Posted on 05/25/2004 1:38:14 AM PDT by The Raven
Bill Cosby has provided a lot of laughs for millions of Americans over the years but black "leaders" were not laughing after he lashed out at those black parents who buy their children expensive sneakers instead of something educational. He also denounced both those children and those adults in the black community who refuse to speak the king's English.
"Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads," Cosby said. "You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth." He also mocked those who referred to "the incarcerated" as "political prisoners."
At this gathering on the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, some in the audience laughed and applauded but the pillars of the black "leadership" establishment -- the head of the NAACP, the head of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the president of Howard University -- were "stone-faced," according to the Washington Post.
Theodore Shaw of the Legal Defense Fund then "told the crowd that most people on welfare are not African Americans, and many of the problems his organizations has addressed in the black community were not self-inflicted."
Other groups are not perfect -- but is that an excuse for doing self-destructive things?
Bill Cosby and the black "leadership" represent two long-standing differences about how to deal with the problems of the black community. The "leaders" are concerned with protecting the image of blacks, while Cosby is trying to protect the future of blacks, especially those of the younger generation.
Far from just bashing blacks, Cosby has given generously to promote black education. But he is still old-fashioned enough to think that others need to take some responsibility for using the opportunities that were gained for them by "people who marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education."
Now, in too many black communities, dedicating yourself to getting an education is called "acting white."
These are painful realities and they do not become any less real or any less painful by hushing them up. Nobody enjoys being made to look bad in public. But too many in the black community are preoccupied with how things will look to white people, with what in private life would be concern about "what will the neighbors think?"
When your children are dying, you don't worry about what the neighbors think. When the whole future of a race is jeopardized by self-destructive fads, you put public relations on the back burner.
There are still whites out there who think that blacks are innately incapable of achievement -- and some of them support affirmative action for that reason. But there is plenty of evidence that innate ability, or even developed mental skills, are not the big problem.
Not only blacks with low test scores, but even blacks with high test scores, do not do as well academically as whites with the same test scores. Among Asian Americans, it is just the opposite. They do better than whites with the same test scores, whether in educational institutions or in economic activities.
Years ago, Cosby urged a group of young blacks to put more effort into their studies, the way Asian students do. "Do you know why they are called Asians?" he asked. "Because they always get A's."
The differences among all these groups are in one four-letter word that you are still not supposed to say: work.
Anyone who has taught black, white, and Asian students will know that they do not work equally. Studies show it but you don't need studies. Just go into a university library on a Saturday night and see who is there and who is not there.
In some places, you might think it was an all-Asian university, judging by the students in the library on Saturday night.
How surprised should you be when you go into a classroom on Monday morning and find out who is on top of the work and who is struggling to keep up?
What Bill Cosby said was no laughing matter. It is closer to being something to cry about.
Minority and special interest groups will be blaiming whites for their troubles (Bill Cosby won't get an invite).
The left is in denial. And Mr. Cosby points out - it's a cover-up as well. The left cannot say they've been wrong all these years - so they must allow their handywork to crumble and decay. ---------------------------------------
Also, here's a few snippets from today's Wall St. Journal editorial:
He's not backing down. At Stanford University Sunday, after a speech to teachers, Bill Cosby didn't mince words when he spoke of parents not doing right by their children. "Some of these children," the San Jose Mercury News quotes him as saying, "have been raised like pimps."
[SNIP]
By week's end Mr. Cosby had issued a statement pointing out that most of the news accounts dropped the context within which his remarks were delivered: a 50% high school dropout rate for inner-city African-American males that he rightly characterized as an "epidemic." In other words, Mr. Cosby's argument is that 1) a 50% black dropout rate ought to be regarded as a national scandal in a post-Brown America; and 2) dysfunctional behavior is dysfunctional whatever one's skin color.
Surely it says something about Mr. Cosby's critics that they are more disturbed by his speaking out than they are about the underlying crisis he's trying to address.
I would venture a guess, he's talking about "political prisoners" like Mumia Abu-Jamal?
The writer Taylor Caldwell summed it up best in her autobiography years ago.. liberals are the true racists. Where would they be without the "downtrodden" minorities?
Admittedly, a far cry from "The Chicken Heart That Ate New York." :)
Bill may as well talk to the wall.
That is very true. However, it seems most of them were outside smoking. :o)
Don't recall seeing too many blacks in the library though.
It's as if the schools and the music and all that are purposely bad to dehumanize that community.
-The Offspring, Americana
He's definitely funnier-at this moment in time-than Dick Gregory.
What was the last funny thing that he did; except for offering Walter Hudson the opportunity to lose weight?
I just received that shirt from Protest Warrior. I expect it will cause liberals heads to explode.
I know this is going to get me in trouble, but, after listening to Zell Miller, along with a bunch of other southern politicians, why do they hang on to this extreme southern accent, (which grates on northern ears), and contributes to the stereotypes of bubbas? It's like a form of eubonics for white dodo birds.
"...why do they hang on to this extreme southern accent..."
For the same reason people in Baaastan hang onto theirs.
The great thing about living in the South is that people don't worry about how they sound. People are judged mainly by their deeds.
>> why do they hang on to this extreme southern accent,
And then there's the British !!
Thisd is interesting to mw also; "Progressive" was once a code word used in place of "communist"
The world is a circle.
Regards,
I see Mr. Cosby's popularity and evidence of his solid values - then I view those critics of his. I believe Mr. Cosby lives his conviction.
It still is a code word for communist.
Indeed.
The bulk of black parents, when explained what vouchers do and how they work, support them and their implementation. But the black establishment; especially those in the education sector, are either not given the whole story, or are complicit in keeping the public schools behind.
I think there are folks who fall into both categories.
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Let's not be charitable with them. It's the latter. They know exactly what they're doing.
I was just sitting here wondering how long it would take for the black community to call Bill an "Uncle Tom."
I appreciate what Cosby is trying to do. He's provided every positive example he can, over the years. He's tried every positive approach to the Black community. It must be frustrating to see progress stay stymied. He's been beating his head against the wall for years. What he is trying to do here is beat THEIR heads against the wall. This latest attempt, on his part, to make positive changes might appear to them to be "negative." But, they need to hear the truth.
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