quote:

ORIGINAL: sambamanslilgirl

you're not wrong, PA. 

there is a riff within the Black community ...in-fighting as it were because since Dr. King's death, not a single person really has represented the common sentiments of every Black person collectively.  yes urban decay, crime and gangs are a major problem within the Black community however it isn't contained to the Black communities only - there are Hispanic gangs, white gangs, girl gangs of all races, etc. - gangs are an ethnic and gender problem these days especially here in Chicago.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Archer

I think you're going with the wrong connotation of "problem".
Best way I can think of to put it is The Black Community has problems, not that the Black Community is a problem.

Obama is talking about the problems the black community has, things holding them back, much like Bill Cosby's speaches.
The idea that academic achievement is undervalued in modern black culture is not without some evidence to back it up.
There was a time when the goal of almost every black american was to go out and get an education. Urban Black Culture seems to have abandoned that goal as either unachievable or undesireable as it makes them not as "Black" to excell at academics.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

quote:

ORIGINAL: Archer

I think you're going with the wrong connotation of "problem".
Best way I can think of to put it is The Black Community has problems, not that the Black Community is a problem.

Obama is talking about the problems the black community has, things holding them back, much like Bill Cosby's speaches.
The idea that academic achievement is undervalued in modern black culture is not without some evidence to back it up.
There was a time when the goal of almost every black american was to go out and get an education. Urban Black Culture seems to have abandoned that goal as either unachievable or undesireable as it makes them not as "Black" to excell at academics.

I admire both what Bill Cosby has said, as well as some of the work of a John McWhorter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McWhorter

quote:

ORIGINAL: lockedaway

"upper class residents away from the gun friendly and immigrant unfriendly suburbs."

What a sweeping, rediculous and reactionary statement.  

I brought this up in another thread that a great problem facing black America is its lack of role models.  Cosby is right in the things he says but he gets called an "Uncle Tom".  Barack is going to face that same criticism...only more so.  There is no Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. coming up in the ranks.  You have hacks and whore like Sharpton and Jackson who thrive on keeping black America and white America divided.  You have Louis Farakhan who is just plaing fucking nuts and you have the New Black Panther Movement.  All four of the aforementioned thrive on keeping things divided, the last two are enormously aggressive.  Dr. King stressed peaceful resolve and education.  You don't hear anything like that these days. There is no elogquent "I have a dream..." language that is being advanced, no one advocating the similarities we share as human beings and Americans that can be heard above the fray. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

Barack Obama is not Black and is seen as an outsider to some in the Black community because he is not the descendent of slaves. I do not think this statement will help his bid for the White House to be frankly honest.