Photograph of United States President The Honorable Barack H. Obama waving as he boards Ai
r Force One extracted from the White House website (www.whitehhouse.gov).
For the past eight years, the United
States of America has been blessed to have one of the Universe’s most
brilliant, compassionate, gifted, and dynamic souls -- The Honorable Barack H. Obama –
masterfully hold the reins of power. In
November 2008, the world erupted in joyful celebration upon learning that
Americans had elected The Honorable Barack H. Obama as its 44th
Commander-in-Chief of the United States. During the months preceding President Obama’s
occupancy of the White House, the United States was on the verge of falling off
an economic cliff and dragging the rest of the world with it. With a steady hand, infinite wisdom, and the
patience of Job, President Obama steered our nation away from imminent
financial disaster. On 9 March 2009, President Obama walked into
the East Room of the White House which was crowded with spectators and removed restrictions
on the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research by signing an Executive
Order. He also issued a Presidential
Memorandum which directed the head of
the White House Office of Science and Technology to “develop a strategy for
restoring scientific integrity to government decision making”.
In recognition of President Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen
international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and his “promotion of
nuclear nonproliferation and a new climate in international relations,
particularly in reaching out to the Muslim world”, on 5 October 2009, the
Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that he was being awarded the 2009 Nobel
Peace Prize. After five American Presidents
failed to create universal health insurance, under President Obama’s
administration, the Affordable Care Act was signed in 2010 – legislation which
has provided at least 32 million Americans with health care insurance which
they did not have access to. In 2009, President Obama signed the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act to stimulate economic growth in the midst of the
worst economic recession since the Great Depression. Weeks after the
institution of the stimulus, massive unemployment claims began to subside, and
12 months later, the private sector began producing more jobs – a trend that
continued for the next 23 months. Wall Street Reform legislation was passed on
President Obama’s watch which tightened capital requirements on large banks and
other financial institutions and limited their ability to use their customers’
money to trade on the stock market for their own profit. The ailing auto industry was revitalized by
President Obama with an infusion of US$62 billion in federal money which
resulted in the auto industry gaining market share and adding 100,000
jobs. With President Obama at the helm,
the United States’ image abroad improved exponentially. The Pew Global Attitudes Project reported
that 10 out of 15 nations viewed the United States favorably. On 14 July 2015, while visiting the City of
Philadelphia where he spoke at the NAACP’s national convention, President Obama
issued a national mandate for sweeping criminal justice reform. President Obama became the first sitting
President to visit a federal penitentiary on 16 July 2015 when he walked into
the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in Oklahoma where he met with a
number of prisoners. In November 2015,
President Obama flew to Paris where he joined leaders from 150 nations at
the LeBourge Conference Center to launch a historic two-week conference for the
purposes of creating a treaty to dramatically reduce the emissions of
greenhouse gas pollution which has been singled out as the culprit for global
warming. The treaty which became known
as the “Paris Agreement” was ratified by 115 nations and was subsequently
“entered into force” on 4 November 2016.
And on 2 December 2016, the
United States Department of Labor issued its monthly Jobs Report for November
2016 which reflected the fact that the national unemployment rate dropped to
4.6%.
There is no doubt that saving the United States from economic disaster, instituting
national health care, spearheading the creation and ratification of the Paris
Agreement, issuing a sweeping national mandate for criminal justice reform, and
lifting the ban on stem cell research will find their way into the legacy of
The Honorable Barack H. Obama’s Presidency.
But there are additional moving parts to President Obama’s legacy. Fatherhood Practitioners and Father’s Rights
Advocates in the United States have yearned for a President who would move
Fatherhood to the center of the national radar screen. At the same time communities throughout
America which are raising and educating Boys and Young Men of Color also yearned for a President who would move
the key challenges that these souls faced to the center of the national radar
screen. President Obama did not
disappoint.
