Bill Cosby has more harsh words for black community.
 

Bill Cosby has more harsh words for black community

Thursday, July 1, 2004 Posted: 8:25 PM EDT (0025 GMT)

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Bill Cosby went off on another tirade against the black community Thursday, telling a room full of activists that black children are running around not knowing how to read or write and "going nowhere."

He also had harsh words for struggling black men, telling them: "Stop beating up your women because you can't find a job."

Cosby made headlines in May when he upbraided some poor blacks for their grammar and accused them of squandering opportunities the civil rights movement gave them.

He shot back Thursday, saying his detractors were trying in vain to hide the black community's "dirty laundry."

"Let me tell you something, your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day, it's cursing and calling each other n------ as they're walking up and down the street," Cosby said during an appearance at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition & Citizenship Education Fund's annual conference.

"They think they're hip," the entertainer said. "They can't read; they can't write. They're laughing and giggling, and they're going nowhere."

In his remarks in May at a commemoration of the anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation decision, Cosby denounced some blacks' grammar and said those who commit crimes and wind up behind bars "are not political prisoners."

"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," Cosby said then. "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."

Cosby elaborated Thursday on his previous comments in a talk interrupted several times by applause. He castigated some blacks, saying that they cannot simply blame whites for problems such as teen pregnancy and high school dropout rates.

"For me there is a time ... when we have to turn the mirror around," he said. "Because for me it is almost analgesic to talk about what the white man is doing against us. And it keeps a person frozen in their seat, it keeps you frozen in your hole you're sitting in."

Cosby lamented that the racial slurs once used by those who lynched blacks are now a favorite expression of black children. And he blamed parents.

"When you put on a record and that record is yelling 'n----- this and n----- that' and you've got your little 6-year-old, 7-year-old sitting in the back seat of the car, those children hear that," he said.

He also condemned black men who missed out on opportunities and are now angry about their lives.

"You've got to stop beating up your women because you can't find a job, because you didn't want to get an education and now you're (earning) minimum wage," Cosby said. "You should have thought more of yourself when you were in high school, when you had an opportunity."

Cosby appeared Thursday with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the education fund, who defended the entertainer's statements.

"Bill is saying let's fight the right fight, let's level the playing field," Jackson said. "Drunk people can't do that. Illiterate people can't do that."

Cosby also said many young people are failing to honor the sacrifices made by those who struggled and died during the civil rights movement.

"Dogs, water hoses that tear the bark off trees, Emmett Till," he said, naming the black youth who was tortured and murdered in Mississippi in 1955, allegedly for whistling at a white woman. "And you're going to tell me you're going to drop out of school? You're going to tell me you're going to steal from a store?"

Cosby also said he wasn't concerned that some whites took his comments and turned them "against our people."

"Let them talk," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/01/cos....ap/index.html

I'm curious, why did you post this?

Not my fight. Not my people. Not my experiences.

-Rudey

The previous article generated a lot of interesting discussion. Is that okay?

yeah, ok. Just asking.

well- all my friends of racial minority are basically like Cosby, I think: they dont fit the stereotypes.
Bethany gets crap for not being "black enough"- whatever that is.
LaTia and Patricia get some, but Patricia more for playing rugby- apparently that's not a black woman's sport.
Maria and Roberto are similar on the latino/a front: they take pride in their heritage but they're not digging into stereotypes the media puts out on how they should run their lives.

So... Go Bill!

Bill is a good man that means well...

Bill Cosny is 100 percent correct with his views. After coming home from college in May my mom asked me to pick up my sister at school. I went to the same same school 11 years ago. It was and still is a great school I think, but the language of the kids like Bill Cosby says is horrible. Whats the solution for this problem? I dont know.

I don't think that his words are particularly harsh. I think that many children don't learn what it takes to become successful adults. An education is essential for anyone who wants to get ahead.

The language used when describing his remarks bothers me. I've seen "tirade" and "harsh" when I don't think either describes what he was saying. But Dr. William Cosby speaks the truth!

