Because, you know, hope is crazy audacious, but not that audacious. Obama was in Georgia yesterday (talk about audacious hopes), and in a speech to a town hall meeting in Powder Springs, gave the mostly African-American audience a message of “tough love.” Speaking about the importance of staying in school, he seemingly aimed some comments directly at young black men:
“You can’t find a job, unless you are a really, really good basketball player which most of you brothas are not. I know you think you are, but you’re not,” he said to murmurs and laughter in the crowd. “You are over-rated in your own mind. You will not play in the NBA. You are probably not that good a rapper. Maybe you are the next Lil’ Wayne, but probably not, in which case you need to stay in school.”
Okay, I know I’m not the next Lil Wayne, but couldn’t I just be the next Yukmouth? That’s all I ask, is one top-20 hit, then I promise I’ll go back to school. You know, Obama may be mistaken about the path to rap stardom, since even if you do stay in school, you might accidentally end up a hip-hop superstar: as Vulture points out, Lil Wayne attended the University of Houston. Sure, in poli-sci, but still. More importantly, what happens after Obama’s president for eight years, and then in 2020 we suddenly have a shortage of great rappers and basketball players? That doesn’t seem like sound economic policy, since those are two of the only things America still corners the market on.