On
Friday, 19 June 2009, two days before Father’s Day, President Obama launched a
National Conversation on the Importance of Fatherhood and Personal
Responsibility by facilitating events across Washington, D.C. and in the White
House which cast the spotlight on how Fathers are strengthening families,
communities, and themselves. A Father’s Day Proclamation was issued by
President Obama which honored the work of strong and committed Fathers. A number of Washington, D.C. non-profit
organizations that mentor and support young men were treated to a visit from
President Obama and a group of Fathers and mentors. After spending time at various non-profit
organizations, the President and his entourage of Fathers, mentors, Fatherhood
Practitioners and Father’s Rights Advocates returned to the White House to
conduct a Town Hall on Fatherhood in the East Room: President Obama launched the Town Hall on
Fatherhood by delivering the following remarks:
"We all know the difference that responsible,
committed fathers like these guys can make in the life of a child. Fathers are
our first teachers and coaches. They’re our mentors and role models. They set
examples of success and push us to succeed ourselves – encouraging us when
we’re struggling; loving us even when we disappoint them; standing by us when
no one else will," President Obama said during the town hall meeting.
"And when fathers are absent – when they abandon
their responsibility to their kids – we know the damage that does to our
families. Children who grow up without a father are more likely to drop out of
school and wind up in prison. They’re more
likely to have substance abuse problems, run away from home, and become teenage
parents themselves."
And I say this as someone who grew up without a father in
my own life. I had a heroic mom and wonderful grandparents who helped raise me
and my sister, and it's because of them that I'm able to stand here today. But
despite all their extraordinary love and attention, that doesn’t mean that I
didn’t feel my father's absence. That's something that leaves a hole in a
child’s heart that a government can't fill.
Our government can build the best schools with the best
teachers on Earth, but we still need fathers to ensure that the kids are coming
home and doing their homework, and having a book in their hands instead of the
TV remote every once in a while. Government can put more cops on the streets,
but only fathers can make sure that those kids aren’t on the streets in the
first place. Government can create good jobs, but we need fathers to train for
these jobs and hold down these jobs and provide for their families.
If we want our children to succeed in life, we need
fathers to step up. We need fathers to understand that their work doesn’t end
with conception -- that what truly makes a man a father is the ability to raise
a child and invest in that child.
We need fathers to be involved in their kids’ lives not
just when it’s easy -- not just during the afternoons in the park or at the
zoo, when it’s all fun and games -- but when it’s hard, when young people are
struggling, and there aren’t any quick fixes or easy answers, and that's when
young people need compassion and patience, as well as a little bit of tough
love.
Now, this is a challenge even in good times. And it can
be especially tough during times like these, when parents have a lot on their
minds -- they're worrying about keeping their jobs, or keeping their homes or
their health care, paying their bills, trying to give their children the same
opportunities that they had. And so it's understandable that parents get
concerned, some fathers who feel they can't support their families get
distracted. And even those who are more fortunate may be physically present,
but emotionally absent .I know that some of the young men who are here today
might have their own concerns one day about being a dad. Some of you might be
worried that if you didn’t have a father, then you don't know how to be one
when your turn comes. Some of you might even use that as an excuse, and say, ‘Well,
if my dad wasn’t around, why should I be?’
Let’s be clear: Just because your own father wasn’t there
for you, that’s not an excuse for you to be absent also -- it’s all the more
reason for you to be present. There’s no rule that says that you have to repeat
your father’s mistakes. Just the opposite -- you have an obligation to break
the cycle and to learn from those mistakes, and to rise up where your own
fathers fell short and to do better than they did with your own children.
That’s what I’ve tried to do in my life. When my
daughters were born, I made a pledge to them, and to myself, that I would do
everything I could to give them some things I didn’t have. And I decided that
if I could be one thing in life, it would
be to be a good father .I haven’t always known exactly how to do that.
