The far right says that it is a crazy liberal idea for Obama to talk to our kids

Obama will deliver his education speech from his black throne

by Joan Walsh

One of the greatest things about electing Barack Obama as president, for me, was his appeal to young people, especially disaffected kids of every group, including young African-Americans.

In a country where schools are overcrowded and underfunded (as liberals complain), while many families and communities can't or won't take their kids' education seriously enough, Obama has always been someone who's able to balance both critiques.

Obama speaks to young people with passion, conviction and humor (plus references to L'il Wayne that John McCain couldn't pull off) about taking responsibility for their own education.

So I was thrilled to hear he was going to deliver a back-to- school speech next week. I like seeing him play that paternal role, Father in Chief, not just for his own daughters, but for all of our children.

All of our kids need to be reminded that education is a precious opportunity they must seize, whether they live behind the high gates of a tony private community or in a violence-plagued housing project. After all the fighting of the summer, finally something we can agree about, right?

Wrong. I never imagined the outbreak of right-wing crazy that Obama's gesture would provoke, and this time it's hard not to see racism behind the hysteria. The message is "Obama's coming for our children!" the standard cry against scary boogeymen in every culture.

I mean, really, what besides Obama's race could make him so scary to these people? That he's a Marxist socialist fascist Nazi? I'd argue that the only reason those extreme epithets have taken hold goes back to reason No. 1: Our first black president is provoking some outsize and irrational reactions.

Especially since, as has now been well-documented, President George H.W. Bush addressed American students in 1991, and Ronald Reagan did so via C-SPAN in 1988.

See the rest of the Salon.com editorial at http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/?last_story=/opinion/walsh/politics/2009/09/04/obama_back_to_school_speech/

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