Fox News reported that Reverend Jesse Jackson, in what he thought was an off the air remark, complained that Barak Obama was “talking down to black people.” Then he added, “I want to cut his nuts off.” I hope this sounds more biblical than self-righteous, but a reverend ain’t supposed to talk that way on or off the air. But this is Jesse, and he has been talking this way for a long time, and people even in the black church overlook it.
Now to his credit, Jesse did apologize for making what he called “crude remarks.” And the truth is that we all say things we shouldn’t. But Jesse’s disparaging off the air remarks reveal a lot about how off the mark he is regarding the real needs of the African American community.
What heinous misstatement did Obama make to warrant a tongue lashing from Jackson? Obama said to a predominantly African-American church on Father’s Day, “Too many (African-American) fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes.” And according to Jackson, that’s the crime that is worthy of castration! Come on Jesse! We need truth in the city to move forward if we are ever going to overcome yesterday’s battles.
Even the most superficial google scan will validate that most of the problems we face in the urban community trace their roots back to fatherless homes.
* 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes.
* 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes.
* 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes.
* 85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in fatherless homes.
Do I need to continue? How is stating this obvious truth “talking down”? African-Americans can’t keep ignoring these facts if we are going to come up with real solutions. If brothers aren’t going to man-up, get married, and then have children, then men like Jesse ought to man-up and tell brothers to wait before they become another baby’s daddy. As a man called to helping families by preaching the Bible, I don’t agree with Senator Obama on many issues, but he couldn’t be more right on this one. All African American leaders have to start calling men to be responsible fathers and husbands. Especially reverends! It’s a man’s job to take care of his family, not the government's. The Bible rebukes men who don’t take care of their families (1 Tim 5:8), and teaches that God will judge those who keep having sex outside of marriage (1 Thessalonians 4:6).
In the final chapter of Secret Sex Wars: A Battle Cry for Purity, Pastor Brian Kennedy attacks the generational problem of men having babies without becoming fathers. He teaches, he pushes, he encourages, he shows us how to “Raise Our Sons to Walk in Purity.” We’ve got to end this generational curse of having children grow up without their fathers. This is the message that we need to hear in the city, and Jesse, every American ought to rally around it.
* Stats taken from http://www.therisingsoninc.org/products.html accessed July 10, 2008.
3 comments:
Good post brother. Keep up the fight. The truth will indeed set us free!
While I agree fully to what Senator Obama said regarding men and fathers, I am still curious about his motives. How could he be against california banning same sex marriage but then be against same sex marriage himself? He says it's for civil rights purposes that it should not be banned. Does this mean that if he became President of the United States that even in that position he would choose to appease the very sin in which he himself is against? How should Christians respond? Is he vote worthy just because he told black people what Jesse would never tell them? Jesse was wrong, but is Obama right?
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