Obama refuses to back down in race row as he attacks 'absent black fathers'

Barack Obama has attacked absent fathers in an appeal for black families to take more responsibility for their children.

The Democrat nominee, who hopes to become the first black U.S. president, said government and business alone couldn't be blamed for problems in black neighbourhoods.

He said parents must 'provide guidance for our children' by 'turning off the TV set, putting away the video games, attending those parent-teacher conferences, helping our children with their homework, setting a good example'.

Mr Obama, 46, often talks about his own experience of being raised by a white, single mother and his grandparents. His black Kenyan father left the family when he was two.

Yesterday, he refused to be silenced by claims that he was 'talking down to blacks', and urged black men especially, to take more responsibility for raising their children.

Parents need to teach 'our sons to treat women with respect and to realise responsibility does not end at conception'.

'That what makes a man a man is not the ability to have a child but to raise one,' he added. 

Referring to complaints last week by civil-rights leader Jesse Jackson, that he was delivering moral 'lectures' to blacks, Mr Obama said: 'Now, I know there's some who've been saying I've been too tough, talking about responsibility.'

Accusations: Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson claims Obama is patronising blacks

But he told a meeting of the civil rights organisation the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People: 'I'm here to report, I'm not going to stop talking about it.'

Some Democrat analysts said Mr Obama was risking a possible breach with his black political base by his refusal to back down over the issue of parental responsibility.

But the largely black crowd, in Cincinnati, gave him a standing ovation.

The Illinois senator also pledged to stay firm on his 16-month timetable to end the war in Iraq if he beats Republican John McCain in November's presidential election.

Mr Obama has been accused of wavering on Iraq after saying he might 'refine' his policies depending on discussions with military leaders.

But in a speech in Washington, ahead of an upcoming visit to Iraq, he said his plan for a troop withdrawal within 16 months of moving into the White House remains his goal.

He has proposed adding about 9,000 troops to the 36,000 in Afghanistan. This would be made possible by a draw-down of troops from Iraq, he said.

Mr McCain, 71, said his rival should consult with military chiefs in the region before speaking out.