The media, particularly in the area of entertainment have gone a long way to shaping our language and behavior. Children are more impressionable than most and more likely to emulate people they see on television (entertainers particularly). Parents really need to take a stand here and let their kids know who is and who isn't a good role model. We could blame the media, but they are only selling what people are buying. It comes down to parents who don't take responsibility for the information that their kids are exposed to.

I'm not a parent myself, but I believe it's a huge responsiblity that people often do not take seriously.

Once again, I agree with you. I get upset when the media cover his remarks and present it as if blacks were so outraged and shocked. When he first made his remarks, the black people in the audience cheered and most of the commentary among blacks that I have heard since has been in agreement with what he has said. I hate it how people want to think that the problems Mr. Cosby has identitfied are are not ones that many others have been frustrated about and trying to come up with solutions for.

You've got hundreds of community organizations, including my own, working with kids every day trying to fight these external influences coming at them. You have protests going on at Black college campuses (i.e. Spelman). You've got hundereds of thousands of parents meeting with each other trying to organize against the music industry, etc. etc. etc. By the way, none of these things include sitting around waiting for the government to do anything. Why aren't these things being shown more so people can see it and jump on the bandwagon? Could it be that the media consistently opts out of covering things like this??? hmmmmm.

So, yeah, I hear what Bill is saying and all that, but I would have prefered reading/hearing about more things that are being done by those people who were glad to hear him say what he said! I would have even wanted to hear more about what HE has done, which is a LOT, for these causes.

That would be too much like right. What we are seeing in the media is a little bit more digestable for some folks.;) There is unrest in the Black community and I think some folks feed off of that.

Here's my conspiracy theory as to why this doesn't take place. Take it with a grain of salt, because I do. But anything is possible I guess;)

Media companies are often part of large conglomerates. For the media to publicize these efforts that could potentially create a large swelling of public sentiment against certain recording artists would go against their bottom line. Viacom who owns CBS ALSO owns MTV. I'm sure they own at least one or more record labels as well. Why would they want to create protests against themselves?

It's really not that huge of a stretch. Viacom and other TV networks give screen time to the movies, books and other such ventures within their organization and they present it as part of the news (or the entertainment segment).

So that's my conspiracy theory. :D

I think you're right.

And, as kev and phasad have noted (but i'll extend a bit), many of these companies are actually profiting in various ways. It's a tough egg to crack.

ktsnake:

Viacom also owns BET (Black Entertainment Television)...

It you watch some of the shows, you can see what Bill is talking about...

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On that note:

I could say many a thing and it would be too long to explain. So I will break it down to just this:

I think Bill Cosby is full of shit.

It has to do with a cultural asili and the utamawazo.

Bill has gotten too bourgeoise for "us"...

Is he a sell out, yet? I wouldn't go far as to say that.

Would I say, condemn the "white man"... I wouldn't say that either.

Of course some negroes need to own upto their problems like Bill is describing.

But the question is, how would he know what is going on in the "hoodie-G" when he ain't livin' in one???

I could write something glib, but I would rather not 'cuz I just do not want to go "there" right now...

I can write this as pithy as you'd like... But, I really would like to keep it civil...

I guarentee if this thread loses civility, it will get locked up--more than likely due to what I could say...

So let us ponder my comments--especially if you have seen them before and know how I write--and PM me if you want to further discuss...

It's McDonalds, not MacDonalds.

So the conspiracy theory grows....

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What are the cultural asili and the utamawazo if you wouldn't mind explaining? Those are terms I've never heard.

The black "community" still has a sense of "us". Which to me is a foriegn concept. So I'll admit that any understanding I have of this is obviously not first hand.

My personal outsider opinion is that Cosby has some legitimate concerns about his race. He's put his money where his mouth is and has donated millions of dollars to charities like the NCF other important programs that help AA young people become upwardly mobile.

