Bill Cosby attacks some in black community again

Great Debates
1

The following is from CNN.com.
"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.”

[…]

It appears that Jesse Jackson is even taking a break from the “blame whitey” bandwagon for a moment. I found Cosby’s comments about “dirty laundry” and his citing of some of the horrors and sacrifice of the civil rights movement and comparing it to the behavior of many african-americans today particularly effective.

Yes, I’m white. That doesn’t mean that I can’t see some of the same problems Cosby does. But his voicing of them is infinitely more effective than mine would be. Many blacks in the United States will not improve their lives until the mirror is, in fact, turned around.

And before the screaming begins, let me make an attempt at a few preemptive strikes.

No, I don’t enjoy the plight of many blacks and I am not a racist.

Yes, there are many successful blacks and you can’t lump them all together and indicte them as a whole.

Yes, many others of all races behave in the negative ways Cosby references.

All of that said, facts are facts. Dropout rates, addiction rates, arrest rates, test scores, out of wedlock births…the list goes on. All of them reflecting badly on the african-american population in the United States. And all of them are behavoir related and controllable. Cosby is simply trying to shock and shame people into making the right choices earlier in life. I hope he succeeds.

[Edited down out of copyright concerns. Links or SHORT excerpts only, please --Gaudere]

2

Right, more feel good yelling. Yeah, that’ll work. I call Bill Cosby full of it…typical, “I have mine and you’re a bunch of losers because you’re embrassing me in front of my friends…”

If Bill Cosby REALLY WANTED to change this, he would do more than scream about the lower classes in a room full of rich people.

You don’t like the music? Then use some of that dough to promote musicians that don’t scream nigga over and over.

You don’t like the way these kids are educated, then use some of that dough to create schools that actually value these kids.

Don’t like the crappy neighbourhoods, then offer low interest loans so they can purchase their own homes. Go on tv and tell the press that police need to do a better job of policing.

You don’t like Black guys beating their women (WTF)! because they don’t have jobs, then use some of that dough to create real freaking work for these guys, better yet create quality childcare so these women can work for themselves.

No instead he rants and rages about what a bunch of losers black people are, excuse me SOME black people are.

I would LOVE the power to toss you into one of these horrible neighbourhoods, not for a week, or a year but a couple of freaking generations and see how long you control your behaviour…

Facts are facts…

3

Bill Cosby puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to charity and trying to help his people.

And those neighborhoods are horrible because the majority of the people in them choose to engage in negative behavior toward themselves and each other.

4

As Cosby grew up poor in a housing project yet made it through hard work and valueing an education he probably has a pretty good idea of what he’s talking about. He paints in broad strokes but there’s a lot of area to cover.

5

I agree that most of the problems are behavior-related; however, the behaviors are the product of generations of problems…most of which are very complex. I don’t think the remedies are simple. One thing is for certain: the cycle has to be broken. If all Cosby does is get people to think – to take those first steps in changing the behaviors that have plagued the African-American community for decades – he will have done a great service to all of us.

I think black people have created a new culture in the last three or four decades. Their music, slang, demeanor…is something they own – good or bad-- and they identify with it. Resistance to change that culture can probably be traced back to when they were forced to lose their culture back during the days of slavery.

I agree with Cosby regarding his remarks about casual use of the “n” word, the disregard for educational opportunity, and what a slap in the face it is to every person who fought in the trenches of the civil rights movement (and the abolition of slavery, for that matter). I also agree that its up to the individual parents to nurture their families in ways that will put cultural icons into perspective and shine a brighter light on individual self-worth and achievement. This is difficult to do when you have to work two or three jobs and can’t watch over your children as closely as you want. Or if the only examples of parenting were those of addiction and violence. It’s difficult to change these behaviors, and (boy, I can feel the flames already!) I firmly believe it cannot happen on a large scale without social programs to bolster their efforts.

6

Holmes, so unless any of us actually pay for and build a school or run a record company and sign artists, we have no right to complain?

I think Bill Cosby is going a little ‘scorched earth’ lately, but he DOES contribute monetarily to the community as well.

7

Yeah. Sure. Throwing money at the situation will solve everything. :rolleyes:

Why do I not see you pointing a single finger at these idiots who make PERSONAL decisions to act the way they act, learn (or not learn) the way they learn, and talk the way they talk?

How about a little personal responsibilty for making their own situation better instead of blaming everyone around them and claiming that it all boils down to money?

This lifestyle is a personal choice for many blacks. There are a TON of black kids back home (Chicago suburbs) who grew up in decent homes and had ample oppurtunity to make something of themselves yet they chose to go buy cell phones and spend money on cars and weed instead.

Fuck em I say.