I’ve made my share of mistakes. I've had to ask a lot of questions. But I've
also learned from men that I admire. And one good example is Michelle’s father,
Frasier Robinson, who was a shining example of loving, responsible fatherhood.
Here is a man who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when he was 30 years
old, but he still got up every day, went to a blue-collar job. By the time I
knew him he was using two crutches to get around, but he always was able to get
to every dance recital, every ballgame of Michelle's brother. He was there
constantly, and helped to shape extraordinary success for his children.
And that’s the standard that I strive for, though I don’t
always meet it. And as I’ve said before, I've made mistakes as a parent, and
I'm sure I will make plenty more. There have been days when the demands of work
have taken me from my duties as a father and I’ve missed some moments in my
daughters’ lives that I’ll never get back. So I’ve been far from perfect.
But in the end, it’s not about being perfect. It’s not
always about succeeding; but it’s about always trying. And that's something
everybody can do. It’s about showing up and sticking with it; and going back at
it when you mess up; and letting your kids know -- not just with words, but
with deeds -- that you love them and that they're always your first priority.
And we need dads -- but also men who aren’t dads -- to
make this kind of commitment, not just in their own homes to their own
families, but to the many young people out there who aren’t lucky enough to
have responsible adults in their lives. We need committed, compassionate men to
serve as mentors and tutors, and big brothers and foster parents.
Even if it’s just for a couple hours a week of shooting
hoops, or helping with homework, or just talking about what’s going on in that
young person's life. Even the smallest moments can end up having an enormous
impact, a lasting impact on a child’s life.
So I am grateful to many of the organizations that are
here, that are working on these issues. Some are faith-based; some are not.
Some are government funded; some are privately funded. But all of you have
those same commitments to making sure that we are lifting up the importance of
fatherhood in our communities.
This is not the end, this is the beginning, of what I
hope is going to be a national dialogue. And we're going to have regional town
hall meetings
President Obama also announced the
next steps for his Fatherhood Agenda. The President’s Fatherhood and Mentoring
Initiative was launched which is targeting Fatherlessness in America by creating
partnerships with Fatherhood groups, role models, and organizations that
provide services to families such as the National Parents and Teachers
Association and Council of Christian Colleges and Universities. The President also provided funding through
the Department of Labor for transitional jobs programs for Non-Custodial
parents who experience difficulty in finding employment. And
the Regional Fatherhood Town Hall meetings President mentioned during his
speech in the White House’s East Room on Friday, 19 June 2009 were conducted in
Chicago, Illinois on 5 August 2009; Manchester, New Hampshire on 23 September
2009; Atlanta, Georgia on 15 December 2009; and Toledo, Ohio on 2 December
2011.
In
2014, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum which established the My
Brother’s Keeper (“MBK”) Task Force – a coordinated Federal effort to address
some of the key challenges that prevent Boys and Young Men of Color from
reaching their full potential. The move
also silenced the rising sentiment emanating from the President’s detractors
that his administration had failed to do anything to help America’s Black
community.
“Welcome to the White House. And
thank you, Christian, for that outstanding introduction. . . . Like your
parents and your teachers, I could not be prouder of you. I could not be prouder of the other young men
who are here today. But just so we’re
clear -- you're only excused for one day of school. And I'm assuming you’ve got your assignments
with you so that you can catch up -- perhaps even on the flight back.
As Christian mentioned, I first met Christian about
a year ago. I visited the Hyde Park Academy in Chicago, which is only about a
mile from my house. And Christian was part of this program called ‘Becoming A
Man’. It's a program that Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced to me. And it helps
young men who show a lot of potential but may have gotten in some trouble to
stay on the right path. They get help with schoolwork, but they also learn life
skills like how to be a responsible citizen, and how to deal with life’s
challenges, and how to manage frustrations in a constructive way, and how to
set goals for themselves. And it works. One study found that, among young men
who participate in the BAM program, arrests for violent crimes dropped 44
percent, and they were more likely to graduate from high school.
