The Unkindest Cut

I'm so tired of writing this -- and some of you may be weary of reading it -- but it once again seems necessary, so here goes: There is, in our United States of America, no such thing as monolithic black opinion on anything. That most certainly is the case where Jesse Jackson and his worldview are concerned.

The same might be said about the so-called African American perspective on other such disparate issues as faith-based initiatives, Obama's word choices, wife Michelle Obama, hip-hop, shoe and hair styles, what's beautiful, what's ugly, abortion, gun control, watermelon, California wildfires, chitlins, pit bulls, personal responsibility, societal responsibility, the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church, Jeremiah Wright, the Nation of Islam, missile defense, the estate tax and half-smokes.

Sure, there are some unspecified number of African Americans who will nod and say "amen" when Obama takes black men to task for not living up to their responsibilities as fathers and husbands. Just as there are folks, such as Jackson, who get bent out of shape and accuse Obama of doing a "Bill Cosby" on black youths while ignoring societal conditions that cause the misbehavior.

And so it goes. As it ever has.

There's only one aspect of this episode that still concentrates the mind. Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) angrily denounced his father's comment, saying in part: "I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself."

Now there's a bright and courageous young man who, given his father's predilections, could do with an iron jock strap.

kingc@washpost.com