8

[QUOTE=holmes]

Um, Cosby grew up in the slums of Philadelphia. He was raised pretty much only by his mother because his father was never around (he was a mess steward in the Navy).

Seems he was able to control his behavior just fine.

9

But then you end up having to literally pay for thier behavior choices by funding the burden they create on the criminal justice and social service systems with your tax dollars.

Each person that breaks the cycle benefits themselves and others in a number of ways. Primarily by contributing to society instead of taking from it.

10

Look Cosby made specific complaints, he has the money and power to directly influence if not actually become an agent of change.

What contributions? Show 'em to me. Show me one grant for low interest housing loans, show me one grant for small business in these neighbourhoods, show me a charter school.

Giving dough quietly is worthless, when you’re screaming to the national media, that black folk are losers. Excuse me SOME black folk, the ones that beat up their women.

11

Why should all of those negative statistics reflect badly on “the african-american population,” whereas the negative statistics for whites reflect badly only on those who are actually engaged in the negative behavior? It kind of reminds me of the contrast between the treatment of Jayson Blair (“see? minorities are not qualified to be journalists!”) and Jack Kelley (“he’s a bad apple!”). Somehow, the sins of a minority of African-Americans (and it is a minority at least in education and teen pregnancy, and probably other categories as well) get imputed to the “community” whereas the sins of a minority of whites are imputed only to that minority. I realize that the percentages for African-Americans in these categories are higher, often noticeably higher, but I’m not convinced at all that it’s majority behavior.

Cosby implicitly recognizes that we still live in a society where the sins of a minority of people of color are imputed to the entire community of people of color, so to end the culture of racism that still exists, African-Americans have to be better than whites. Whites have the luxury of being able to pin their dirty laundry on the ones wearing it. African-Americans do not. Their dirty laundry is viewed as the dirty laundry of all of them, and used to judge all of them. It’s not fair, it’s not right, but it is the United States as it is.

12

For Christsakes Cosby grew up when the world was a much different place. Ignoring racism for the moment, you couldn’t make more money selling dope than you could driving a bus when Cosby was kid.

The same drive that drove Cosby to be a success, is the same drive that pushes these kids, the difference is it’s not 1950.

You didn’t have a disfunctional school system NATIONWIDE. You still had a tax base in the inner city, with small business AND working and middle classes living and working together.

It is not 1950 anymore.

13

When approximately fifty percent of the prison popultion comes from 15 percent of the general population, you have a systemic and cultural behavior problem.

The same goes for illegitimate births and other statistics. That’s why “the community” is refered to.

14

Of course ignoring bias in law enforcement, sentencing, access to birth control, education…this stuff just happens 'cause black folk are like that.

Facts are facts…

15

I grew up in a tough neighbourhood, noting compared to what’s out there now, but it wasn’t Riverside and it was over 30 years ago.

My parents sent me to private school…they threw money at the situation

My parents sent me away to summer camp to keep me of the streets…they threw money at the situation.

My parents did lots of things to make my life better, but in order to do that they needed access to resources to change the situation.

Sure I made choices to keep out of trouble, but the biggest part of that was removing me from the trouble or at least pushing it back a step.

just saying.

16

You were asking about Bill Cosby using his money to help the community. I am hard pressed to fins someone who has done more to give back to his community than Bill Cosby. VERY many VERY large VERY public donations. 20 million to Spellman college is an easy one to find. I also, in a very brief search, came across many other donations in the 100,000 to one million range.

17

Last time I checked there are more poor white folks than black, they are just spread out around the country rather than being clustered in some urban settings, so I think we can rule out the fiscal and educational matters. There is certainly some compelling data out there that a subtle and unintentional conspiracy exists against blacks due to their arrest rate or imprisonment rate, though I have only seen stats posted here rather than researched them myself. And I know first-hand that there are plenty of white crooks, drug dealers, etc., in suburbia and out. No question. But let’s not lose sight entirely here. Unless you’re suggesting that there is unfair prosecution in the sense that a great number of blacks in jail are innocent, there is still a problem. It doesn’t go away because “white folks commit more crimes yaknow”. Does it?

18

How does giving to Spellman College help the type of people Cosby is railing against?

19

Darn right. Thankfully, Cosby has done more than that. In fact, he’s done a hell of a lot more. His financial contributions to educational funds attest to that, as do his words.

Besides, there are times when some aptly chosen words can do a lot more than a few thousand dollars ever can.

20

You can throw a million dollars at parents and highschools but you can’t force them to make the right decisions with money, Holmes. Your parents used their money wisely. Assuming that just giving families a check for whatever amount will solve all of their problems and stop rap artists from using the word Nigga too much is ridiculous.

People of all cultures need to take responsibility for their own actions and behaviors regardless of past history of their neighborhoods, families or the reputation that precedes them.