Post by GoTres on May 25, 2004 8:38:50 GMT -5
Pretty long (apologies) but well worth the read. I heard about this at work and found it on the Washington Post. The writer is a black man who adds his comments at the end.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46717-2004May21.html
'Fix It, Brother'
By Colbert I. King
Saturday, May 22, 2004; Page A27
Bill Cosby came to town this week to help Howard University, the NAACP and the NAACP Legal and Educational Defense Fund commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, and to accept an honor with his wife, Camille, for their philanthropic work. When the event was over, some folks in the elite gathering at Constitution Hall left with their jaws tight. Cosby, in their view, took the opportunity to say some things that they thought he ought not to have said at such a glittering Washington gala.
Cosby, contrasting the achievements of civil rights giants of the past with today's generation, observed that a lot of "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.' "
("Fix it, brother," as they used to say at Liberty Baptist Church.)
Continuing, Cosby said, "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!"
("Welllll," as the late Deacon Gaines used to say.) Cosby, referring to civil rights leaders, declared: "These people marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around."
The famed comedian and author didn't cut anyone any slack, even the brothers in jail. "These are not political criminals," Cosby declared. "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?"
("Umph, umph, umph!" could be heard in the choir. ) Cosby went on like this, it is said, for some 20 minutes.
Earlier in the day I was down in LaPlata helping the College of Southern Maryland commemorate the Brown decision's 50th anniversary. Ironically, the same "then and now" contrast on the status of African Americans came up during a question-and-answer session after my address.
Whether Cosby should have used Monday night's upscale D.C. event to share his observations about the state of black America may be open to question. That what he said needed saying, however, is not at issue.
Fifty years ago few if any children in my neighborhood went to school hungry. Oh, we may not have carried a nutritionally balanced lunch in our brown bags. And breakfast may not have satisfied the recommended standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But bellies were full of something when we left home and when we went to bed at night, and it didn't fall to the government to do the feeding. Time was you could leave your doors unlocked. Your mother could walk to church meetings at night without a male escort. A child didn't have to fear strangers. And no boy would ever, ever think of robbing a helpless old man.
Here's another post-Brown truth: The lowest marriage rate of any group belongs to African Americans. Nearly 70 percent of our children have unmarried moms, and an equal percentage -- one source puts it at 80 percent -- will grow up without the presence of their dads.
Cosby's wrong about one thing. It's not just low-income folks. A lot of us aren't holding up our end in this deal.
kingc@washpost.com
He continued his rant in a speech at Stanford on Sunday. Here's the link if y'all are interested in that one. He does go a little further. www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/8743664.htm?1c
It's about time.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46717-2004May21.html
'Fix It, Brother'
By Colbert I. King
Saturday, May 22, 2004; Page A27
Bill Cosby came to town this week to help Howard University, the NAACP and the NAACP Legal and Educational Defense Fund commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, and to accept an honor with his wife, Camille, for their philanthropic work. When the event was over, some folks in the elite gathering at Constitution Hall left with their jaws tight. Cosby, in their view, took the opportunity to say some things that they thought he ought not to have said at such a glittering Washington gala.
Cosby, contrasting the achievements of civil rights giants of the past with today's generation, observed that a lot of "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.' "
("Fix it, brother," as they used to say at Liberty Baptist Church.)
Continuing, Cosby said, "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!"
("Welllll," as the late Deacon Gaines used to say.) Cosby, referring to civil rights leaders, declared: "These people marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around."
The famed comedian and author didn't cut anyone any slack, even the brothers in jail. "These are not political criminals," Cosby declared. "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?"
("Umph, umph, umph!" could be heard in the choir. ) Cosby went on like this, it is said, for some 20 minutes.
Earlier in the day I was down in LaPlata helping the College of Southern Maryland commemorate the Brown decision's 50th anniversary. Ironically, the same "then and now" contrast on the status of African Americans came up during a question-and-answer session after my address.
Whether Cosby should have used Monday night's upscale D.C. event to share his observations about the state of black America may be open to question. That what he said needed saying, however, is not at issue.
Fifty years ago few if any children in my neighborhood went to school hungry. Oh, we may not have carried a nutritionally balanced lunch in our brown bags. And breakfast may not have satisfied the recommended standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But bellies were full of something when we left home and when we went to bed at night, and it didn't fall to the government to do the feeding. Time was you could leave your doors unlocked. Your mother could walk to church meetings at night without a male escort. A child didn't have to fear strangers. And no boy would ever, ever think of robbing a helpless old man.
Here's another post-Brown truth: The lowest marriage rate of any group belongs to African Americans. Nearly 70 percent of our children have unmarried moms, and an equal percentage -- one source puts it at 80 percent -- will grow up without the presence of their dads.
Cosby's wrong about one thing. It's not just low-income folks. A lot of us aren't holding up our end in this deal.
kingc@washpost.com
He continued his rant in a speech at Stanford on Sunday. Here's the link if y'all are interested in that one. He does go a little further. www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/8743664.htm?1c
It's about time.
