Obama's winning formula: education, responsibility

I hope two other issues get as big a boost from their association with President-elect Barack Obama as his Hartmarx suits.

Education is the first issue. It has been an ongoing struggle for education to garner much prestige in many poor urban neighborhoods, places that need it the most. And that’s a shame, because it wasn’t always that way.

We used to know that education was the way out of poverty, the path away from rough situations. Study hard, get a good education and oh, the places you’ll go, as Dr. Seuss would remind us. The “smart” kids in poor neighborhoods held a certain level of respect from their peers and elders, because they were considered people on their way up in the world.

But something happened in the ’90s. Education lost its cachet in the ’hood. Kids wanted to see immediate results from education. “Show me the money” became the mantra. A lot of entertainers — casting themselves as thugs (never mind that for many it was just an act) — became the dudes everyone wanted to be. Their good life was a flashy one with lots of possessions but little substance. No one talked about the value of education. Instead, it became a badge of honor to be a dropout and survivor of the streets.

Those students who still took education seriously often found themselves ridiculed. Some were actually discouraged from seeking an education, as if learning was an insult to one’s heritage. And with few role models, education also started to look like the impossible dream for those still considering it.

But with the ascension of Obama, anyone can see it’s cool to be in school. With Obama, we have a man of color, someone who comes from humble beginnings, and yet education was a steppingstone to his becoming the most powerful leader in the free world.

I like that Obama makes no bones about the fact that sometimes getting an education wasn’t easy. He often brings up the story of his mother waking him at 4 a.m. for three hours of schoolwork before he left for the classroom and she went to work. Yet the two of them continued to do so because education mattered. That’s a powerful lesson.

I’m hoping we’ll see an uptick in kids from even the poorest neighborhoods realizing that an education can be theirs, too.

That brings me to the second issue. A lot of newscasters seem to view the next president’s reputation as “no drama Obama” as somewhat amusing. Not me. That’s an attitude I’d like to see trickle down to our younger generation.

Too many young people think a life of negative drama and upheaval is the way it’s supposed to be. They see it in their neighborhoods, on shows such as “Jerry Springer” and sometimes in their own households. They see life approached with little responsibility so that chaos is an everyday thing.

But now we’ve got a president who likes things calm, rock-steady. Someone whose early life wasn’t always easy, and when he had a choice, he rejected drama. Instead he decided to work hard, get married — then have children — and his idea of drama was running for — and winning — the presidency.

More school, less drama. My hope is that Obama’s winning formula will be emulated by the next generation.