Michael Smerconish | WHY BARKLEY'S BACKING THE BLACK GUY

September 27, 2007

CAN A candidate's skin color ever be a legitimate, non-racist reason for supporting him for president?

The politically correct answer is no. But Charles Barkley has never been guided by the path of least resistance, and he offered me the race of Barack Obama as a rationale for his support of the Illinois Democrat - and made some sense doing so.

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.

Give him credit for consistency. Sir Charles has spent decades telling Americans to fish their role models from outside the ponds of athletics or entertainment.

Remember his infamous Nike commercial? "I am not a role model. I'm not paid to be a role model. I am paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court. Parents should be role models. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids," he said back then.

That Barkley's presidential politics are fueled primarily by economics is clear.

Throughout our conversation, he stressed his disgust with what John Edwards - the man Barkley supported during the last election - refers to as the Two Americas:

"I'm obviously very disappointed in the Republicans because, really, America right now is about economics. It's rich against poor. And the Republicans have done a really fantastic job of widening the gap."

Bridging that gap, in the oft-analyzed mind of Sir Charles, involves fixing a badly broken education system and providing economic opportunities to America's poorest citizens in its most ravaged neighborhoods.

He's clearly thinking about Philadelphia when he offers his rationale for Obama. Barkley still spends a lot of time here and told me he is "hurt and discouraged" by what he reads about in the city's newspapers every day:

"The black-on-black crime, the lack of us getting our education . . . we are on such a downward spiral." Within a day of Barkley's comments, the city recorded homicide number 300 in 2007.

I told him that the most necessary role model is a dad who stays at home and disciplines the boys he fathers. Barkley acknowledged that absentee dads are part of our country's problem with out-of-control sons, but he also demanded that America's poorest citizens demand more from themselves as well.

"We as black people, we have got to do better. And like I say, I wish our neighborhoods were safer, but they're not. I wish our schools were better, but they're not. But we know that now. We know our neighborhoods are not safe. We know we're not getting a quality education in some areas.

"So we know that now. But to go out and kill each other, not work harder to get our education, only enhances the problem."

At one time, if you told me that a celebrity would support a presidential candidate based on skin color, I would've called that abhorrent. But so desperate is the situation with African-American youth committing black-on-black crime that I'm not offended by Barkley's thinking. To the contrary, I welcome his frankness and think his tie-breaker is valid.

That's why I'd offer the same sentiment for Colin Powell. *

Listen to Michael Smerconish weekdays 5:30-9 a.m. on the Big Talker, 1210/AM. Read him Sundays in the Inquirer. Contact him via the Web at www.mastalk.com.