Obama: There's no longer time for excuses for black men

[Newest Reality]

OK. This is an interesting twist and I wonder what kind of backlash there will be?

I'm nonplussed to say the least, yet not surprised. While I am considering the context and audience, there seems to be something wrong with this approach, no matter how inspiring it is meant to seem. There is an underlying implication here that black men have been prone to "excuses" for their lack of power in this system and does that apply to other factors concerning gross injustice and inequality?

My increasing cognitive dissonance is actually forming into a D&D character in the corner, these days This looks like a two-sides of the coin discussion, though.

President Obama on Sunday told the graduating class at Morehouse College, the country's pre-eminent historically black college, there is "no time for excuses" for this generation of African-American men and that it was time for their generation to step up professionally and in their personal lives.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/19/obama-morehouse-college-commencement/2324241/

[treestar]

1. He is the one who broke through that ultimate barrier

So he may have forgotten to some extent what black men can go through and even as it applies to him (no President was talked of like this before) he probably thinks he cannot say anything about it without seeming to be a complainer. At least coming from him, it may be inspiring, whereas it would be condescending as when coming from white right wingers (I've heard the ones who pontificate that racism is over completely and in fact whining they as white men are the victims of racism).

[Skittles]

54. women are over half the population

and have yet to "break that ultimate barrier"

[uponit7771]

2. Of course, it's an out of context quote from a "journalist" Here's the WHOLE statement

"We've got no time for excuses — not because the bitter legacies of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they haven't," Obama told the graduating class and their families who sat through intermittent rain and thunder. "It's just that in today's hyperconnected, hypercompetitive world, with a billion young people from China and India and Brazil entering the global workforce alongside you, nobody is going to give you anything you haven't earned."

[HughBeaumont]

7. ". . . and instead of working alongside of them, you'll be competing with them . . .

. . . in the "plunge-to-the-abyss" wage marathon, thanks to the brutal and counterproductive plutocrat-lovin' economic system I wholeheartedly support!"

Does anyone still buy the notion that businesses and the wealthy "compete" with each other? It's HORSESHIT, Eddie. Competition is for the underlings. It's all part of the Great Risk Shift designed by the plutocrats and enacted in the 1980s for good.

[leftyohiolib]

18. whose eddie?

[HughBeaumont]

24. It's from "Ed Wood".

The scene where Criswell lets Ed Wood know that his fortune telling is all an act . . . it's a quote I use a lot.

[HiPointDem]

31. "It's HORSESHIT, Eddie." = +100. as is obama's speech. "nobody's going to give you anything

you haven't earned"

unless you're a bankster looking for a bailout or a multinational looking for a tax break, etc.

[OneGrassRoot]

25. Man, that last sentence agitates me.

I guess we're all apt to be agitated by something these days, and I fully realize that, no matter what he says, someone will take exception with SOMETHING.

That said, the last sentence -- "...nobody is going to give you anything you haven't earned." -- really made me bristle, because I have yet to find people who assume someone IS going to "give" them something that haven't earned.

[winter is coming]

28. That is RW thinking. Far too like the "captain of my ship", "I make my luck" BS.

The sad truth is that many people "earn" something, over and over, that they never receive.

[OneGrassRoot]

29. word. n/t

[Bobbie Jo]

33. Disagree.

White men of privilege have been inheriting their way through life for eons.

Starting off on third base (or on base for that matter) has certain inherent advantages.

[OneGrassRoot]

36. Good point.

You're right. The only sense of entitlement I've ever witnessed is precisely the group you speak of: white men.

Thanks.

[1StrongBlackMan]

55. I beg to differ ...

I know plenty of people that believe they should get something for just showing up.

[OneGrassRoot]

59. May I ask...

Are you able to classify them by demographic in any way?

