[Justin26878]

Bill Cosby recently made some harsh but true statements at an event organized by Jesse Jackson regarding the uneven successes of the black community, asserting that much of it is self-perpetuated. Many liberal blacks claim to be offended that he has ‘aired dirty laundry,’ but what’s confusing to me about that reaction is that what he said is stark and plain to anybody outside the black community. Indeed, while blacks in general understandably would prefer not to hear such assessments from outside of their community, the only people in denial of, or actively enabling, black failure from within have been from the postmodern left. Cosby was for the most part applauded for his honesty, and I came to the conclusion that the real beef is that blacks in general – who tend to be anti-tax, pro-business, patriotic and deeply spiritual – are becoming less receptive to the arguments of an increasingly extreme liberal establishment. What are others’ thoughts?

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Name : Justin26878, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Chicago, State : IL, Country : United States, 

[Mike]

I just read some of Cosby’s comments and agree with what he is saying. His comments can be taken as harsh but they needed to be said. Our ancestors died so that we could have the right to be educated and some of us just don’t appreciate it. Its sad to see little kids that can barely read and write but can recite all the lyrics to the latest songs. What sense does that make? Like Cosby said much of this can be blamed on the parents. If they don’t teach their children to value education, who will? Its like they leave everything up to the school systems. When I was a child my parents taught us basic things like reading and writing at home first. They made us (my brother and I) read books, write reports, and do math problems in addition to class homework. As Jesse Jackson said, ‘let’s fight the right fight’. Yes racism is prevalent but we can’t let that stop us. Why feed into the stereotypes? People already expect blacks not to be illiterate and not to succeed. They want to see us self destruct. So let’s fight back and educate ourselves. So I want to congratulate those of us who are getting educations and succeeding in life. We should also inspire others to persue education.

User Detail :  

Name : Mike, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 22, City : Detroit, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : Education, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jamie]

While I agree that there are cases where his comments would not apply, I think the uproar caused by his comments was largely due to the fact that the truth can hurt at times.

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Name : Jamie, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 28, City : Milwaukee, State : WI, Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Audrey]

You are correct. Facing ones truth is an extremely difficult task. Until my community can be honest with ourselves, we will continue to have these “unnecessary” challenges.

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Name : Audrey, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 36, City : Tampa, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : Diversity Consultant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Gina]

Unfortunately, when some prominent blacks speak they are seen as representatives of all black people, i.e, the postmodern left you speak of. Many blacks support and agree with Bill Cosbys statement, some don’t (btw, I agree w/Bill, I’m black and consider myself VERY left wing). When children don’t do well in school and in their community, often that negative behavior can be traced to the home and parents. I must say, however, I understand how hard constructive critisim is to take when you represent a group of people who are often portrayed and treated as ‘losers’.

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Name : Gina, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : black/indian/white, Religion : Atheist, Age : 48, City : Hercules, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : researcher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Tressie Cottom]

While I agree with many of your assertions let me clarify that it isn’t so much ‘liberal blacks’ who had a problem with Bill’s speech. His comments offended many of us across a pretty broad spectrum. Now, I was not one of those offended. I agreed with pretty much everything said as did MOST black americans. However, I understand the anger of some. The division came in the company in which the statements were made. Your conclusion about ‘the real beef’ is, I believe, erroneous. The real issue for some of us is the belief that with all the negative stereotypes held by the majority culture one as successful as Dr. Cosby should not break rank and speak poorly of us where white people can hear it. That is why some were offended. Fair or not, those that felt that way have some merit to their fear. Some want to be careful that the words of one, no matter how widely shared the belief, isn’t used to roll back issues important to us. To say some of what ails us is self inflicted is fair, but to use that to negate the positive contribution of legislation and federal intervention is scary for those who fought so hard for them.

