Cosby unplugged

[Sarge]

MINORITY REPORT
Bill Cosby: Poor blacks can't speak English
NAACP leaders stunned by remarks of prominent comedian

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Posted: May 20, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38565


© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

In the presence of NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and other African-American leaders, comedian Bill Cosby took aim at blacks who don't take responsibility for their economic status, blame police for incarcerations and teach their kids poor speaking habits.


Cosby made his remarks at a Constitution Hall event in Washington Monday night commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision that paved the way for integrated schools, reported Richard Leiby in his Reliable Source column for the Washington Post.

Leiby said Cosby's remarks were met with "astonishment, laughter and applause."


When Cosby finally concluded, Leiby said, Mfume, Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert and NAACP legal defense fund head Theodore Shaw came to the podium looking "stone-faced."

Shaw told the crowd most people on welfare are not African American. He insisted many of the problems his organization addresses among blacks are not self-inflicted.

Cosby said, according to Leiby: "Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids – $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.'

He added: "They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!"

The Post said Cosby also targeted imprisoned blacks.

"These are not political criminals," he said. "These are people going around stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake and then we run out and we are outraged, [saying] 'The cops shouldn't have shot him.' What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?"



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[NoCalMike]

well to be fair though, a petty thug stealing some pound cake, should not warrant a bullet through his head. I mean come on.

[Ax]

Cosby spoke the truth. Not the only truth, but it's still the truth.

Good thing he isn't white though, he'd be run out of town on a rail for making rascist statements. There would be no let up from the likes of Sharpton and Jackson until he was fired from whatever job he had, gone on every talk show in the country sobbing and begging for forgiveness, and donated his life savings to the Inner City Youth Foundation.

:dallasuck

[Muskrat]

I must actually applaud Cosby for stating exactly what he is seeing...sure, noone probably wanted to hear that, much less at a commencement ceremony, but MY parents taught me to take responsibility for my own actions...and THAT is what Cosby is saying that is what the people he was speaking about need to do. Accountability seems to be a lost art in this country....for everyone...it's high time that the crutches of "society, welfare, etc" be removed and we simply hold people responsible for their own actions.

I do agree that if a person of the cuacasion persuasion said this, there would be a huge racial uproar....

[semiskin]

I couldn't agree more with his statement. And it doesn't only apply to African-Americans but to Hispanics and Caucasians. It does fall on the parents.

[kappaluvacee]

I have had some concerns regarding the current status of the NAACP for years. Cosby did speak many truths about the lower-economic community. He made an over-generalization, but we all know there is some truth to most stereotypes. I grew up in a low-income environment and I have to admit that many of the things I grew up around were contradictory to a successful future. My mother always instilled value in my younger brother and I, yet I chose a different path in life than he chose and we went into opposite directions. Given the fact that we had the same parental instructions you have to attribute some of this reason for the way we turned out to the environment. I never hung outside in the hood because of the drugs and violence, but he loved that whole scene. To get back to the point I'll say this of Cosby's comments, I have encountered poor parenting at a higher concentration in poor environments. I work in the juvenile justice system and I have many friends that work in the area of education. We share similar stories regarding the apple not falling far from the tree. Cosby was clearly trying to get people’s attention. He accomplished that. Blacks and anyone offended by his statements should take a clear look into what he said and the level of truth in the statements he made. The real outrage is the platform he used to deliver the message, being the 50th anniversary of a major civil rights moment. If you are from the hood or spent any time in the hood you know how many people you see with Jordans the day they come out. I think he let many lower-economic people off the hook by not stating the occurrence of Luxury cars or cars with rims etc. parked in the hood or at Section 8 housing. We all know that the vast majority of people on welfare are whites, but that is a play on stats. They do make up the highest population on welfare, but minorities make up the highest concentration of people on welfare per capita. Bill gives so much back to the community for educational opportunities for young blacks trying to carve out a successful path in life. If anyone can get a pass for the statements he made, it's him. It would have been interesting to see what Martin Luther King would think of the current state of affairs in the black community.

[Larry]

I think, if I were a parent, I'd be of the opimion that "Dr." Cosby is more honest, and more concerned with the well-being of my children, than "Queasy" (isn't he one of Saddam's kids?" is.

(OTOH, I have no doubt: Many parents, if they hear about this at all, will say that Cosby's only saying that because he's "trying to be white" or some such garbage.)

