Lando 
Posted on 06/29/2005 7:30:23 PM PDT by Lando Lincoln
Jun. 29, 2005 - It came as a shock to many last year when Bill Cosby, one of America's top TV dads and comedians, strongly criticized low-income African-Americans, and then took that message on the road.
In a series of "Conversations with Cosby" held in cities with large urban and poor populations, Cosby has said African-Americans are not "holding up their end of the deal" and need to take more responsibility for their families and communities.
During these events, Cosby has been tight-lipped with the media, often talking only to columnists in order to promote his advocacy. But the entertainer invited "Nightline's" Michel Martin to sit down for an exclusive interview during his latest event in St. Louis. Martin shared a preview of the piece, which airs in its entirety tonight, with "Good Morning America."
Cosby calls his town meetings "call outs" and has traveled to 12 cities so far, spreading his message of personal responsibility.
He has lambasted "lower-economic people," parents who spend more on athletic shoes than education, and children who use poor English and curse constantly. He has said blacks need to stop blaming whites and take control of their children and their communities.
"Nine hundred kids enter many of these high schools, and 35 walk out with diplomas," Cosby told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "The rest are in prison, pregnant or wandering around doing nothing."
Critics have dubbed it the "Blame the Poor Tour," and blasted Cosby's remarks as hurtful and stereotypical.
Martin asked Cosby about those criticisms.
"I would say they are trying to move away from the problem," Cosby said. "They're trying to deal me some cards other than the hand that I'm talking about. I don't talk about the television set that works. I call the mechanic about that one that's broken."
However, his outspokenness has made him a target due to his own conduct, including current allegations of sexual misconduct. Prosecutors have declined to press charges, although a civil suit is pending. Cosby has publicly acknowledged that he had an inappropriate relationship outside of his marriage.
Martin asked Cosby if his own failures of judgment disqualify him from speaking about others.
"No," Cosby said flatly. "I couldn't care less what you think of me as long as you begin to execute that which will save your children."
He compared speaking out to warning others against mistakes he had made himself.
"You don't have to listen to me," he said. "But you're going to be very, very sorry."
Cosby grew up in a poor Philadelphia neighborhood, seeing little of his father who was a mess steward in the Navy. Cosby himself left high school in 10th grade to join the Navy, and later received his diploma from a correspondence course while still in the service. He attended Temple University on a football scholarship, and received a master's and doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts.
Cosby is the creator of Fat Albert and played Heathcliff Huxtable on "The Cosby Show." He has won four Emmy Awards, eight Grammy's, the NAACP Image Award, the Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award and is a member of the Hall of Fame of the Academy of TV Arts & Sciences.
Cosby and his wife Camille had five children. In 1997, their son, Ennis, was killed by a single gunshot to the head while changing a tire on his car.
Cosby has already taken his "call outs" to Atlanta; Springfield, Mass.; Newark, N.J.; Baltimore and Dallas, among other cities. He plans to continue his conversation in Cleveland, Kansas City and other urban areas.
The gun control is a cause of the problem. What you said about personal responsibility and entitlement are true. If you start out making someone feel helpless and oppressed, then you make them the victim, then they feel entitled. There are far more good black folks out there than bad ones, but they can't clean up their neighborhoods because they are all disarmed. Again, only the criminals have guns so the good folks are held hostage byt the complacent 911 system. And if they move out of their neighborhood, they are coined, "Uncle Tom".
< Bill wasn't basing his criticism on income group. >
I agree. It's the black "culture" that is in trouble. It's not about money. The message is high income...low income..."get control of your kids".
I disagree, personal responsibility is a requirement for good citizenship. The right to bear arms is to protect oneself from those who don't practice personal responsibility.
Personal empowerment from a weapon is what makes folks climb the clocktower.
Lando
Not just the criminals have guns in black neighborhoods, everyone does. A common misperception.
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.
If you own a gun in New York, DC, or Chicago you are a criminal.
bump
Cosby had a moment on stage where he asked how a black from Africa could get into college, but not a black from LA? I know a man, from Nigeria with two sons, one starts at the Naval Academy this fall the other is on their short list. He would not let his children do anything that would not look like they are men of honor.
We disagree and agree. I believe that the right to bear arms is fundamentally rooted in personal empowerment and responsibility. By choosing to own and operate a firearm for the purpose of self-defense, one imparts to oneself a sense of empowerment that one can defend themselves against aggressors who would otherwise have the advantage of overwhelming force.
In other words, one acts responsibly by exercising their right to own a weapon for a legal purpose - self defense or hunting. The act of ownership of a firearm is an act of empowerment.
Examine the effect on a car. Similar to a gun, ownership of a car lends to a person sense of empowerment - that they can go anywhere the roads go. A gun lends a person a more personal sense of empowerment, that they can defend themselves.
It is psychological. If people are taught to rely on government for self defense, to rely on government for handouts, then that is an act of disempowerment. Now, remove their "right" to empower themselves - to own a weapon, or to get a job, or place the bar of entry to empowerment too high, then you end up with a recipe for structural poverty.
Bill Cosby has it right, as does the original poster who linked "the right to bear arms" to "personal empowerment". It is the "right to" that allows people to empower themselves. Just giving people a job, a car, a gun doesn't do anything for them unless they empower themselves. Telling them that everything they have can be taken away, that they own absolutely nothing in the world, is another way to disempower people.
Psychology. Bill Cosby is fighting against the psychological indoctrination of the Far Left that has immobilized and disempowered the poor. Of course there are always those who pull themselves out of the ghetto, but the numbers could be higher if the programs that immobilize them are removed or reformed to provide a hand up, rather than a hand out.
It's pretty devesting getting shot by people on your side.
He may lose his effectiveness if he switches. He can donate to Teddy Kennedy for all I care as long as he keeps the speaking tours preaching personal responsibility.
Bill Cosby is a rich old man who doesn't have to do anything more. People who want to hear what he has to say are lucky he is willing to make the effort. Critics should just shut up and stay away, if they don't like it.
I think he needs to get a little more blunt with these media weenies and place the blame where it belongs, not on the victims --- the kids and kids who have kids, destroyed before they even have a chance. He should directly target the preps; --- the welfare and "social advocate" industry parasites from ACORN to the ACLU, who have built power and fortunes on the basis of perpetuating poverty, ignorance and dysfunctionality, based on race.
I have no doubt Cosby understands this fact. The question is, does he have the guts to voice it? If anyone thinks he's catching heat now, just imagine the S**t he'll catch if he does go after the high roller perps.
Cosby is a conservative, as it happens. A good one too. His advice is good. Skin color doesn't matter. It's your acitons that count. He pulled himself up from the street. He's a damn fine role model, provided the sex charges are false (which I am fairly sure they are). He educated hiimself, and made something of himself and now has a positive message. Libs should listen instead of calling it a "Blame the poor tour". He's not blaming the poor. He's saying many, but not all, poor blacks (though its good advice that could apply to any people) have bad habits that holds them back. And he's not talking about the poor blacks who are doing better and better these days and becoming middle class, because they don't need his advice clearly.
The "high roller perps" also include the media, the record companies, the movie studios, the TV networks. They, light years more than "social advocates" are to blame. It's a lot to take on.
I guess that if someone does AGREE WITH YOU COMPLETELY they are no good.
s/b doesn't AGREE
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