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In general I agree with Bill Cosby's comments. I think a lot of what he said, many have said to each other, over dinner, in the barber or beauty shop, in their living rooms, for a long time. I differ on the blanket indictment of "the poorer class" and the romanticized view that the middle and upper class have it together. Our Black parents, for whatever reason, are failing across all socioeconomic lines and that is disturbing. I see many Black families who have "made it" whose children are a mess. I also see "lower class" families who are holding it down. It is bigger than a class issue.
I feel that you have to decide what you are trying to accomplish and choose your efforts from there. If we are trying to keep another generation of children form being lost, by God we all need open our mouths, take our legislators to task and save America's public schools. We need to volunteer our time to reach these kids and to reach these parents. It is not enough to point fingers and place blame. It is also not enough to focus all our efforts on kids going to college. While they need our support, the only way to increase the numbers who are graduating is reaching them when they are small. We have to put in work to make a difference. Not just flap our gums. At the head start center my chapter runs, it is clear that efforts to assist the parents impacts the children. Better off Black folks need to do more than look down their noses and shake their heads if they want to see a change.
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