Colin Powell on African-American fathers, volunteering

[Blue_Tires]

(CNN) -- On the first anniversary of the historic 2008 election, retired Gen. Colin Powell, the first African-American secretary of state, talks one-on-one with CNN's Don Lemon about on the most pressing issues facing black men in the age of President Obama.

Don Lemon: President Barack Obama issued a national call to service. Do you think African-Americans have answered that call?

Colin Powell: I really don't know that I know the answer to that question. I do know that in the work that I do and my wife does as the chair of America's Promise, we are seeing more and more people step forward to try to deal with the problems that we have, to include African-Americans and Hispanics stepping forward.

But it's not just a one-time thing. You can't just have, let's have a day of service on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday or a day of service. We've got to get deeply involved in working with our kids on a continuing basis and not just one day a year.

We need more African-American men, for example, to step forward and serve as mentors to young kids who don't have a responsible, caring adult male in their lives. If I could snap my finger and do one thing, I would make sure that every young American boy or girl, but especially African-American , have a responsible, caring adult in their lives.

Hopefully, it's their parents, even if it's a single parent. ... But without that kind of family support, then we need Boys and Girls Clubs. We need Big Brothers and Big Sisters. We need mentors. Otherwise, these kids will find bad adults to copy from, and we're going to lose them.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/11/02/black.men.colin.powell/

[Number23]

1. Interesting read. Thanks for posting

I'm all for personal responsibility. I grew up in a single parent household so I am well aware of what General Powell speaks.

Having said that, I still would like to see more emphasis put on the historic institutions of racism and white privilege that still exist in America. Powell touches on this lightly with his comment:

I tried to observe people who were successful in life. In the black community, we didn't have that many in those days. You had Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Ralph Bunche, Willie Mays, a lot of athletes. ... You had Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr., the first black general in World War II. But it was still a country where people of color could not reach the heights.

Many of those institutions that kept black folks down when Powell was growing up still exist today. They have just been beaten down alot more by larger numbers of black people who won't stop until they and their children have a slice of the American Pie. But there is no denying that they still exist.

I guess I'd just like it if blacks in the public eye 1) focused on the institutions of racism that still exist in this country 2) highlighted the immense need for personal responsibility and achievement. You can fail in even the most egalitarian societies in the world if you don't have a personal sense of achievement and ambition. And 3) acknowledged the significant, massive, ASTOUNDING amount of progress that blacks have made in a society where we are told even before we are born that we will never measure up and will always be "less than" even though this country was built on the backs of our ancestors. If I saw a "black leader" do all these things, that would make me happy.

[firedupdem]

2. +1 n/t

[Brewman_Jax]

4. Agree

nt

[Brewman_Jax]

3. I read the article

I'm not thrilled with a former repub enabler/stooge to the single worst president of modern times in the media with a case of "Cosby syndrome". Another rich black man using the "responsibility hammer" to beat up on the people that suffer most in a racist caste society. The USA didn't magically change when Brown vs. Board of Education case was passed and all of the Civil Rights legislation passed. As so aptly written above, why don't these black men in the media point to the fact of a racist society that has historically caused much pain and suffering to those that aren't white and the continued injustice they suffer to the present day. To talk about the gains made in the past 50-60 years and not talk about the 250-300 years of brutal history before that is disingenuous at the very least.

[noiretextatique]

5. agree 100%

remember when some DUHuers were pushing for powell as the democratic candidate for president? :puke: