I wish I could say I am stunned. But it has been no surprise that parents -- mainly of the conservative ilk -- are opposing President Barack Obama's proposed speech urging America's kids to stay in school.

Whether it is finding a solution to the 47 million uninsured Americans or shoring up our national economy in a time of financial crisis and record unemployment, conservatives have attacked every effort this president has made to find workable solutions. He extends a hand across the aisle to include Republican lawmakers, only to have them spit on his palm.

This blind hatred is exacerbated by pundits who question his every move and motive and pander to a public that operates from raw emotions like fear, rather than a sincere desire to effect positive change.

Were President Obama to say he supports soft teddy bears for children, I am fairly certain conservatives would march in the streets in opposition.

In 1988, liberal parents didn't object to Ronald Reagan giving a speech to their kids, though they had grounds to. That speech, presented before a diverse group of middle schoolers, was broadcast into classrooms and homes across America. It was wholly partisan talk. In it, Reagan extolled the virtues of free-enterprise, lower taxes and strict adherence to a limited form of government. He mentioned the importance of studying science and mathematics, but he also stressed that it was equally important that the kids adhere to religious values -- the Judeo-Christian values of the Founding Fathers. He even threw in his own policy goals -- his desire for a balanced budget amendment and the Republican plan to reduce the deficit.

What was lacking from the speech was much talk about educational achievement or personal responsibility.

Not so with Obama's speech. Throughout, Obama plans to tell children that they need to take their educations seriously (read Obama's entire planned remarks here). That their future careers -- as nurses, firemen, physicians, journalists, social workers, businessmen and women, even president -- depend on learning their lessons in school. That dropping out of school is not just a personal let down, but a let down of the entire future of America.

Combing through the words of Obama's speech, it is impossible to find a partisan message. It is truly a statement that needs to be made: that the future of this nation depends on our kids working hard in school and taking their educations seriously. It is a statement of leadership by example: the speech is laced with Obama's own experiences as the son of a single mother who, at times, wanted to neglect his own studies but who arose at 4:30 in the morning to study alongside his mother before she left for work. It is a speech about individuals -- kids from difficult situations and backgrounds -- who overcame adversity and forged careers of academic achievement followed by real-life careers of distinction.

It is a speech of leadership, the kind of moral leadership that seems all too lacking in government officials today.

Sadly, it is a speech that many kids sorely in need of its lessons will not hear. They will not hear it simply because their parents are too close minded, too bigoted, and too fearful to allow their kids to listen to and be inspired by an intelligent, accomplished black man. A man who overcame adversity, racism, and the challenges of a broken home and, through education, became the president of the United States of America.

I wish I could be stunned. Instead, I can only be saddened that ignorance and prejudice prevail in a country with so much prosperity and promise.

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