A Suggestion for Obama

Now that we are about to swear in the first African American President of the United States, the fears, expectations and questions about what he wants to do, and what he can do, are running rampant. The Internet forums buzz with speculation, and everyone I talk to eventually gets around to discussing the issue.

I expect that President Obama and I will be diametrically opposite on nearly everything political, but I’m hopeful that we can walk arm in arm on a few social issues. He’s in a unique position to do wonderful things for the country if he can keep his ego controlled and his left wing supporters at bay. If he can set a positive example for young black men, and convince them to follow, it will do far more good for the country than any legislation he signs.

In a culture where more children are born to unmarried women than to married women, if his example of being a father to his two girls makes even a small percentage of young black men realize they have responsibilities to their children, imagine the effect it would have on generational welfare and the crime problem.

If dressing neatly becomes the fashion for young blacks to emulate, the entire country will benefit. How I’d love to see those baggy pants, unlaced shoes, and sloppy team jerseys disappear, to be replaced by clothing that fits. Maybe he could even wear a baseball cap now and then, to show that the way it’s designed to be worn is with the bill pointed forward.

If Obama continues his derision of rap and hip-hop, perhaps the gangsters will be purged from modern music and talent once again rewarded. Blacks have always set the country’s musical trends, but how could you ever compare the drivel they call music today with the work of Nat King Cole, The Platters, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Pride, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Marian Anderson, or hundreds of other talented black performers.

If Obama can convince black children that an education is the best path to success, what a difference it will make in our schools and our labor force.

Yes, the new president can do for his country something that no white president could ever do for minorities...he can lead by example. America proved that while racism might not be dead, it’s no longer able to prevent anyone from reaching the highest office in the land. Let’s hope he can rise to the challenge and focus on the good he can accomplish, and not waste time pandering to the extreme demands of the left.