Kobe already guilty of hurting black youth

Basketball’s Charles Barkley once said he wasn’t a role model. This is like the President of the United States saying he doesn’t want press coverage. Star black athletes have no choice about being role models. The only choice they have is what type of models they choose to be. On Wednesday, Kobe Bryant appeared in a Colorado court to face the rape charges against him. His innocence, or lack thereof, obviously has important personal consequences for the basketball superstar. But he already is a guilty man when it comes to the damage he has caused in the communities he influences the most. Our nation’s black youth idolise Bryant, but the example he sets undermines the very values family, marital fidelity, sexual responsibility crucial for their futures. Here’s what I am talking about: 60% of black children grow up in fatherless homes. 790,000 black men are in jail or prison; 70% of black babies are born to unwed mothers. 320,000 black babies are aborted annually.

Black political leaders love to blame this pathetic and depressing picture on racism. However, the messages of moral relativism and uncontrolled sexual passions that many black athletes and entertainers deliver to the young black men and women that worship them do far more damage than the feelings harboured by any white racist. Black Americans can’t control what racists feel. But we can control what we do. It doesn’t take an advanced degree in psychology to understand that children live by what they are taught. Children from broken homes with a father who does not go to work, love them and teach them about values and responsibility, will look to the outside for guidance, because there is nowhere else to look. Unfortunately, too often what they are taught by black athletes and black celebrities is that life is an empty ride, that it’s all about what you get and has nothing to do with who you are. Blacks have good reason to feel that they are shortchanged by mainstream American culture. Our Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning Texas’ sodomy prohibitions suggests to our vulnerable black community that private behaviour is of no public concern and that morality is unimportant.

So if Bryant is found not guilty of criminal charges, and he and his wife kiss and make up, everything is OK. Forget about the millions of black children who have received a message that personal conduct, sexual and otherwise, is not relevant to how they approach life. In addition, our politically correct public school systems play a key role in delivering the message to our black children that there are no objective moral standards for behaviour. Those schools have long dismissed the concept of education as the transmission of values and wisdom; instead, they deliver a message that the point of education is developing skills for financial acquisitions. However, if financial gain is emphasised, and values are not, some kids will decide that there are potentially more efficient ways to make money quickly than sitting in classrooms, ways that include dealing drugs.

The black community needs to restore its own sense of responsibility. As part of this process, we need to hold our black celebrities accountable for their behaviour. Black athletes need to start thinking about what their behaviour means outside the selfish, self-indulgent world in which they live. These athletes have received blessings outside the bounds of what most people will ever know. They must accept the deep responsibility that goes with this. They need to start thinking about the millions of lives they help destroy through the irresponsible examples they set and, more importantly, about the millions of lives they could save by setting a positive example. Black leaders business, political and religious should insist on accountability from our celebrities. Enough damage has been done by placing the blame everywhere except in our own community. Star Parker, founder and president of CURE, the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education, is also author of the upcoming book, Uncle Sam’s Plantation.