Obama Tells NAACP Confab He’ll Keep Talking About Black Fathers, Personal Responsibility

By: Michael H. Cottman

Sen. Barack Obama told thousands of NAACP members Monday that as America's first viable black presidential candidate, he is following in the footsteps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many other courageous civil rights activists who were staunch advocates for social justice and equality for African-Americans.

"It is because of them; and all those whose names never made it into the history books -- those men and women, young and old, black, brown and white, clear-eyed and straight-backed, who refused to settle for the world as it is; who had the courage to remake the world as it should be -- it's because of them that I stand before you tonight as the Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America," Obama told a capacity crowd attending the 99th annual convention of the NAACP in Cincinnati.

"And if I have the privilege of serving as your next president, I will stand up for you the same way that earlier generations of Americans stood up for me -- by fighting to ensure that every single one of us has the chance to make it if we try," Obama said. "That means removing the barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding that still exist in America. It means fighting to eliminate discrimination from every corner of our country. It means changing hearts and changing minds and making sure that every American is treated equally under the law."

Obama Tells NAACP Confab He’ll Keep Talking About Black Fathers, Personal Responsibility....