When whites and other races reply to Cosby's remarks as "Not my fight, not my concern", I think it's a problem. Not just the plight of one race, but poverty in general is everyone's problem. When we see poverty so concentrated on one segment of the population, we really need to look at ways we can fix that.

What Cosby is saying is that ultimately, the problem will not fix itself and folks have to start clawing their ways out of the inner cities. They have to fight for what they want and they have to conform to the norms of society in order to succeed. I really think his message is on-point and needed. To my ears, it's a welcome substitute for the messages of victimization and entitlement that have become far too common.

His message is tough, but it's empowering. It leaves the outcome up to the individual. If you work hard, you can succeed. Much better than messages of victimization and entitlement that tell people that there's no point in trying because success is impossible.

Who have you heard say this?

-and I want names.

That's my personal take on it.

If someone else agrees with me, then I think they're very astute:D

So basically, you made yet another generalization. That is going to be your downfall buddy. I hope you get that together.

I agree with him and I am very astute.

If you want to sum up the messages of the "Rev." Jesse Jackson and the so-called "Poverty Pimps" (a name given to them by right-wing folks that I think is very descriptive), yes, that is fair. You don't have to look very hard to find examples of Jackson taking the side of a "victim" who is clearly not the victim.

How about the messages that pop culture sends to our young people? Modifying their speach patterns, etc. to be different than those of successful people?

Do I think that Jackson is a speaker for the entire black race? Nope. I don't think anyone really is. Do I think Cosby's message is more positive, empowering and uplifting than Jacksons or what you'll find on MTV/BET? Yes.

Consisder yourself lucky. They're terms that were brought into the African American/Africana studies lexicon by Dr. Marimba (Richards) Ani, in her book Yurugu. In a nutshell, the asili represents culturally structured thought. Ani would say that the idea of European cultural supremacy is an example of the Caucasian/European asili. The utamawazo is the act/state of putting the asili into action. It's how a culture -- European, African, or otherwise -- structures its collective thought patterns and influences the culture so that all within it adhere to it.

If you're not a student of philosophy, they're kind of dense concepts. Even if you are a student of philosophy, it's some chewy stuff.

ktsnake, are you sure you're not a closet Liberal? :D Seriously - this is probably one of the better responses I've seen to this whole issue about "their" issues versus "our" issues. If you're human, it's your concern. If you're a citizen of the world (or even a Citizen of the United States), you should be concerned that there are more African American men in prison than in University -- no matter what your skin color/race. I should be just as concerned about the poor whites in Appalachia as I am about the poor blacks in public housing projects.

Mine too. I'm not blind enough to say that we can ignore the effects of history and economic/social discrimination, but dammit -- we're (meaning Black Americans) are decendants of people who chose to survive. We're stronger than we realize - and that's what I get out of messages like Cosby's and others. We need to start looking in the mirror and asking ourselves what we can do to better our individual -- and thus, our collective --realities. Like MJ said, start with the man in the mirror and ask him to make that change.

I don't really have much to add, just that I think yours was an excellent post.

In general, I think that people who attended AUC schools (esp. Morehouse and Spelman) do not view Cosby in a very postive light. But, maybe it's just me.

I don't know. Depends on your definition of liberal. I don't think liberal always means that you value common sense and empathy. I don't think either side of the aisle has a monopoly on that.

Thanks for your explanations of those concepts by the way. They are pretty worthy concepts, however, they just don't seem right. Perhaps because they don't fit too well with my preconceived notions. Interesting concepts nonetheless.

Cosby is giving a pep talk to folks that need to wake up. I don't think it's just blacks he's speaking to either. I think he's speaking about what America's culture has become over the last few decades. If someone disagrees with his speach, I'd like to ask them, which part, exactly, do they have a problem with?

I think you're on to something here. I know he was speaking in front of a black audience when he made those comments, therefore, he tailored his message somewhat, but his basic message crosses all ethnic/cultural boundaries. What I got from his message is that Americans should learn to expect the best of ourselves (and of each other) and that we need to stop paying homage to mediocrity.