And the fact that Obama isn't fully black will greatly wound the effect of his words. He was never in the hood. He grew up with a silver spoon. People who have become successes despite coming from poverty are the ones who need to be the face of this. White people can do whatever they can from behind the scenes, but I really believe that this needs to appear to be black people looking out for other black people.