Posted on 11/20/2004 4:18:43 PM PST by wagglebee
ATLANTA (AP) -- Bill Cosby said Thursday that there is an undercurrent of anger behind the problems facing black youth in America today, and that it is up the older generation to help turn things around.
"Our children are angry. The profanity is out in the street. It's on the buses and in the subway. Our children are trying to tell us something, and we are not listening," Cosby said in a speech at Frederick Douglass High School, named for the 19th-century black man who became an abolitionist leader and an adviser to President Abraham Lincoln.
The Atlanta visit was part of Cosby's tour of the country speaking to young black men and women about morals and responsibility.
During previous speeches, the 67-year-old comedian has criticized some black children for not knowing how to read or write, said some had squandered opportunities the civil rights movement gave them and unfairly blame whites for problems such as teen pregnancy and high dropout rates.
About 3,000 overflowed the high school gymnasium to hear his remarks, which largely were addressed to parents.
"We're loaded with wisdom. We've got to open our mouths. We've got to stop this thing," Cosby said.
"Our children want to cry. Our children want to be hugged, and we're not giving it to them," he said.
"You have to know your power. You can see it in your history. Just go to an old person and say `How did you do it?"' he said. Cosby said one of the most pressing problems is young men fathering children and taking no responsibility.
"I'm saying to you men, please, for goodness sake, if you got children, even if you don't have a job, go visit them and explain how sorry you are," he said. "There are teachers in the United States who cry in the daytime because they see a child or children who haven't eaten properly, children who haven't used soap in so long.
"You can't tell me that this is all the white man's fault," he said.
"Everybody is not a victim," Cosby said as he began to tell the story abour Brown vs. Board of Education, and the legal team that overturned school desegregation.
"They beat back the white bigots with their brains," Cosby said. "When I look at 55 percent of our black men dropping out of school, how bad off are we going to be when we need some lawyers?"
Most of the audience members seemed supportive of Cosby's comments. Claire Walker, who works at IBM and lives in Decatur, said she got off early to hear him speak.
"It's something that should have been said a long time ago," Walker said. "Our leaders aren't taking responsibility for the youth of black America."
Walker said she is from the Caribbean, where people don't understand the attitudes and actions of many black youths in the United States.
"I just don't understand parents accepting mediocrity," she said. Henry Joyner III, who graduated from Douglass High in 1982 and is now a middle school teacher, said the turnout was good.
"This is the central issue in black America -- the education of our youth," Joyner said.
Douglass ninth grader Orientrius Cook said Cosby "is very powerful, and he spread his wisdom."
Cosby hit home when he talked about unwed parents, he said.
"I see a lot of girls who are pregnant. If they had a father figure, some of this wouldn't be," he said.
Cosby tells it like it is here--and this also applies to today's white community.
Unless it's in NYC, where they've suspended 'no child left behind' because of overwhelming requests to move students.
"Oh Eddie, Bush is evil and we must listen to what Mr. Kerry says" "Waaah no Mom!!!"
ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!
Too funny!
I think Cosby's statements apply to all people, not just blacks.
When I was growing up (when we had to walk through the snow to school), I could not watch TV on school nights, I had to have an after-school activity etc...
I swear, I have never seen so many fat kids as I do today. I think they just play video games.
"Our children are angry. The profanity is out in the street. It's on the buses and in the subway. Our children are trying to tell us something, and we are not listening,"
I dont think they are angry; I think that they are poorly raised.
Ill give anyone another chance if they are sincere. He's way out on a limb here and deserves praise.
""Everybody is not a victim," Cosby said"
Hey Bill, at 67 years of age it is pretty nice that you are doing this. It's nice that you are pointing these things out.
But, when you were young, making your riches on the TV, just how often did you stand and speak this boldly? As I recall, not often at all. Perhaps you were storing your wealth and keeping quiet b/c you planned to take this offensive this late in life. But, I doubt it. You played a nice family doctor with a 'normal' family. Riggghhhht. And you raked in the dough, bit time.
How many young black men, who are on TV today making millions in sports, are you encouraging to talk NOW about this topic? How many rap stars are you barging in on during their recording sessions, and slamming them for the utter darkness of spirit coming from that filth? And, oh yes, how often do you say out loud that churches and faith can play a huge role in fixing this mess?
But we don't hear of these kinds of creative tactics on your part. Now, you are just pointing your finger, and pointing out that its a mess and saying people should 'grow up'. I offer you this suggestion: get a HECK OF A LOT MORE RADICAL THAN THIS. After all, you are not getting any younger.
You see my point Bill: TV, being sold out to TV is the key. You have little to lose, now, by leveraging that point.
I know that Bill Cosby has supported Jackson and some other leftist politicians in the past. I'm not sure about donations to any truly radical groups. IIRC most of his money has gone to scholarship programs and I commend him for that.
http://newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=CA&last=Cosby&first=William
This is so very true. I listened to it myself during my many years of teaching at a black college just a short distance from the high school where Cosby spoke. The young men were particularly angry at having grown up without fathers in their lives. The young women generally expressed their feelings in more subtle ways, but when they reached young adulthood, almost all of them had nothing but hatred for black men, including the young men who had fathered their own children (or soon would). I am so very, very glad Cosby is bringing it out into the open.
*sigh*
I guess she's not hearing what Cosby is saying. It is NOT the responsibility of black leaders to fix what's wrong with the black community. The abandonment of children by black fathers has been most of the problem.
Your sister teaches at Roosevelt?
My opinion of Mr. Cosby's addressing of this issue is as it always has been: He's right.
He is focussing on what needs to be done rather than political connotations. That's why I give him a pass when he chafes at those of us on the Right who point to what he is saying. Truth be told, his message trumps everything else.
Well over $25 million in donations to Black Colleges...now he's putting his mouth where his money is.
Oooh! Could you imagine the nuclear fallout if he said that he is onboard with vouchers?
From your keyboard to God's CRT, j.
true, but there are plenty of republicans who neglect their children, take for example my parents, I never had a father figure because he was always at work, trust me this is not just a dim-o-rat problem its a white/black/asian/mexican/democrat/republican/ etc.. party, although the numbers may be higher for certain groups there is still a major problem with familys of every type all across this country
I disagree with your generalization and morally relative equated positioning -your definition of neglect may be slightly different than that of a which the article refers... -lets say your definition is a more 'liberal' definition
The morally corrupt village concept is at the root of the democrats 'agenda' -a selfish agenda that sacrifices morality and innocence by rationally denying moral truths... -this elitist social engineering permeates societal strata regardless of parental status --neglect would encompass NOT protecting children from the morally liberal...
Neglect takes many forms.
A father who works all the time and does not make nay effort to emotionally connect with his children is just as abusive as a father who physically assaults his children.
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