So as Christian mentioned, during my
visit, they’re in a circle and I sat down in the circle, and we went around,
led by their counselor, and guys talked about their lives, talked about their
stories. They talked about what they were struggling with, and how they were
trying to do the right thing, and how sometimes they didn’t always do the right
thing. And when it was my turn, I explained to them that when I was their age I
was a lot like them. I didn’t have a dad in the house. And I was angry about
it, even though I didn’t necessarily realize it at the time. I made bad choices. I got high without always
thinking about the harm that it could do. I didn’t always take school as
seriously as I should have. I made excuses. Sometimes I sold myself short.
And I remember when I was saying this --
Christian, you may remember this -- after I was finished, the guy sitting next
to me said, ‘Are you talking about you?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ And the point was I could see myself in these
young men. And the only difference is that I grew up in an environment that was
a little bit more forgiving, so when I made a mistake the consequences were not
as severe. I had people who encouraged
me -- not just my mom and grandparents, but wonderful teachers and community
leaders -- and they’d push me to work hard and study hard, and make the most of
myself. And if I didn’t listen they said
it again. And if I didn’t listen they said it a third time. And they would give
me second chances, and third chances. They never gave up on me, and so I didn’t
give up on myself.
I told these young men my story then,
and I repeat it now because I firmly believe that every child deserves the same
chances that I had. And that’s why we’re here today -- to do what we can, in
this year of action, to give more young Americans the support they need to make
good choices, and to be resilient, and to overcome obstacles, and achieve their
dreams.
This is an issue of national
importance -- it's as important as any issue that I work on. It's an issue that
goes to the very heart of why I ran for President -- because if America stands
for anything, it stands for the idea of opportunity for everybody; the notion
that no matter who you are, or where you came from, or the circumstances into
which you are born, if you work hard, if you take responsibility, then you can
make it in this country. That's the core idea.
And that’s the idea behind everything
that I’ll do this year, and for the rest of my Presidency. Because at a time
when the economy is growing, we’ve got to make sure that every American shares
in that growth, not just a few. And that
means guaranteeing every child in America has access to a world-class
education. It means creating more jobs
and empowering more workers with the skills they need to do those jobs. It means making sure that hard work pays off
with wages you can live on and savings you can retire on and health care that
you can count on. It means building more
ladders of opportunity into the middle class for anybody who’s willing to work
hard to climb them.
Those are national issues. They have
an impact on everybody. And the problem of stagnant wages and economic
insecurity and stalled mobility are issues that affect all demographic groups
all across the country. My administration’s policies -- from early childhood
education to job training, to minimum wages -- are designed to give a hand up
to everybody, every child, every American willing to work hard and take
responsibility for their own success. That's the larger agenda.
But the plain fact is there are some Americans who, in the aggregate, are consistently doing worse in our society -- groups that have had the odds stacked against them in unique ways that require unique solutions; groups who’ve seen fewer opportunities that have spanned generations. And by almost every measure, the group that is facing some of the most severe challenges in the 21st century in this country are boys and young men of color.
Now, to say this is not to deny the
enormous strides we’ve made in closing the opportunity gaps that marred our
history for so long. My presence is a
testimony to that progress. Across this
country, in government, in business, in our military, in communities in every
state we see extraordinary examples of African American and Latino men who are
standing tall and leading, and building businesses, and making our country
stronger. Some of those role models who have defied the odds are with us here
today -- the Magic Johnsons or the Colin Powells who are doing extraordinary
things -- the Anthony Foxxes.
Anthony, yesterday he and I were
talking about how both of us never knew our dads, and shared that sense of both
how hard that had been but also how that had driven us to succeed in many ways.