As I said, I've never met people like that. Though, upon further reflection prompted by the DUer above, I do detect a sense of entitlement from white men (I'm white and grew up in a very racist, bigoted family and area). And I'm nearly 50. I've been keeping an eye out for these "takers" my whole life but haven't found them as a group; certainly there are a few lazy people here and there and those angry at the world and feel they are owed something, just because (usually these people are older and bitter, for very good reason, I might add). But, as a whole, such people have been very few and far between in my experience.

[1StrongBlackMan]

63. Yes, I can ...

And at the risk of offending many here, my personal, civic (interacting with literally, thousands of this particular democraphic as a coach, mentor and parent) and professional (25+ years in Human Resources) experience indicates that middle-incomed, millenials tend towards an expectation for merely showing up.

And, it is our (Boomers and Xers') fault.

Maybe we're talking different terms here; but let me provide an (anecdotal) example:

When I was coming up (late 60s/early 70s), every Spring we had baseball try-outs for Little League teams ... If you were "good enough" you were "drafted" and placed on a team; if you didn't get "drafted". you spent the remainder of the Spring and entire Summer working on your game so that next year, you might be selected. Once on the team, if you were good enough you played; if not, you spent the season working on your game, so that next year, you might play. And at the end of the season, the League champions and one member of each team (the MVP) got a trophy.

Fast forward to 2001, my first year coaching youth atheletics (soccer and basketball) ...

We were assigned players, with no try-outs - everyone that came out "made the team" ... Everyone played, an equal share of the game - regardless of ability or effort in practice ... and at the end of the season, everyone got a trophy - even the kid that never came to practice and/or showed no improvement over the course of the season.

It was explained to me that selecting out kids was bad for their self-esteem; but, IMHO, it taught this cohort of kids to expect something just for showing up, regardless of skill or talent or effort.

[OneGrassRoot]

65. Thank you for the reply. :)

I can't say that surprises me that much, yet maybe it is worthy of exploring this more deeply.

I can see how the "building self-esteem" approach has been taken too far in some cases. Your example of kids getting trophies when they didn't even show up...that's an example to me.

But do you think it extends beyond the childhood sports example in those kids? Do you think they are, to any significant degree, now basically lazy or unmotivated and expect to get jobs with little to no effort, or expect to be supported through no effort of their own?

I'm wondering how or if this is manifesting in their adult years.

Thanks again.

[1StrongBlackMan]

66. Yes ...

IMO, it has extended into their adult lives, not so much as in the form of "lazy" or "unmotivated"; but rather, in the form of expectant.

A big part of my Human Resources work is Employee Relations work, e.g., "fixing the employer (supervisor)/employee relationship. Two manifestation of the phenomena are: an inflated estimation of organizational worth and a near constant need for recognition. I could cite to literally thousands of exampes, from the 20-something that pouts and withdraws because they (after 3 days on the job) "know more than the boss" to a new hire quitting (via a call from her mother) after her first day because, I didn't pay enough attention to her" ... nevermind the fact that I was involved in attempting to prevent a abor walk-out.

If I win the lottery or (get off my lazy ass and) enter a Doctoral Program, I plan an academic examination of my anecdotal observations.

[OneGrassRoot]

67. lol...

But WOW.

Thank you for sharing some of your observations and experiences.

Just wow.

[ohheckyeah]

71. Those taking that approach

are apparently unaware that SELF-esteem is just that. Self-esteem isn't raised because someone gives you something, self-esteem is something you develop internally through your own efforts and accomplishments. Self-esteem is not entitlement.

[1StrongBlackMan]

72. True ...

Very, true.

[byeya]

3. I've read, in a site I respect, that African American unemployment is higher now than when 0bama

took office.

[HiPointDem]

32. this administration has presided over the devastation of poor black communities and the gutting

of black jobs.

[Bobbie Jo]

34. What exactly

are "black jobs?"

[HiPointDem]

35. these ones.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DUVVUlPVnj8/UWYlpJJwFsI/AAAAAAAAA0o/bDSgDduHK1A/s1600/U-3+plus+Black+U-3.png

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1FO9YQb3FZ0/UWYloXuucfI/AAAAAAAAA0U/Vh2zLdeGlgM/s1600/Black+U-6.png

[Bobbie Jo]

38. You're linking to unemployment rates

among this particular minority group.

