Charles Barkley swears he’s not a role model, but he thinks Barak Obama would make a good one. From an article in the Philadelphia Daily News, we get this goodie:
Sir Charles is prepared to lay his sword on Sen. Obama’s shoulder in part because of Obama’s pigmentation. But the thinking goes deeper than “I’m a black guy, so I’ll support another black guy.” Barkley believes Obama is uniquely qualified among the candidates to be a role model for African-American men, who are in desperate need of someone to emulate.
“I think he’d be a great role model for the bigger picture,” Barkley said, “because all our role models now are athletes and entertainers. And we’re lost.
“And I feel bad . . . I don’t know what you can do, but we’ve got to find a way to let young black kids know it’s all right to get your education. It’s all right to dress nice and carry yourself with great dignity.
“I want young black kids to see Barack on television every day. I think he’d make a fantastic President, but I look more at the big picture. We need more blacks who are intelligent, articulate, and who carry themselves with great dignity,” Barkley said.
I ain’t gon’ front, I hadn’t really thought of that angle, but on its face, that argument does seem to have some validity. Iff the idea of a distant role model really holds water at all. I don’t know that I’m quite sold on that, though. Not exactly. I agree that Obama, or another person like him, might make a good role model, particularly since he represents a path to success other than athletics or entertainment. Only limitation to the distant role model - or at least the main one, is that it represents a distorted perspective. I realize that when we use the term ‘role model,’ we’re semantically talking about a positive example of how to behave, but the truth is that role models actually come in both versions - positive and negative. And no matter which version is around a given person (not just children or adolescents. Adults have role models too.), the local role model will normally have significantly more impact than the distant one.
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