So there are examples of extraordinary
achievement. We all know that. We don't need
to stereotype and pretend that there’s only dysfunction out there. But 50 years
after Dr. King talked about his dream for America’s children, the stubborn fact
is that the life chances of the average black or brown child in this country
lags behind by almost every measure, and is worse for boys and young men. If
you’re African American, there’s about a one in two chance you grow up without
a father in your house -- one in two. If you’re Latino, you have about a one in
four chance. We know that boys who grow up without a father are more likely to
be poor, more likely to underperform in school.
As a black student, you are far less
likely than a white student to be able to read proficiently by the time you are
in 4th grade. By the time you reach high school, you’re far more likely to have
been suspended or expelled. There’s a higher chance you end up in the criminal
justice system, and a far higher chance that you are the victim of a violent
crime. Fewer young Black and Latino men
participate in the labor force compared to young white men. And all of this translates into higher
unemployment rates and poverty rates as adults.
And the worst part is we’ve become
numb to these statistics. We're not
surprised by them. We take them as the
norm. We just assume this is an inevitable part of American life, instead of
the outrage that it is. That's how we
think about it. It's like a cultural backdrop for us -- in movies and
television. We just assume, of course, it's going to be like that. But these
statistics should break our hearts. And they should compel us to act.
Michelle and I are blessed with two
beautiful daughters. We don’t have a son But I know if I had a son, on the day he was
born I would have felt everything I felt with Malia and Sasha -- the awe, the
gratitude, the overwhelming sense of responsibility to do everything in my
power to protect that amazing new life from this big world out there. And just
as our daughters are growing up into wonderful, beautiful young women, I’d want
my son to feel a sense of boundless possibility. And I’d want him to have
independence and confidence. And I'd want him to have empathy and compassion. I'd
want him to have a sense of diligence and commitment, and a respect for others
and himself -- the tools that he’d need to succeed.
I don't have a son, but as parents,
that’s what we should want not just for our children, but for all
children. And I believe the continuing
struggles of so many boys and young men -- the fact that too many of them are
falling by the wayside, dropping out, unemployed, involved in negative
behavior, going to jail, being profiled -- this is a moral issue for our
country. It’s also an economic issue for our country.
After all, these boys are a growing
segment of our population. They are our future workforce. When, generation
after generation, they lag behind, our economy suffers. Our family structure suffers. Our civic life
suffers. Cycles of hopelessness breed
violence and mistrust. And our country is a little less than what we know it
can be. So we need to change the
statistics -- not just for the sake of the young men and boys, but for the sake
of America’s future.
That’s why, in the aftermath of the
Trayvon Martin verdict, with all the emotions and controversy that it
sparked. I spoke about the need to
bolster and reinforce our young men, and give them the sense that their country
cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them. And I'm grateful that Trayvon’s parents,
Sybrina and Tracy, are here with us today, along with Jordan Davis’s parents,
Lucy and Ron.
In my State of the Union address last
month, I said I’d pick up the phone and reach out to Americans willing to help
more young men of color facing especially tough odds to stay on track and reach
their full potential, so America can reach its full potential. And that’s what
today is all about.
After months of conversation with a
wide range of people, we’ve pulled together private philanthropies and
businesses, mayors, state and local leaders, faith leaders, nonprofits, all who
are committed to creating more pathways to success. And we’re committed to
building on what works. And we call it ‘My Brother’s Keeper’. Now, just to be clear – ‘My Brother’s Keeper’
is not some big, new government program.
In my State of the Union address, I outlined the work that needs to be
done for broad-based economic growth and opportunity for all Americans. We have
manufacturing hubs, infrastructure spending -- I've been traveling around the
country for the last several weeks talking about what we need to do to grow the
economy and expand opportunity for everybody. And in the absence of some of
those macroeconomic policies that create more good jobs and restore
middle-class security, it’s going to be harder for everyone to make progress.
And for the last four years, we’ve been working through initiatives like
Promise Zones to help break down the structural barriers -- from lack of
transportation to substandard schools-- that afflict some of this country’s
most impoverished counties, and we’ll continue to promote these efforts in urban
and rural counties alike.
