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Young men, step up the Obama's challenge (New initiative for boys of color, "My Brother's Keeper")
The Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | March 2, 2014 | Solomon Jones

Posted on 03/01/2014 4:18:45 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

ON THURSDAY afternoon, two couples sat stoically in a White House audience filled with those working to change the lives of black and Latino boys. That the parents of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, two boys whose shooting deaths outraged a nation, could reach through their grief to take in President Obama's vision for saving other sons speaks to their resilience. More importantly, it speaks volumes to all of us.

It speaks to the fact that Obama's new initiative for boys of color, "My Brother's Keeper," will require much more than the $200 million-plus foundations will spend to effect change. It speaks to the fact that we must commit to something much deeper than money.

We need commitment by parents to be present in the lives of their children. We need commitment by the media to cover images that move beyond stereotypes. We need commitment by our political representatives to set aside their ideological banners and pick up the mantle of leadership. Most of all, we need commitment from boys of color to live up to the standard of excellence, rather than living down to the code of the streets.

We all share the blame for the quandary facing boys of color, because most of us have watched silently as the statistics have piled up against them. Consider this: One of two black boys and one of four Latino boys grows up fatherless, which makes them far more likely to be poor. Boys of color are more likely than their white counterparts to be suspended or expelled from school. This leads to higher dropout rates, which leads to higher incarceration rates, and ultimately leads to an adulthood in which they are less likely to participate in the workforce.

"We've become numb to these statistics," Obama said...

(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: blacks; obama; trayvon; zimmerman
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1 posted on 03/01/2014 4:18:45 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Please tell me this will be headed by someone named Caine.


2 posted on 03/01/2014 4:21:02 PM PST by Psalm 144 (1. Sow. 2. Reap. 3. Eat the result.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
WHITE BOYS NEED NOT APPLY!!

Don't we live in a wonderful country?

3 posted on 03/01/2014 4:21:36 PM PST by laweeks
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Parents like those of Trayvon Martin are exactly the last kind of examples one wants to display to the public as ideal.


4 posted on 03/01/2014 4:23:31 PM PST by imardmd1 (Fiat Lux)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"...One of two black boys and one of four Latino boys grows up fatherless..."

Obama is a serial liar, as are most of his devoted followers, but perhaps I missed something. Last I heard, the percentage of black children who grow up without a father in the household was FAR higher than 50%. And hispanic children are twice as high?

It could be me, but those statistics sound completely wrong. I know liberals make this stuff up at the drop of a hat, but perhaps I misunderstand something here.

5 posted on 03/01/2014 4:24:42 PM PST by rlmorel ("A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral." A. Hamilton)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

White boys, step up to the challenge.


6 posted on 03/01/2014 4:24:42 PM PST by skeeter
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"We need commitment by parents to be present in the lives of their children. "

Tell that to Trayvon's parents who were present in absentia most of the time.

7 posted on 03/01/2014 4:25:02 PM PST by Paladin2
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What did God answer when Cain glibly asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Hint: It wasn’t, “yes, you are your brother’s keeper”.

It’s odd that a people so still so sensitive on the issue of their past slavery would proclaim themselves the “keeper” of another.


8 posted on 03/01/2014 4:25:59 PM PST by oblomov
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

the death of Trayvon enraged the nation somehow? Really?

His death enraged the liberals. But issues which stir up the liberals don’t necessarily outrage the rest of us.


9 posted on 03/01/2014 4:26:13 PM PST by Dilbert San Diego (t)
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To: laweeks

No but the white tax payers money will be used to pay for some it.
Taxation without Representation


10 posted on 03/01/2014 4:26:40 PM PST by funfan
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Challenge?

$200M cash for black guys is a challenge?


11 posted on 03/01/2014 4:30:39 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"We've become numb to these statistics," Obama said

And yet he does everything he can to addict more and more people to the government teat which is responsible for much of this mess.

What a lame-ass!

12 posted on 03/01/2014 4:31:37 PM PST by upchuck (South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy for Speaker of the House!!!)
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To: GeronL
It'll be $20 billion, administered by the Chicago crowd, before you know it. And if it's anything like my experience with the JTPA in the 80’s, it'll be a money sieve to Democrat officeholders.
13 posted on 03/01/2014 4:32:45 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (I will raise $2M for Sarah Palin's next run, what will you do?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

bump


14 posted on 03/01/2014 4:36:21 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
We need commitment by the media to cover images that move beyond stereotypes.

He's talking about the media's reporting about the Tea Party, right? Right?

15 posted on 03/01/2014 4:37:17 PM PST by Hardastarboard (The question of our age is whether a majority of Americans can and will vote us all into slavery.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

He’s dog-whistling the Trayvons to play the knockout game!


16 posted on 03/01/2014 4:45:37 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (If Barack Hussein Obama entertains a thought that he does not verbalize, is it still a lie?)
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Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

To: 2ndDivisionVet

White People have color too... Duuugh


18 posted on 03/01/2014 4:52:36 PM PST by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
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To: satan

forget tickets, book cruise ships....

use tankers....

:p


19 posted on 03/01/2014 4:52:57 PM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

There’s only a need to have a keeper for animals in a zoo or inmates in a prison. Which of these two does Obama consider black and Latino boys to be?


20 posted on 03/01/2014 4:54:19 PM PST by Bob
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