> Obama has repeated the right wing talking points on "personal
> responsibility", which are absolute garbage, on many occasions.
> This is an attack on all poor people and Reed is accurate on this
> point.
>
> John Thornton
>
> ^^^^
> CB: Garbage.
>
> Jesse Jackson, a leftwinger , used to do a whole rap much longer than
> Obama's, on Black, men's "personal responsibility" as fathers. " A boy
> can make a baby. It takes a man to raise one", etc., etc. Nobody called
> them rightwing talking points then, 'cause they weren't.
>
> Obama is a _Black man_. His discussion of these responsibilities is
> left-wing criticism-self-criticism.
================================
Also well to recall that the Million Man March was similarly premised on the
notion of "personal responsibility".
Obama's comments on this subject have not only served as grist for of white conservatives, but seem to have also resonated within the black community.
As did Farrakhan's, which went farther (and in some respects were more backward) than anything Obama has said in the campaign:
"Take this pledge with me", the popular leader of the Nation of Islam told the rally.
"Say with me please, I, say your name, pledge that from this day forward I will strive to love my brother as I love myself...from this day forward will strive to improve myself spiritually, morally, mentally, socially, politically, and economically for the benefit of myself, my family, and my people..will strive to build business, build houses, build hospitals, build factories, and then to enter international trade for the good of myself, my family, and my people...will never raise my hand with a knife or a gun to beat, cut, or shoot any member of my family or any human being, except in self-defense.
"I, say your name, pledge from this day forward I will never abuse my wife by striking her, disrespecting her for she is the mother of my children and the producer of my future...will never engage in the abuse of children, little boys, or little girls for sexual gratification...will let them grow in peace to be strong men and women for the future of our people...will never again use the B word to describe my female, but particularly my own Black sister.
I, say your name, pledge from this day forward that I will not poison my body with drugs or that which is destructive to my health and my well being...will support Black newspapers, Black radio, Black television...will support Black artists, who clean up their acts to show respect for themselves and respect for their people, and respect for the ears of the human family."
Full: http://www-cgi.cnn.com/US/9510/megamarch/10-16/transcript/index.html
Oppressed groups have never shrunk from inculcating a sense of personal and communal responsibility among their members. It's always been seen as a necessary psychological accompaniment of social liberation.