[Cskin]

I believe Cosby is on to something. Now... not all of the low income family's problems are self inflicted...an example being the horribly inadequate inner city public schools... but it might appear that a good place to start would be to focus on the perceptions he commented during the commencement address.

Cosby isn't considered a leader of the African American community. There is a good reason for that, he's not spouting the same "blame someone else" mantra of the likes of Sharpton, Maxine Waters, and Jesse Jackson.

A true African American leader would be denouncing rap music that glorifies disrespecting women and killing cops. A true leader would be denouncing the burgeoning problem of single mothers being abandoned by men... a problem creating a multitude of other problems in terms of children growing up without father figures. Harvard did a study examining the dropout rate of students and the relationship to homes without a father figure. Overwhelmingly the statistics indicated children of single parent (mother) homes suffered from low self-esteem and low motivation that resulted in a much faster dropout rate.

Ebonics should not be embraced by today's society. It's common sense to believe that people unable to speak standard english, however limited, are at a distinct disadvantage to those who can. No sales industry or any customer service based industry are going to hire an individual who cannot speak proper english to their customers and potential customers.

When it's community acceptable to buy your children $500.00 sneakers instead of a program to improve his/her reading and language skills that costs more than half as much.... a true problem exists.

[Drex]

"I couldn't agree more with his statement. And it doesn't only apply to African-Americans but to Hispanics and Caucasians. It does fall on the parents."

I agree with this 100%.

[Riggo-toni]

In fairness, Jesse "Mr. Shakedown" Jackson has denounced rap music and ebonics on several occasions.

The real hypocrisy comes when discussing welfare. When politicians want to reform welfare, they are branded as racists or Nazis by black politicians like Rangel; but when criticisms like the one Cosby voiced are made, they are quick to point out that whites make up the majority of welfare recipients and they cry out "racism" to any associations made between African-Americans and welfare. Um... so if there's no correlation between blacks and welfare, why would wanting to cut welfare be racist? The same double speak occurs during debates over affirmative action. Jesse constantly points out the the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action are white women, but then claims anyone who wants to dismantle it is just a racist... :doh:

[HamptonVA]

Comments are a funny thing, I know what he is meaning but he came across with some very inappropiate statements. I happen to be in the lower economic class but I am also a very articulate person with college education.BTW, my parents didn't buy me expensive sneakers, I had hooked on phonics.

[Cskin]

Hampton... it sounds like your parents had priorities and cared about your future in this country. They instilled in you the values and need for the skills that would place you on a level playing field. I think the cusp of the argument is that the majority of minorities, african American or Hispanic or other, aren't taking that initiative.

[codeorama]

Cosby is 100% correct. I'm shocked that he said it, but he's right.

If a white person had said this, it's no telling what would happen.

[geezings81]

The Coz! :point2sky

[Ghost of Nibbs McPimpin]

It's good Bill said this because his wife essentially blamed White America for her son's death in a column. The fact that the dude that killed her son was a scuzbag and a Ukrainian immigrant apparently escaped her.

Anyways, Chris Rock had a better argument against "whites make up the higher pct of welfare" :"So?! They f-ed up, that means we can be f-ed up too?!"

Besides, as kappa(donna--jk) just pointed out, whites only make up a majority but not proportional to their population numbers. It's the same with the prison population(if not more disproportional)

[Oldskool]

Bravo, Bill Cosby. Bravisimo!!

The truth sometimes hurts.

[Woofer]

I don't see why Cosby's comments need be only applied to African Americans.
It is not a color or race thing, it is an education thing.
I live in Central PA, and you would not believe the atrocities commited here against the English language. It makes me cringe.

Now I am not a grammartenarianologist by any means. But I can get by with the basic skills learned in High School.

[BlitzFiftySix]

It makes me think of my co-workers 14 year old who tried to leave for a dinner with his family and their friends wearing his baggy pants hanging low on his hips. My co-worker grabbed the pants by the belt loop and raised them over his boy's head in a wedgie like fashion while chastising his son. The embarrased boy ran like hell back to his room to change into something that fit more appropriately.

I laughed my self sick when I heard the story repeated at the office.

I wish more parents would take that approach with language and
behavior.

[twa]

To me it all comes back to taking responsibility for your self and your family.The decisions you make and the priorities in your life.I have worked hard to instill values and responsibility in my children.They are taught that they are accountable for thier decisions and the consequences of thier actions.These values if applied will help no matter your race or economic situation.My family was poor yet by hard work and responsible actions we have improved,the schools and family situations can improve if we demand more of our selves.THANKS BILL!