Your post talks about "gutting black jobs." Can you be more specific?

[HiPointDem]

51. i'm talking about the fact that black unemployment increased more, for longer, than white

unemployment.

[alp227]

46. True, but just wondering, why did you type a zero

in place of the O in Obama? Do you not realize that is freeper speak?

[Nye Bevan]

4. I wonder why people are quoting Obama as saying "no *longer* time for excuses"

when he did not say that?

[SidDithers]

14. One simple word changes the tone completely...

good catch.

Sid

[1StrongBlackMan]

50. I'll Give You ...

three guesses ... and if you don't get it on your first guess (which I bet you will), then, go to townhall.com ... search for Thomas Sowell, Charles Payne, and/or Harry R. Jackson, Jr. Then, poke around the comment section of any column the write regarding race.

It's called "cover."

[Chisox08]

5. So I guess the fact that unemployment among African American males

is double that of every other race except for Latinos is just an excuse. What about the discrimination that Black men face and the underfunded and over crowded schools that they attend, where they are told that they won't amount to anything any way. Or the feelings of hopelessness, and or justice system that disproportionately locks black men up for drugs often times they face harsher sentences than their white counterparts. So all of those must be excuses.

[zipplewrath]

19. I swing both ways

Someone comes out every so often and tries to suggest something along these lines, and it often gets them in trouble. I've heard Jesse Jackson say something like this 30 years ago. It was as part of his "Push" campaign. It went along the lines of "yes it is still an unfair and difficult road, but it is filled with vastly more opportunities than just a generation ago and you can't excuse failure just because it is unfair. You can BE somebody."

Cosby has tried to suggest such things at various times and often been chastised for it. There was a whole 60 minutes episode on a very similar topic. A black professor at Duke admitted that he had a hard time listening to black students of his speak of being "oppressed" while on a full ride scholarship to Duke University. He understood the challenges, but wasn't fond of describing them as "oppression".

Buried in it is the kernel of an idea that is expressed in many different situations, the idea that although we don't all work within the same realm of opportunities, each of us has enough to work with. Some are short or tall, heavy or thin, smarter, quicker, stronger, or any number of things that can hold one back or give one an advantage. And often, as with looks, it is an irrelevant feature, yet can be an obstacle none the less. It is the reality of life that DESPITE these realities, one must try, and often try while acknowledging that in some way they have to try harder, yet success is commonly possible.

It is a hard message to deliver, especially to a diverse and relatively anonymous audience. And one must be careful, especially as someone as exceptional as Obama's experience, in suggesting that the exception demonstrates that the common is achievable. People win the lottery every month. It doesn't mean that winning the lottery proves that anyone can achieve financial independence.

[dkf]

23. If that's what a person thinks that's their fate.

And they will be left behind.

[former9thward]

26. Unemployment is tied to high school graduation.

In Chicago the dropout rates for African American males is far higher than any other racial group. The schools are not overcrowded -- that is why so many are being shut down. And NO in Chicago teachers do not tell them "they won't amount to anything any way."

[Chisox08]

30. It's not the teachers it's our current mayor who said that.

[former9thward]

39. When did he say young AA males would "never amount to anything"?

[Chisox08]

42. In a conversaation with CTU President Karin Lewis before the teacher strike

He said "Most of these kids will not amount to anything so why bother throwing money at it."

[former9thward]

43. Were you part of the conversation?

If not you should be able to link to it.

[Chisox08]

44. Here it is

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/November-2012/Karen-Lewis-Street-Fighter/

"The evening was meant to establish a working relationship. But the conversation took a turn when, according to Lewis, Emanuel said that 25 percent of students in CPS—or nearly 100,000 kids at the district’s current enrollment—were “never going to make it and that he wasn’t going to throw money at the problem.” The comment came to light a year later when Lewis talked about it in an on-camera interview with local NBC reporter Mary Ann Ahern; Emanuel denied it, calling the story “totally false.” The episode likely damaged whatever trust they had established."

