Then the conversation took a turn to discuss more about young African-American children. They referred to President Obama's speech at the NAACP Centennial. Now I really like President Obama; I was there in Pennsylvania helping his campaign and I cried when they announced that he won. However, something he did not say during his speech did not sit well with me. President Obama said that our young people need to desire more than just lives as rappers and basketball players. I felt he placed the blame solely on the children and their parents. However, we live in a society that plays up the beauty of being those things.
Our media fills our children's mind with this beautiful picture of what it means to be a basketball player and a rapper. You get money, diamonds, women, power, and respect. Where is the example that there is more to life than just being a rapper or basketball player, because our children aren't seeing it. The host of the show stated that despite the lack of resources that urban children have compared to their white counterparts, they must keep working hard. They can't settle for less and I agree. I have always told my siblings that no matter what happens, they must continue to fight for success.
However, that is the problem. Why do they have to fight to be successful? They live in a system that is set up to make them fail. So they can fight and fight, but they still live in this system. So I was sad that President Obama and the host not talk about that component of the problem that feeds into the educational and financial gap that exist. We keep placing band aids on these issues and not getting to the deeply rooted issues. I hope President Obama does recognize that, despite his historic victory. This is going to be a great year!
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