I agree that the comments about the condemnation of a whole people were a bit much. However I also believe that he speaks the truth. There are those out there who are not doing what they need to do to secure the futures of their children. His approach leaves something to be desired but his message is one that needs to be heeded. As black folks, African Americans, whatever you consider yourselves.. we get upset when someone within our race points out our faults. Would we feel better if some average Joe wrote the same words.. I say again the media might not have been the best place to do it but it needed to said. Also, we need to stop making all our problems the "white mans" fault. Take some responsibility for our own actions. I have friends that fit the discription that Bill brought out. The ones who think that their daughters "dropping it like its hot" is cute but the same daughters cant read at 7 years old. There is something wrong with that...but that view is abundant in our young and old alike.
I do not agree with the way it was done but I agree with some of the points made. My grandmother scrubbed floors for my father and his siblings to survive.. but now a honest days work is beneath this generation. I have worked since I was 13 and have worked ever since... it is about what you will do to make yourself (and your family) and your community a better place... If Bush gets his way Welfare reform is coming and even though there are more white folks on welfare the impact that it will have on our community is the driving force.
Be mad at the man for the way he did it.. but heed what was said... we are lossing our children... and that is not "da mans" fault.
Bill Cosby has made an excellent point. It is time for there to be personal responsibility taken for one's own actions. The aboundance of crime in our communities is not due to racial discrimination, but rather a lack of "rugged individualism" that built this nation.
We have, for too long, stayed on the fence for assimilation into American culture, prefering instead a sub-culure lifestyle. This alienation tells out youths that it is acceptable to use drugs, be sexually active, and commit crimes to better their lot within society. When the ramifications for these actions occur, the perpetrators tend to blame outside influences instead of taking responsibility. Too much influence is placed on "what society can do for me" rather that "how can I be a productive member of society". The government is not a place for a handout, and even though whites numerically take advantage of "welfare", we are disproportionatly enrolled for its services.
As a community, we should #1: take personal responsibility for our actions, #2: place a high value of education within the home, #3: Report the people whom we know are commiting crimes outside our window, #4: Work, Work, Work to better ourselves and our families, and #5: Make changes within our community first, before trying to change external factors which we have little control.