[former9thward]

45. Thanks for the link.

But we just have one side of the conversation -- what Lewis said it was. Lewis is a well known Emanuel hater so I have to treat her comments with a grain of salt.

[Chisox08]

47. I trust Mrs. Lewis a whole hell of alot more the Emanuel.

When it comes to workers he is very anti-union. My grandmother who is the President of the Crossing Guards Union SEIU local 73 came home visibly upset after he tried to strip the guards of their health care benefits while cutting their pay.
One more thing I know Mrs. Lewis because she was my Chemistry teacher in High School as long as I have known her, she doesn't sugar coat anything and she tells it like it is. Rahm is a known liar.

[1StrongBlackMan]

56. And incarceration rates, and ....

well ... you know, DISCRIMINATION.

[The Link]

6. President Bill Cosby.

How inspiring.

[Cirque du So-What]

15. That's a Cozzzz-bee speech

A riff on this clip and nothing more, of course, as I hold Bill Cosby in the highest regard.

[leftstreet]

41. LOL +1

[gollygee]

8. Did he say "no time for excuses" or "no longer time for excuses"?

The quote says one thing and the title of the article says another.

It sounds like the quote is being taken out of context to me.

[hughee99]

10. He says 2 variations of the line.

"There's no longer any room for excuses" was the line he starts out with. Later in the video, he says "We've got no time for excuses".

[onpatrol98]

9. Continues popular meme

There are those that think the President has a habit of speaking down to black audiences, black males in particular. Topics emerge consistently with this audience, that are surprisingly absent in front of any other audience. It may be that he feels enough of shared community that he feels comfortable speaking on certain topics.

I'm a bit conflicted. To my mind, although available for the world to hear, this was a conversation meant for Morehouse men. If they were not offended, and more importantly if they felt this was an uplifting and appropriate speech on their big day, I'm not sure why anyone else would care.

On the other hand, unemployment rates within the black community have been horrible for years and persist even as the unemployment numbers outside of our communities have started to fall. I would personally be more comfortable if he could find a way to eliminate the personal admonishments from his speeches, since he doesn't include them for other audiences. Since, I haven't noticed any additional scrutiny from his administration that would lead to economic improvements, I'm not sure I'm as interested in additional personal responsibility scrutiny, either. I'm being polite.

But, then again, I can be prickly. And, some people will always find a problem with everything. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[hughee99]

11. I'm in agreement on the speech being fine if the audience found it appropriate,

but I wonder if some will see it as the sort of thing Jesse Jackson was talking about on his famous "Open Mic night" on Faux news back in 2008. You know the repukes started digging around for offended African Americans the minute they heard this to make this into a story too.

[onpatrol98]

17. Jesse was just wrong...

Jesse was just wrong...and, I don't believe he ever rebounded from that fateful day.

[Blue_Tires]

12. I attended a speech at another HBCU, and there was never a single statement

that could be considered as "talking down to black audiences"... FFS who has been crazy enough to even insinuate that??

[onpatrol98]

16. I would believe that.

I believe that. I mean if you think about it. Some people can find offense ANYWHERE. Some others will never be offended. No matter what he says. But, I think most people, if they were honest, can't find much to gripe about in his speeches. Especially, if you ignore the partisan nitpicking that the right does.

I usually enjoy his speeches. I think they're thoughtful. I don't think he makes gaffes. I think he puts a lot of thought and reflection into anything he says. However, it hasn't been lost on me that he spends more time talking about personal responsibility when he talks to black audiences than when he (for instance) speaks with a Hispanic audience or when he's in another more diverse setting.