Those are all government initiatives,
government programs that we think are good for all Americans and we're going to
keep on pushing for them. But what we’re talking about here today with ‘My
Brother’s Keeper’ is a more focused effort on boys and young men of color who
are having a particularly tough time. And
in this effort, government cannot play the only -- or even the primary --
role. We can help give every child
access to quality preschool and help them start learning from an early age, but
we can’t replace the power of a parent who’s reading to that child. We can
reform our criminal justice system to ensure that it's not infected with bias,
but nothing keeps a young man out of trouble like a father who takes an active
role in his son’s life.
In other words, broadening the
horizons for our young men and giving them the tools they need to succeed will
require a sustained effort from all of us.
Parents will have to parent -- and turn off the television, and help
with homework. Teachers will need to do
their part to make sure our kids don’t fall behind and that we're setting high
expectations for those children and not giving up on them. Business leaders will need to create more
mentorships and apprenticeships to show more young people what careers are out
there. Tech leaders will need to open young eyes to fields like computer
science and engineering. Faith leaders will need to help our young men develop
the values and ethical framework that is the foundation for a good and
productive life.
So we all have a job to do. And we
can do it together -- black and white, urban and rural, Democrat and
Republican. So often, the issues facing
boys and young men of color get caught up in long-running ideological arguments
about race and class, and crime and poverty, the role of government, and partisan
politics. We've all heard those arguments before. But the urgency of the situation requires us
to move past some of those old arguments and focus on getting something done
and focusing on what works. It doesn’t
mean the arguments are unimportant; it just means that they can't paralyze
us. And there’s enough goodwill and
enough overlap and agreement that we should be able to go ahead and get some
things done, without resolving everything about our history or our future.
Twenty years ago, Congresswoman
Frederica Wilson started a program in the Miami public school system -- feel
free to stand up -- to help young boys at risk of dropping out of school. Today,
it serves thousands of students in dozens of schools. As Mayor of New York, Mayor Bloomberg --
Michael Bloomberg --who’s here today, started a ‘Young Men’s Initiative’ for
African-American and Latino boys, because he understood that in order for
America to compete we need to make it easier for all our young people to do
better in the classroom and find a job once they graduate. .A bipartisan group of mayors called ‘Cities
United’ has made this issue a priority in communities across the country. Senator
Mike Lee -- a leader of the Tea Party -- has been working with Senator Dick
Durbin -- a Democrat from my home state of Illinois -- to reduce disparities in
our criminal justice system that have hit the African American and Latino
communities especially hard.
So I want to thank everybody who’s been doing
incredible work -- many of the people who are here today, including members of
Congress, who have been focused on this and are moving the needle in their communities
and around the country. They understand
that giving every young person who’s willing to work hard a shot at opportunity
should not be a partisan issue. Yes, we need to train our workers, invest in
our schools, make college more affordable -- and government has a role to
play. And, yes, we need to encourage
fathers to stick around, and remove the barriers to marriage, and talk openly
about things like responsibility and faith and community. In the words of Dr.
King, it is not ‘either-or’; it is’ both and’.
And if I can persuade Sharpton and
O’Reilly to be in the same meeting -- then it means that there are people of
good faith who want to get some stuff done, even if we don't agree on
everything. And that's our focus. While there may not be much of an appetite in
Congress for sweeping new programs or major new initiatives right now, we all
know we can’t wait. And so the good news
is folks in the private sector who know how important boosting the achievement
of young men of color is to this country -- they are ready to step up.
Today, I’m pleased to announce that
some of the most forward-looking foundations in America are looking to invest
at least $200 million over the next five years -- on top of the $150 million
that they’ve already invested -- to test which strategies are working for our
kids and expand them in cities across the country. Many of these folks have been on the front
lines in this fight for a long time. What’s more, they’re joined by business
leaders, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs who are stepping forward to support
this effort as well. And my administration
is going to do its part. So today after
my remarks are done, I’m going to pen this Presidential Memorandum directing
the federal government not to spend more money, but to do things smarter, to
determine what we can do right now to improve the odds for boys and young men
of color, and make sure our agencies are working more effectively with each
other, with those businesses, with those philanthropies, and with local
communities to implement proven solutions.
