Dear President Obama: The Problem's Poverty, Not Absentee Dads | Crooks and Liars

Dear President Obama: The Problem's Poverty, Not Absentee Dads | Crooks and Liars:

Dear President Obama: The Problem's Poverty, Not Absentee Dads

By Melinda D. Anderson March 1, 2014 6:00 am

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“My Brother's Keeper” is no substitute for jobs, housing, and access to quality education and training, and it won’t have any meaningful impact on the appalling racism and conditions in the inner cities.

On Thursday President Obama unveiled an initiative called “My Brother's Keeper” to address the systematic barriers to success faced by many young men of color. Reaction to the announcement was mixed, with some commending Obamafor giving young black and Latino men a helping hand, while others pointed out the flawed logic endorsed by the President that “young men of color just need to ‘work hard’.”

Using the bully pulpit to rally support and foundation dollars to help boys and young men of color succeed is laudable. The problem lies in trying to pass off moral speechifying as substantive action. “My Brother's Keeper” is no substitute for jobs, housing, and access to quality education and training, and it won’t have any meaningful impact on the appalling racism and conditions of life in the inner cities faced by black and Latino youth. It’s like a warm blanket. It’s comforting when it’s cold. But it’s no replacement for having heat.

That Obama’s initiative is well-meaning and too simplistic has generated a fair amount of commentary. It’s his recurring theme of the absentee black father in comments announcing “My Brother's Keeper” that I want to rebuke.

“We can reform our criminal justice system to ensure that it's not infected with bias. But nothing keeps a young man out of trouble like a father who takes an active role in his son's life.”

“Yes, we need to train our workers, invest in our schools, make college more affordable, and government has a role to play, and, yes, we need to encourage fathers to stick around and remove the barriers to marriage and talk openly about things like responsibility…”

These jewels of wisdom on black fatherhood and personal responsibility aren’t just