Google Yahoo! Myspace YouTube Facebook Live eBay Wikipedia Craigslist Blogger Amazon Go CNN ESPN New York Times Weather About MapQuest Apple Ask Wal-Mart Chase Cnet Bank of America CareerBuilder
President Obama promotes fatherhood, responsibility
|
President Barack Obama, speaking in highly personal terms as the son of an absentee father, devoted much of his workday Friday to promoting the importance of parental commitment and mentoring.
Celebrities from the worlds of music and sports joined the president at the start of Father's Day weekend for what Obama called the beginning of a national conversation about fatherhood and personal responsibility.
“When fathers are absent, when they abandon their responsibility to their children, we know the damage that does to our families,” Mr. Obama told teenagers and community leaders in the East Room of the White House, beginning what he called a “national conversation on responsible fatherhood and healthy families.”
“When fathers are absent, when they abandon their responsibility to their children, we know the damage that does to our families,” Mr. Obama told teenagers and community leaders in the East Room of the White House, beginning what he called a “national conversation on responsible fatherhood and healthy families.”
Mr. Obama sprinkled his talk with references to his own absent father, who left him with his mother in Hawaii when he was 2 and visited him only once after that.
“I say this as someone who grew up without a father in my life,” Mr. Obama said. “That’s something that leaves a hole in a child’s heart that governments can’t fill.”
Barack Hussein Obama Sr. left a family behind in Kenya to get his schooling in the United States. He started another family here, then left his second wife and 2-year-old Barack Jr. to return to Africa with another woman. He reappeared briefly when his son was 10. Still, the president said yesterday, that fleeting encounter "in the few weeks that I was with him" made an impact. Obama, a basketball enthusiast and jazz fan, said that his father gave him his first basketball and took him to his first jazz concert.
“I say this as someone who grew up without a father in my life,” Mr. Obama said. “That’s something that leaves a hole in a child’s heart that governments can’t fill.”
Barack Hussein Obama Sr. left a family behind in Kenya to get his schooling in the United States. He started another family here, then left his second wife and 2-year-old Barack Jr. to return to Africa with another woman. He reappeared briefly when his son was 10. Still, the president said yesterday, that fleeting encounter "in the few weeks that I was with him" made an impact. Obama, a basketball enthusiast and jazz fan, said that his father gave him his first basketball and took him to his first jazz concert.
"I didn't remember this until later on in life, but just that imprint is powerful. And imagine if that's sustained every day," the president said.
His father's promise flamed out in Africa after stints working for an oil company and the government; he fell into drink and died in a car crash when Obama was 21, a student at Columbia University.
His father's promise flamed out in Africa after stints working for an oil company and the government; he fell into drink and died in a car crash when Obama was 21, a student at Columbia University.
"I don't want to be the kind of father I had," the president is quoted as telling a friend in a new book about him.
The importance of fatherhood has been a touchstone for Obama throughout his public life, going back to the memoir he wrote after his election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. The memoir, "Dreams From My Father," explored the role of his absent father in Obama's search for his own identity.
The importance of fatherhood has been a touchstone for Obama throughout his public life, going back to the memoir he wrote after his election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. The memoir, "Dreams From My Father," explored the role of his absent father in Obama's search for his own identity.
As a politician, he regularly has used Father's Day as an occasion to exhort men, particularly African Americans, to fully embrace the responsibilities of fatherhood.
An estimated 24 million American children are growing up with absent fathers, and a disproportionate number of them are African-American. Those children are at higher risk of falling into lives of poverty and crime and becoming parents themselves in their teenage years.
An estimated 24 million American children are growing up with absent fathers, and a disproportionate number of them are African-American. Those children are at higher risk of falling into lives of poverty and crime and becoming parents themselves in their teenage years.
The White House is trying to tackle that problem, adding to its packed domestic agenda, but without seeking legislation or new policies. It is sponsoring forums around the country this summer and fall to promote programs for mentors and fathers and to see how the federal government can support them.
Add your comment
Categories
Newsletter
Get each new article from
New York
Your email:
Latest
Usher Breaks Down in Court Over Bad Dad AllegationsHouse Series Finale: Did House Get a Happy Ending—or Just an Ending?Google Chrome Overtakes Internet ExplorerFive US cable providers join forces to offer 50,000+ wireless hotspotsMalaria: Fake and Substandard Drugs Grow as Threat to Fight DiseaseFossil Ink Sacs Yield Jurassic Pigment—A FirstDevils get even with RangersBlind Chinese activist gets comfy in NYU homeMary Kennedy Laid to Rest in Bedford, New YorkAttacks in Yemen Raise Concerns About Qaeda Affiliate
Tags
Popular
Paralyzed woman moves robotic arm with her thoughtsNew York cops bust 45 in 'Supreme Team' drug crackdownPart of flight recorder of Russian plane found in IndonesiaRomney Camp Tries to Limit Reporters' Access, and Rope Line Ruckus EruptsNew York Tattoo Convention lands at Roseland Ballroom with up to 200 artistsREVEALED: A look inside Britain's most exclusive apartment block as £65m flat at One Hyde Park goes up for saleSenators take aim at Facebook co-founder, who will skip taxes by renouncing citizenshipNew York City Plans to Offer Buyouts to Idled TeachersBeastie Boys' Adam Yauch Honored by New York Senate$90M midtown penthouse tops mark for priciest New York City apartment
Comments
New York, NY |
|