And part of what makes this
initiative so promising is that we actually know what works-- and we know when
it works. Now, what do I mean by that? Over the years, we’ve identified key
moments in the life of a boy or a young man of color that will, more often than
not, determine whether he succeeds, or falls through the cracks. We know the data. We know the statistics. And if we can focus
on those key moments, those life-changing points in their lives, you can have a
big impact; you can boost the odds for more of our kids.
First of all, we know that during the
first three years of life, a child born into a low-income family hears 30
million fewer words than a child born into a well-off family. And everybody
knows babies are sponges, they just soak that up. A 30-million-word deficit is hard to make up.
And if a Black or Latino kid isn’t ready for kindergarten, he’s half as likely
to finish middle school with strong academic and social skills. So by giving more of our kids access to
high-quality early education -- and by helping parents get the tools they need
to help their children succeed -- we can give more kids a better shot at the
career they’re capable of, and the life that will make us all better off. So
that's point number one right at the beginning.
Point number two, if a child can’t
read well by the time he’s in third grade, he’s four times less likely to
graduate from high school by age 19 than one who can. And if he happens to be poor, he’s six times
less likely to graduate. So by boosting
reading levels, we can help more of our kids make the grade, keep on advancing,
reach that day that so many parents dream of -- until it comes close and then
you start tearing up -- and that's when they’re walking across the stage,
holding that high school diploma.
Number three, we know that Latino
kids are almost twice as likely as white kids to be suspended from school. Black kids are nearly four times as
likely. And if a student has been
suspended even once by the time they’re in 9th grade they are twice as likely
to drop out.
That’s why my administration has been
working with schools on alternatives to the so-called ‘zero tolerance’ guidelines
-- not because teachers or administrators or fellow students should have to put
up with bad behavior, but because there are ways to modify bad behavior that
lead to good behavior -- as opposed to bad behavior out of school. We can make
classrooms good places for learning for everybody without jeopardizing a
child’s future. And by building on that work, we can keep more of our young men
where they belong -- in the classroom, learning, growing, gaining the skills
they need to succeed.
Number four, we know that students of
color are far more likely than their white classmates to find themselves in
trouble with the law. If a student gets
arrested, he’s almost twice as likely to drop out of school. By making sure our criminal justice system
doesn’t just function as a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded
jails, we can help young men of color stay out of prison, stay out of jail. And
that means then, they’re more likely to be employable, and to invest in their
own families, and to pass on a legacy of love and hope.
And finally, we know young black men
are twice as likely as young white men to be ‘disconnected’ -- not in school,
not working. We've got to reconnect
them. We've got to give more of these young men access to mentors. We've got to
continue to encourage responsible fatherhood. We've got to provide more
pathways to apply to college or find a job. We can keep them from falling through the
cracks, and help them lay a foundation for a career and a family and a better
life.
In the discussion before we came in,
General Powell talked about the fact that there are going to be some kids who
just don't have a family at home that is functional, no matter how hard we try.
But just an adult, any adult who’s paying attention can make a difference. Any
adult who cares can make a difference.
Magic was talking about being in a
school in Chicago, and rather than going to the school he brought the school to
the company, All-State, that was doing the work. And suddenly, just that one
conversation meant these young men saw something different. A world opened up for them. It doesn’t take
that much. But it takes more than we're doing now.