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Name : Tressie Cottom, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 28, City : Charlotte, State : NC, Country : United States, Occupation : copywriter, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Sagittarius]

You said – ‘I came to the conclusion that the real beef is that blacks in general – who tend to be anti-tax, pro-business, patriotic and deeply spiritual – are becoming less receptive to the arguments of an increasingly extreme liberal establishment’. This is a dream. A wish, in my case. Black people today are for anything that smacks of anti-authoritarian/anti-establishment which has led, among many other things, to the freeing of a double-murderer with glee (OJ) to demanding better treatment in social issues (education) by pouring more and more money to them without significant results. Blacks are, in general, not patriotic. Bill Cosby was not only right, he only touched the tip of the iceberg. Would that the black community could read and understand his words.

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Name : Sagittarius, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Episcopalian, Age : 54, City : Hartford, State : CT, Country : United States, Occupation : Police officer retired, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Bert]

Cosby was right and the truth often hurts. There is a large and growing faction of blacks in this country that, though silent, have very much the identical feelings that Cosby does. Although we do not have the same advantages as whites, often of lesser mettle and ability, the opportunity to raise our living standards in this country can be realized with diligence and effort. There will always be a spectrum of intelligence, potential, social level & drive in EVERY group. With the glass ceiling being somewhat raised for minority groups, the separations will continue to become more evident and that is a GOOD thing.

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Name : Bert, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 51, City : West Palm Beach, State : FL, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Tracyee]

I believe Mr. Cosby’s assessment were on point. No matter where the comments appeared african american who fit into the uneducated and Mr. Cosby lived in the inner cities and had to face blatant racism in his struggle to make it in show biz. African americans must stop blaming others for our problem–i.e. incaration, welfare, homicide rates and disportionate single family homes. We make conscience decisions when we fire a gun, sell drugs or continue to have kids ! We need to think first and then react! I was not raised with a silver spoon in my mouth, I come from a broken and abusive home. But decided I did not want to live like most of my family on welfare; so I made up my mind to take a different route in life. We must motivate ourselves and take responsibility for our own children. The school system is not responsible for teaching your child manners, respect or basic what’s right/wrong skills.

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Name : Tracyee, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 34, City : Glassboro, State : NJ, Country : United States, Occupation : computer tech, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Nicole]

I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with Cosby but usually upper class blacks and those of us still at the bottom have very different views. Much like the fact that most black republicans happen to be upper class and are highly supported by whites. This has always been the trend and it really doesn’t surprise me that most white people agree with Cosby. I respect your opinion but it’s easy to come up with the answers when you’re on the outside looking in.

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Name : Nicole, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 20, City : Tallahassee, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : College student, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jackson]

You said his statements were ‘stark and plain to anybody outside the black community.’ That’s because people outside the black community, including Bill Cosby, have the advantage of being able to ignore many of the problems that the black community faces and just assign blame. While I do agree that there are many elements within the black community that enable ‘failure from within’ as you put it, things aren’t as simple as you may believe. Sure, you can tell black youth to stay in school, but when they live in an area where the high schools have a teacher to student ratio of 1:40 and no money for textbooks, the chances of learning anything, let alone getting into college aren’t very high. Black people aren’t stupid, they know that getting a diploma from a barely-funded school isn’t going to do them much good. And when someone is faced with the choice of going to a school full of hopelessness or dropping out so they can get a job so their younger siblings can get enough food to eat, there isn’t much choice. And when you can’t get a job because the only jobs available to dropouts is part-time at McDonald’s for minimum wage but won’t hire you because they already have a full staff of dropouts, crime is often the only option to survive day to day. Is it a good thing? Of course it’s not. But people like you, Bill Cosby, and me, have no right to criticize them for doing what they need to do to survive. Your statement reminds me of the attitude of a certain French Queen who, when told that the peasants had no bread, replied, ‘let them eat cake,’ because surely everyone has a private chef to make them cakes every day. Maybe if you got out of your ivory tower and went down to a poor neighborhood you could see what kinds of horrible choices poor people, black and white alike, have to make every day. Maybe while you’re down there you can stop telling people how to fix their lives and lend a helping hand instead.

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Name : Jackson, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 19, City : Tucson, State : AZ, Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, 

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