    
Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 600
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 | | Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 05:51 pm: | |
Monday, Jul 26, 2004, 10:27 am EST
Obama: Black Parents Must Take Reigns
The Associated Press
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BOSTON (AP) -- Black parents must take responsibility for helping their children succeed, but the government should give families support, said Senate candidate Barack Obama, the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention.
Obama, who will become the fifth black senator in history if Illinois voters elect him this fall, was asked Sunday about comedian Bill Cosby`s recent criticism of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, disdain for drug use and other problems among some poor black families.
"I understand the basic premise that Bill Cosby is talking about, and I think he`s right about it," Obama said on NBC`s "Meet the Press."
"There`s got to be an element of personal responsibility and community responsibility," he said.
"It`s not a function of being conservative or liberal. It`s just common sense," Obama said. "We have to also hold our government accountable for making sure that we`ve got the kind of support that parents and children need to succeed."
Parents need decent jobs and good schools if they are going to keep children away from gangs and drugs, Obama said.
He also said black voters tend to support Democrats because the Republican Party has not traditionally backed issues important to blacks.
"It`s a very practical assessment of which party has looked out for civil rights, which party is focused on the issues that working people face, who is providing grants to kids to go to college, who is thinking about the uninsured," Obama said on CBS` "Face the Nation."
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