And that’s what ‘My Brother’s Keeper’
is all about -- helping more of our young people stay on track; providing the
support they need to think more broadly about their future; building on what
works, when it works, in those critical life-changing moments. And when I say, by the way, building on what
works, it means looking at the actual evidence of what works. There are a lot
of programs out there that sound good, are well-intentioned, well-inspired, but
they’re not actually having an impact. We don't have enough money or time or
resources to invest in things that don't work, so we've got to be pretty
hard-headed about saying if something is not working, let’s stop doing it.
Let’s do things that work. And we shouldn’t care whether it was a Democratic
program or a Republican program, or a faith-based program or -- if it works, we
should support it. If it doesn’t, we shouldn’t.
And all the time recognizing that ‘my
neighbor’s child is my child’ -- that each of us has an obligation to give
every child the same chance this country gave so many of us. So, in closing, let me just say this. None of
this is going to be easy. This is not a one-year proposition. It’s not a
two-year proposition. It's going to take time. We're dealing with complicated
issues that run deep in our history, run deep in our society, and are
entrenched in our minds. And addressing these issues will have to be a two-way
bargain. Because no matter how much the community chips in, it’s ultimately
going to be up to these young men and all the young men who are out there to
step up and seize responsibility for their own lives.
And that’s why I want to close by
speaking directly to the young men who are here today and all the boys and young
men who are watching at home. Part of my message, part of our message in this
initiative is ‘no excuses.’ Government and private sector and philanthropy and
all the faith communities -- we all have a responsibility to help provide you
the tools you need; we've got to help you knock down some of the barriers that
you experience. That’s what we're here for. But you’ve got responsibilities, too. And I know you can meet the challenge -- many
of you already are -- if you make the effort. It may be hard, but you will have
to reject the cynicism that says the circumstances of your birth or society’s
lingering injustices necessarily define you and your future. It will take courage, but you will have to
tune out the naysayers who say the deck is stacked against you, you might as
well just give up -- or settle into the stereotype. It’s not going to happen
overnight, but you’re going to have to set goals and you're going to have to
work for those goals. Nothing will be given to you. The world is tough out
there, there’s a lot of competition for jobs and college positions, and everybody
has to work hard. But I know you guys
can succeed. We've got young men up here
who are starting to make those good choices because somebody stepped in and
gave them a sense of how they might go about it.
And I know it can work because of men
like Maurice Owens, who’s here today. I want to tell Moe’s story just real
quick. When Moe was four years old, he moved with his mom Chauvet from South
Carolina to the Bronx. His mom didn’t have a lot of money, and they lived in a
tough neighborhood. Crime was high. A lot of young men ended up in jail or worse.
But she knew the importance of education, so she got Moe into the best elementary
school that she could find. And every
morning, she put him on a bus; every night, she welcomed him when he came home. She took the initiative, she eventually found
a sponsorship program that allowed Moe to attend a good high school. And while many of his friends got into
trouble, some of it pretty serious, Moe just kept on getting on the bus, and
kept on working hard and reaching for something better. And he had some adults in his life that were
willing to give him advice and help him along the way. And he ended up going to college. And he ended up serving his country in the
Air Force. And today, Moe works in the White House, just two doors down from
the Oval Office, as the Special Assistant to my Chief of Staff. And Moe never
misses a chance to tell kids who grew up just like he did that if he can make
it, they can, too.
Moe and his mom are here today, so I
want to thank them both for this incredible example. Stand up, Moe, and show off
your mom there. Good job, Moe. So Moe didn’t make excuses. His mom had high
expectations. America needs more citizens like Moe. We need more young men like
Christian. We will beat the odds. We
need to give every child, no matter what they look like, where they live, the
chance to reach their full potential. Because
if we do -- if we help these wonderful young men become better husbands and
fathers, and well-educated, hardworking, good citizens -- then not only will
they contribute to the growth and prosperity of this country, but they will
pass on those lessons on to their children, on to their grandchildren, they will
start a different cycle. And this
country will be richer and stronger for it for generations to come.
So let’s get going. Thank you. God
bless you. God bless the United States of America.”.”
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