USVI-On-Line

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If I wanted to know what black inner-city youth thought about something, I'd ask black inner-city youth. I certainly wouldn't ask upper-middle class white suburbanites what black inner city youth were thinking. For the most accurate info, I'd go to the source.

I found that all of these political posts have made it clear that there are some folks here who are really pretty toxic. I'm curious to see what direction they go now.

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This doesn't address SJ's specific question about African American youth but . . .

One of my boyhood chums is now a minister in Oakland, California and his congregation is mostly African American. He is white by the way. Last week, I asked him what the pulse of the black community in Oakland regarding Obama was. Here is his reply:

My read of the black community is that they are optimistic about Obama but know that he is stepping into an almost overwhelming mess. They recognize that if things do not turn upward economically rather quickly he is going to take more criticism and blame than a white president would.

They also recognize that it is not any particular urban agenda that is bringing him into office. In some ways he has had to move to the right of his roots to be electable. It is no visionary education policy, no meaningful "put people to work rebuilding the infrastructure of the country" plan, no "lets stop sending young men of color by the trainload into the prison system for petty drug offenses" platform that is bringing him into office. Thus - pride, caution, and fear for his safety are the messages I hear.

there was a good piece on NPR tonight, and they asked some african american youths what they thought about this very question. one guy said that instead of looking up to thugs and rappers we can look to barak to see that we can do better. (or something along those lines --you can get this on 'all things considered'
same program had the editors of , i think Jet and Ebony weighing in as well:
the image of an african american nuclear family is a powerful thing for black americans. (again this is paraphrasing)

that being said, Obama's campaign was not about race, but i do think that the question that race plays and how this will influence race relations and mniority communities is some of the fall out of this race--and i think that it is a very positive thing.

last night we witnessed history. in more ways than one.

linne wrote:Congratulation America !

You have chosen the best man to your president.



I'm not sure he will be so good as his supporters hope, but I'm sure he will be better than his opponents fear.
Linne

Linne- Thanks. Many of us are so glad that hope has prevailed over fear. Now we have alot of work to do to help move things forward.
We have alot of work to do...ain't nothin' new to us though!
Cheers to you in Denmark too...

I had a meeting with Arkansas' former senator David Prior in his Captiol Hill office a few weeks before Bill Clinton's first inaugaration in 1993. He was commenting on the reaction Arkansans were having to Bill's election. He told me, "People back home are going to have to understand that he (Clinton) was not elected to be President of Arkansas. He will be Preseident of all of the United States."

Perhaps the black experience will be similar to Arkansans' experience and they will take a little time to get used to the idea that he will not be the president of Black America -- but he will be President of the United States which includes them. Who, in Arkansas, thought that they could become President of the United States prior to 1992? Since then Mike Huckabee made an unsuccessful but credible run for the White House this year.

Will he join Tiger Woods, Jackie Robinson, Nat King Cole, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Oprah Winfry, Denzel Washington and countless others as a role model? Of course he will. All of us need to have someone to look up to. We need to know that there is something outside of our little world when we are growing up. It helps to see that there is someone who looks like me or one of my parents that has achieved something outstanding.

JIM

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I can't speak to the race issue, but I can speak to the other issue that resonates with me regarding Barack Obama. He grew up without a consistent father figure. I, too, grew up for the most part (from 4 on) without a father - by my father's choice.

I have succeeded in spite of that and become who I am in spite of that. What that does NOT do is cause me to think, "well if I can survive it anyone can" what it does is make me empathetic to those who went through a childhood trying to figure out why it was that their father would choose to not be a part of their life.

I was extraordinarily fortunate (similarly to Obama) that the maternal figures in my life (my mother, my grandmother, my aunt and my godmother) as well as a few significant males in my life (particularly my uncle, though he died when I was only 8 and that left a huge male figure gap for my brother and I) were incredibly supportive and instilled in me a sense that I could achieve whatever I set my mind to achieving.

I went on to be one of only 3 cousins on my mother's side to earn a college degree. The only one to have a master's degree. I realized that I am the exception in my family not the rule. An exception only made possible by the power of those who worked tirelessly to provide a home, books, and shoes for me. Not everyone has that luxury. That is not something government can necessarily "fix" but it can explain why some have a much steeper road to climb.

I have worked in inner city schools as a part of my graduate studies in the 1990s and I have seen what a broken system does to children. Children are by their very nature born with hope and resilience. It is robbed from far too many of them through no fault of their own. Those that rise out of abject poverty are the exception not the rule, regardless of their race or gender.

Obama's achievement will doubtlessly remind more fathers, mothers, grandmothers, even a community organizer or two that their impact matters, their words matter, their spirit matters, and that their work can make a difference.

In Virginia, until 1967 it was illegal for an interracial couple to marry. Yesterday, just 41 years later, a son of a interracial union won the presidency. That is an incredibly powerful thing.

Try to step away from your preconceived notions and judgments of others and attempt to think and understand another's reality, you realize that the human experience of others is not at all what you may experience and not at all what you assume.

I agree it would be somewhat presumptuous for us to answer. That said, if you’ve ever heard Obama speak to this issue, he clearly emphasizes the need for more self responsibility in the African American community. This falls under the category that it is OK to call out your own. None of that over the top blame game hyperbole you may have heard from others in the past.

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Other than being black and worthy role models, there may be very little that they have in common with each other. They are from different walks of life and different professions. That is wonderful. I think they provide different role models for different children. They also give a single child a variety role models for different aspects of their life.

SJ, if you would have told us the story about your experience in Trenton, your question would have had a completely different meaning. I'm glad you shared that with us.

JIM

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