I think he's in an awkward situation. I remember when he told black lawmakers to "quit complaining".

http://thegrio.com/2011/09/26/obama-cant-win-when-he-addresses-black-audiences/

Well, for all I know, they really were complaining. But, I could bet you $100 (unfortunately, I'm broke so you wouldn't get it), he wouldn't have told a group of Hispanic lawmakers to quit complaining. Sometimes people have really good reasons to complain. But, also, people would have dressed him down for it pretty quickly. Not to mention, I just don't think it would have ever occurred to him to say it.

I guess I'm saying I know where the sentiment is coming from. I don't think it benefits us to be hyper sensitive. I think we should be willing to give the President the benefit of the doubt. He's a thoughtful man, but he's not a perfect man. And, I don't think most of us expect him to be.

[R B Garr]

22. Good post. I think this falls under his meme of "We have more work to do"

That seems to be a consistent point he makes to all audiences, and I think he was just trying to continue that sentiment. But I can see your point about the personal admonishments to the black community. He and Michelle both take on a parental tone in many of their speeches, and it seems they are well received. They come across as supportive parents who have been in someone elses shoes and know what they're talking about, especially for the black community. I like it when they remind people that they both had student loans to achieve their goals because they were not members of the lucky sperm club.

I got a real kick out of some of his comments when he addressed the group like any other group of people -- comparing the types of students from the over-achievers in the summa cum laude group and the slackers in the "thank you cum laude" group. That last bit just cracked me up because I've known of plenty of people in the "thank you cum laude" group that were thrilled just to graduate, period. He mixes plenty of humor in to soften his points, IMHO.

[greytdemocrat]

13. POTUS is 100% correct. n/t

[WinkyDink]

20. Neither his ancestors, his parent, nor he himself share the American Black experience.

[Deuce]

27. Thank you....

[DevonRex]

37. So he's not black and he's not American. Fuck that asinine bullshit.

I cannot believe you wrote that. It's a fucking RW meme straight out of hell.

[JI7]

40. much of black experience is based on what others see and treat you as when they see you

when people see OBama they see a black man. before he was well known he would have been treated and viewed similar to most black men.

[onpatrol98]

53. Black Experience

"much of black experience is based on what others see and treat you as when they see you"

I agree...mostly. Another strong element is listening to your parents and watching your parents as you grow up and realize what its like to be a black American through their eyes. Yes, I have my experiences. But, there's nothing quite like hearing your parents and grandparents talk about their experiences. And, growing up in a house where their experiences as black Americans shape how you're raised, who and how you trust, and the things you do.

Nature versus Nurture...maybe, I don't know...or a bit of both. It can get complicated.

[kwassa]

52. He did as a community organizer in Chicago ...

which got him up close and personal with the African-American experience there, including his involvement in the black UCC church there.

and through his involvement with his very African-American Chicago-born wife Michelle, and through raising black daughters in America.

[onpatrol98]

60. It's not the same...

I don't think we should be questioning his "blackness", but his experience is difference. I never really thought about it until I had the opportunity to teach some African students living in America. The way they approached life in America was different.

I had one kid tell me that he was taught to love America and that anything would be possible as long as he could get to America. He felt that black children in America were taught to hate America and that nothing was possible because they were black in America. At first, I just thought this kid was full of it. But, having black parents that lived through segregation, etc. does make a difference.

Before my grandmother died, there were still places downtown that she didn't visit, because black people "didn't" go there when she was young. The people have all changed, but the impression was firmly made. I don't go to these places, either. Now, I do believe as time passes, these impressions can be diminished. For instance, my kids don't think twice about it. Not all of my grandmother's experiences have been shared with me. I haven't shared all of my known grandmother's experiences or my own with my kids. From generation to generation, it makes a difference.

[kwassa]

73. I agree it is not the same.

but I don't think that even the African-American experience is universally the same. My wife grew up in the country, and doesn't relate to the African-American urban experience at all. Racial relations are different geographically in this country, as the degree of segregation and separation can be quite different. My wife was the first to desegregate her kindergarten back in the middle 1960s. My mother-in-law took her family to the white church on Easter, same denomination, and upset the whole congregation. More recently, a relative, African-American, had a funeral there and nobody thought twice about it.

