Speaking at the 20,000-member Apostolic Church of God, Mr. Obama confronted directly the social upheaval caused by father-absent homes. “Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, we are reminded today that family is the most important," he sermonized. “If we are honest with ourselves, we'll admit that too many fathers also are missing, missing from too many lives and too many homes.
“They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men.” He added, “we need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception … what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. It's the courage to raise one.”
He then cited a litany of problems that arise when children grow up without a father’s influence – “five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of schools and 20 times more likely to end up in prison.”
Speaking to a largely black audience, it would have been so easy for Mr. Obama to blame fatherlessness on others, on racism by whites, on a lack of government spending or societal indifference. Yet he did not take the easy road. Reminding his audience that he was raised mostly without a father, he planted the blame squarely on individuals and communities.
We are certain many of the solutions Mr. Obama would entertain to cure the plague of fatherless homes are ones that involve state intervention and expensive programs – acts we would be opposed to. Still, we can’t quibble with his diagnosis.
The Post editorial board on Barack Obama's meaningful Father's Day speech
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