Cosby's Comments Why Are People Giving Him So Much Flak?

[mzwebfreak 0]

Okay, not sure if anyone remembers, but about a year ago, Bill Cosby spoke during the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. He chastied black Americans who are dishonoring those who fouhgt hard to tear down barriers by not "holding their end in this deal". This lead many liberal critics to take shots at Cosby for his failure to acknowledge the "systematic injustices" and "structrual barriers" that contribute to the problems of the black poor. Now there's this University of PA professor, and acclaimed "hip-hop intellectual" taking potshots at both the messenger and the message with his new book Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?. He criticizes for "mean spirited characterizations of the black poor" and when asked during an interview why Cosby's message seems so popular, he said "None of us want our children to be murderers or thieves. But he (Cosby) never acknowledges that most poor blacks don't have a choice about these things."

 

Excuse me? Since when does the color of your skin and/or your monetary abilities determine what will happen to you and/or what you decide to do with your life. Yes, granted, there is a heightened chance of you going the easy route whenever you can, but that doesn't mean the choice is not still there. I'm sorry if this pisses people off, but I agree with what Cosby said. Don't take a copout and try and say "oh, I'm black and poor. I don't have any choice." We're human beings- there's ALWAYS a choice. But, some people would just be more comfortable with saying it's not their fault rather than accept responsibility for their lives and their futures. I'm sorry, but I just read the book last week, and I'm tempted to just burn the darn thing.

[Tyssen 0]

Since when does the color of your skin and/or your monetary abilities determine what will happen to you and/or what you decide to do with your life.

Being black has got nothing to do with it but you can't deny the link between poor socio-economic conditions and crime. Sure everyone has a choice, but if you grow up in a poor, often violent background, you're not always made aware of all your choices, so it is even harder to not take the 'easy route'.
I don't know anything about your background, but I do know it's a lot easier for people who don't come from disadvantaged backgrounds to take the moral high ground and assert that there's always a choice when, until you've walked in someone else's shoes, there's no way of really knowing just what choices were made available to them.

[MaryAnne Der Esel 0]

It really is terrible to see how so many people are not taking advantage of the opportunities the previous generation fought so hard to win for them. I respect Bill Cosby for having the courage to stand up and saying the truth: something isn't right in America. There is absolutely no reason why African Americans in a disadvantaged economic situation should be as they are now. Why so much violence? Why the drug use? Why the gangs? Those who use the cop-outs you mentioned are definitely not going to help find a solution.

[Tyssen 0]

There is absolutely no reason why African Americans in a disadvantaged economic situation should be as they are now.

 

While blanket generalisations like that sound right, in reality, they just don't work. Until you know every single person's situation, you simply can't make a statement like that. You try telling the girl who was raped as a child, had a kid and turned to prostitution to support herself and the kid that there's no reason for her to be like that. Or the boy who was physically abused every day and grew up surrounded by violence so that all he knows is violence. I mean, if all he sees every day is people being beaten up, how's he to know any different?

[AbstracT 0]

My uncle and I just got finish talking about Cosby's remarks.. I believe his remarks were very true and he said something people only think about but never verbalized. The problem with this his remarks were that he was the wrong person to say them aloud.I mean he's chastising African Americans for buying expensive things they see on tv when they can not afford to pay for something educational for their children. The problem is that Cosby was a person who was commericalizing products pushing it onto African Americans, so how can he chastise his race if he hurt it as well. I mean everyone know that if Cosby was still in the prime of his career he would be pushing $100 sneakers or equipment on tv like other actors, music artists, and athletes. Now that Cosby is out of the spotlight all he has left is criticism that's misplaced.How dare Cosby criticize African Americans for purchasing expensive products when he was the main person pushing them in commericals. He was the 'African American' figure for CEOs of companies to reach that race comericially. He was the man that help put his race into the whole already dug by the white society. African Americans always had the short end of the stick, especially African American males. You turn on the television for news and the first thing you see is an African American male being locked up. When a white person does something it's not widely publicized on television and the newspaper as much as an African American male. People are being brainwashed by the media into believing African American men are the reason crime happens when it's not the case at all. The media force stereotypes.

[mzwebfreak 0]

In my opinion, I think part of the reason why the media "forces" sterotypes (an di"m not trying to use this as a justification, mind you) is that that is the general trend they were taught when they were in journalism school, because, as far as I know from mathematics, the main people in "power", as it were, in journalism, were just learning how to do it in the 50s and 60s, during the height of the civil rights movement, and the newscasters of that day probably wanted to ingrain in those impressionable minds that the blacks were the reason for all the evil in the country, so that they should focus on what the blacks were doing wrong, and what the whites were doing right. I'm not trying to put this out as a blanket statement or anything, but I do believe this attitude went into the way broadcasters were taught back then. Now, no I don't believe that the media today would show up the black negligence more than the white, if only for fear of an ACLU lawsuit. And no, I don't believe that Cosby is the main one to be hawking high priced merchandise in ads aimed at blacks. As far as I know, the only ads I remember seeing him in were for Jello pudding....since when is THAT high priced?

[AbstracT 0]

It doesn't matter if the Jell-o pudding was high-priced or not..Cosby was commercializing a product towards the African American community. The same community he says buy into the materialistic and commerical society. Yes it is Jell-o pudding and it doesn't cost much, but if Cosby was at the height of his career now, you better believe he would publicizing some $100 electronic device. Who is he to judge the African American community when he helped rich CEOs to sell products while he gets paid. I don't understand. He's casting stones at himself.