We are also in a time of great transition, as immigration brings many people of color from around the world, all from different cultures. One local high school has African-American students as a minority of the black students in the school, outnumbered by students from Africa, the Caribbean and South America.

Obama's experience is unlikely and unique, and he has had to thoughtfully sort out his own identity that really fit nowhere. Hawaii is a unique environment unto itself, though multi-ethnic way back then, and another place in the US where whites are distinctly in the minority, though there are very few of African heritage. It is mostly pan-Asian and Pacific Islander.

I think Obama has a great ability to empathize, and his experience in Chicago acquainted him with the problems of poor blacks in the urban environment. He may not be able to internalize it the way Michelle probably can, but I think he can be close.

[onpatrol98]

74. Great and thoughtful post!

[olddots]

21. It's a graduation speech

has there ever been one that isn't ninety percent filler ?

[onpatrol98]

61. true...there should be a rule

All graduation speeches should take no longer than 10 minutes. Hmm, that may be too much time.

[FarCenter]

48. Remarks by the President at Morehouse College Commencement Ceremony

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/19/remarks-president-morehouse-college-commencement-ceremony

Which brings me to a second point: Just as Morehouse has taught you to expect more of yourselves, inspire those who look up to you to expect more of themselves. We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices. And I have to say, growing up, I made quite a few myself. Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down. I had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is there’s no longer any room for excuses. (Applause.)

I understand there’s a common fraternity creed here at Morehouse: “Excuses are tools of the incompetent used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness.” Well, we’ve got no time for excuses. Not because the bitter legacy of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they have not. Not because racism and discrimination no longer exist; we know those are still out there. It’s just that in today’s hyperconnected, hypercompetitive world, with millions of young people from China and India and Brazil -- many of whom started with a whole lot less than all of you did -- all of them entering the global workforce alongside you, nobody is going to give you anything that you have not earned. (Applause.)

Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination. And moreover, you have to remember that whatever you’ve gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured -- and they overcame them. And if they overcame them, you can overcome them, too. (Applause.)

You now hail from a lineage and legacy of immeasurably strong men -- men who bore tremendous burdens and still laid the stones for the path on which we now walk. You wear the mantle of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, and Ralph Bunche and Langston Hughes, and George Washington Carver and Ralph Abernathy and Thurgood Marshall, and, yes, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These men were many things to many people. And they knew full well the role that racism played in their lives. But when it came to their own accomplishments and sense of purpose, they had no time for excuses.

Every one of you have a grandma or an uncle or a parent who’s told you that at some point in life, as an African American, you have to work twice as hard as anyone else if you want to get by. I think President Mays put it even better: He said, “Whatever you do, strive to do it so well that no man living and no man dead, and no man yet to be born can do it any better.” (Applause.)

And I promise you, what was needed in Dr. Mays’s time, that spirit of excellence, and hard work, and dedication, and no excuses is needed now more than ever. If you think you can just get over in this economy just because you have a Morehouse degree, you’re in for a rude awakening. But if you stay hungry, if you keep hustling, if you keep on your grind and get other folks to do the same -- nobody can stop you. (Applause.)
...

That’s what we’ve come to expect from you, Morehouse -- a legacy of leaders -- not just in our black community, but for the entire American community. To recognize the burdens you carry with you, but to resist the temptation to use them as excuses. To transform the way we think about manhood, and set higher standards for ourselves and for others. To be successful, but also to understand that each of us has responsibilities not just to ourselves, but to one another and to future generations. Men who refuse to be afraid. Men who refuse to be afraid.

Excuses appears 7 times in the speech. I'd bet that Obama gave the speech as written.

I was at a meeting last Saturday. I read a reporter's article today, and it contained quotes that no one said.

[1StrongBlackMan]

49. Serious Question ...

Are you Black/African-American?

