Mark My Word: Obama's Review of Ayer's Book

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"By Their Words Ye Shall Know Them"

By Janet Crain


Contrary to Bill Ayers just being "a guy in my neighborhood", as Barack Obama has so famously stated, it seems he was a person Obama knew well enough for whom to write a glowing book review. As well as share an office with for at least three years.

There have been mentions of the existence of his review of A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court (Beacon Press, 1997), in a few media outlets, including CNN, National Review, and American Spectator. But there was no direct Web link to the review itself — only citations of it. It has now been obtained and generously shared. Turns out the review was very short; the short quotations attributed to it are in fact the entirety of the review. But it was accompanied by a photo of Obama, standing by his statement. The review was part of a column called "Mark My Word," in which Chicago notables praise their favorite current books.

Just a few weeks before this review was published in the Chicago Tribune, Obama and Ayers appeared together on a panel about juvenile justice organized by Michelle Obama on November 6, 1997:

In his book, Ayers deplores the following;

Children who kill are called "super predators," "people with no conscience," "feral pre-social beings" — and "adults."

William Ayers says; "We should call a child a child. A 13-year-old who picks up a gun isn’t suddenly an adult. We have to ask other questions: How did he get the gun? Where did it come from?" And other simular claptrap.

Reportedly Ayers thinks society should do away with prisons. This is understandable considering so many of his friends are there.


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