Because if you are (and over the age of, maybe, 20), this is a message that you probably have (should have) heard thousands of times ... coupled with:

In life, there are/will reasons for your failures; it's your job to figure out where you failed and avoid it in the future. There are/will be obstacles in your path to success; your job is to figure out a way over, around or through those obstacles. There are things that just happen to impede your success; your job is to figure out whether that thing that just happened was a reason, an obstacle, or something that just happened and is unlikely to occur again, but more, your job is to pick yourself up and keep going. Then, there are excuses ... that get you no where, in fact, they keep you exactly where you don't want to be.

That is the message I heard all my life ... That is the message I have given to my daughter and the many youth I have mentored over the years ... And that is the exact message, President Obama was communicating.

[onpatrol98]

62. Yep...familiar with that message.

and the..."Be twice as good speech. Twice as smart...twice as polite...twice, twice, twice."

My father was good at that speech.



P.S. I went to an HBCU and I remember a speaker also told us that people used vulgarity when they lacked the intellect to choose an appropriate word in its place. He was quoting someone and I can't remember the exact quote. But, it was one of the few things I've remembered throughout the years.

I was like...wow. I think he just said people "cuss" because they're stupid. LOL.

[1StrongBlackMan]

64. Yep ...

I was fortunate enough (though I didn't believe it at the time) to get a scholarship to a local prep-school. When I protested going across town to that school, I was told (in no uncertain terms), "I don't care that they sound strange or that you're the only Black kid ... I am sending you there so that you can learn what they lare taught ... I am sending you there so that you can learn what they know."

And ... Yeah, I got the "Twice as" speech ... alot; usually right after giving an excuse for why I didn't put forth my best effort on something.

[MichiganVote]

57. So ok, fine, but don't we all make excuses for ourselves? What is new in that human behavior?

We are all prone to do that.

[onpatrol98]

70. Nothing is new in that human behavior, you're right.

But, if a blue man, a green man, and a purple man walk up to me and ask me for assistance, they all get the same answer, either yes or no. I don't tell the blue man, yes, the green man, yes...and then tell the purple man it's time to stop making excuses...and I really mean this about the greater meme.

As for the particular Morehouse speech, I think someone above mentioned that not making excuses is a part of their creed or motto. So, perhaps in this particular instance, he was attempting to use their own creed or motto as part of the inspiration for his speech. We've probably all done that. You read up on an organization and find out that they have a motto. So, you use words from their own motto in your speech.

Now, as for the Father's day speeches, black caucus, and all the rest...he's on his own.

[mick063]

58. No more excuses?

Perhaps I should disqualify myself because I am an old white man that was a child during the 1960's.

Then again, perhaps I won't.

People are a product of their environment.


Let me just say that I have encountered much racist talk until I have let such people know where I stand. As long as such folks use the race excuse for their agenda, the black "excuse" will endure. In other words, when you corner a cat, it will inherently go in to fight or flight mode. It isn't an excuse. It is built in survival instinct.

Without differentiating by race, I have met my share of despicable people from all walks of life and from a variety of backgrounds. Similarly, I have met fine, compassionate people from diverse backgrounds as well. To cease differentiating such people by race is the real threshold for losing the "excuse".

Racism is alive and well. The "excuse" is a product of that.

[Egalitarian Thug]

68. Offensiveness aside, I'm thinking that there are some students & faculty over at Howard

that might have some objection to USAToday's (news for the barely literate) characterization of Morehouse.

[Larry Ogg]

69. Wrongs not right just because Obama says it is...

As if there is no such thing as "social adjustments according to family wealth".

As if people growing up in poverty have the same opportunities as those who grow in mansions, and see the cost of an in Ivy League education as chump change.

As if this isn't another very conservative blame the victim speech.

As if republicans at heart don't call themselves democrats just to get elected.

As if the 1% doesn't pump billions of dollars into our election process in order insure there is never a level playing field.

But it's all good, and I'm sure that there are a lot of fat rich white psychopaths that applaud this speech well laughing their asses off, because the joke is on those we see it as being anything but right wing bullshit that has nothing to do with the real world.