QandO

May 26, 2004

Cos fallout and follow up
Posted by McQ

Cynthia Tucker is a columnist here in Atlanta who, in my opinion, seems to always get it wrong.

Not this time ... well not all of it anyway.

She's finally weighed in on the Cosby quotes. Seems she can see beyond the hubris and into the real problems. She says her best stuff at the beginning and end of her column:

Never mind Howard University.

The administration of the Washington institution is apparently in a bit of a huff because Bill Cosby used its podium to criticize the failings of black America -- especially its underclass. Howard's leaders, who won't release a transcript of Cosby's speech, are still not prepared to have a public discussion of self-inflicted wounds.
[...]
It is more important that black Americans have a spirited debate about the challenges of the post-civil rights era: How do we raise the academic achievement of black students? How do we curb black-on-black crime? How do we attack an AIDS epidemic spreading like wildfire in black America?

In a way, Cosby's speech was an eloquent reminder of the stunning success of the civil rights movement that followed the Brown decision: Black America is strong enough and successful enough to admit its shortcomings and gird itself for the work ahead.

In the middle we get the usual maundering nonsense about racist whites (here she singles out Neal Boortz and Rush Limbaugh) who will use this against blacks. She claims:

Some blacks have recoiled from Cosby's pointed remarks, not because they disagree, but because they don't want to discuss certain ignominious truths in front of white folks. They fear such painful self-analysis will only provide fodder to the race-baiters -- the Neal Boortzes and Rush Limbaughs -- who work hard at stoking a white backlash.

Well gee Cynthia, racist whites will use everything against blacks anyway... what has that to do with the problem at hand? Is ignoring the problem so racist whites won't be able to say nasty things more important, in the long run, than fixing the problem?

Not to mention that at least Boortz has not said a single, solitary thing about Cosby or what he said (knowing he'd read Tucker's piece today I thought I'd listen in. Sure enough he took her to task for being too lazy to listen and document, but instead 'assumed' he'd be talking about it).

But that's not the crux of the point. Problems among blacks are as much the right of the rest of the country to talk about as are problems among whites. Why? Because we live in an integrated society in which the problems of one are, in effect, the problems of all. We're all Americans. So to pretend that whites have no right to discuss what Cosby said is simply ludicrous.

But it is a common thread. Per Eugene Kane of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel :

"Given his record as a philanthropist who has donated millions to black colleges and black causes in general, Cosby has certainly earned the right to speak his mind.

Still, there's always a sense of uneasiness whenever somebody like Cosby uses the same language some whites use to justify their racism."

Really Mr. Kane? He's "earned the right" but he ought to just shut up, huh? Because facing the problems which black society is encountering is 'racism', is it? Especially if "white folks" use it ... its surely racism then.

I wonder if Mr. Kane ever considers the fact that most 'white folks' would be quite happy to see educated, well-spoken and successful blacks as much as "black folks" would?

Instead Kane falls back on the emotional argument and excuses which has put many in the black community squarely where Cosby wants them to leave:

"Particularly, the idea that poor blacks and their children weigh down the rest of society, or that every black person behind bars deserves to be incarcerated.

Sure, some black people may fit that description, but not all. Some white people, too.

That's why I think Cosby should tread easy with his curmudgeon act. He's not a poor black mother raising children in the inner city, so he has no idea how difficult that is in 2004 America.

Seems to me, creating 'Fat Albert' cartoons and earning millions off pudding commercials doesn't give Cos the right to pass harsh judgment on people who weren't as fortunate as he was in finding success within the American dream. Sometimes, beating up on defenseless people is just being a bully.

Seems to me, Cliff Huxtable should have a little more compassion than that."

Of course some whites do ... but then most whites know that and accept that. They know there are bad whites and that they deserve to be in jail. They don't use their "whiteness" as an excuse for breaking the law.

And was Cosby just "fortunate" in "finding success"? Or did he work his ass off in an era where "racism" was much more prevelant and malignant? Did he instead succeed despite those problems by following the formula he spoke about at Howard University? That's precisely what he did.

It sure is easy to wave off his accomplishments with "fortunate" and "finding success" isn't it Mr. Kane, instead of facing what and how he accomplished what he has?

Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald wants to have it both ways:

"The fact is, Cosby said nothing about black underachievement that black people have not said before. His mistake, if you want to call it that, was in speaking publicly. Because publicly, we -- black and white -- prefer to stick to the script that makes it easiest on us, demands the least from us."

I wonder if Mr. Pitts and the black leadership have considered that perhaps the reason these problems persist is because of 'the script'? Perhaps, Mr. Pitts, its time to trash the script and talk about this stuff. That's what Bill Cosby just did. It might be a good idea to take advantage of that.

So after his standard "its whitey's fault" disclaimer, Pitts actually gets down to adressing the problem:

"Much as some white folk pretend otherwise, racism did not vanish one fine day long ago. It lives, here, now, still. And it is, by definition, not something black people can cure through self-improvement. Racism doesn't care how educated, wealthy or decent you are. It will still call you ignorant, deny you a loan and throw you in jail. It will still give white people unearned advantages on the basis of their whiteness.

And yet, this also is true: For all the woe it brings, racism is not the source of all the ills that beset the African-American underclass. We do not need white people's approval or even their involvement to correct much of what ails us -- to require that our children spend less time with BET and more with BOOK, to reconnect our fathers with their families, to abandon the misbegotten mind-set that equates ignorance and thuggery with authentic blackness."

Mr. Pitts, most of us "white folk" know that racism didn't just vanish one day. In fact, most of us "white folk" know it still exists today. But most of us "white folk" also know that gains in civil rights for blacks in this country were as much the result of "white folk" saying "that's enough" as anything else. So why not drop the racism argument and address the real problems the black community has today? The problems Bill Cosby had the courage to address, out loud, in public.

Cal Thomas (from WaPo reporter Hamil Harris) gives us a few more quotes from the Cosby speech at Howard:

- "I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol? And where is the father?"

This isn't a problem of 'racism" ...

- "People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong? . . . People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something, or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up to the crack and got all type of needles (piercing) going through her body? What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a d--- thing about Africa."

And this isn't a problem of racism. He's talking about self-inflicted problems here.

- "With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail. Brown versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. . . . They are standing on the corner and they can't speak English."

Cosby's point is that success is fairly simple ... get an education, learn to speak english properly, get a job and show up on time and do your job to the best of your ability. Dress for success.

These rules really don't care what color you are ... they work for everyone.

But Cosby's most important point is:

"we cannot blame white people . . . ."

Its time to cut it out. Its time, as Cosby points out, to stand up and take responsibility. Its time to drop the crutch which has been used for decades to explain failure.

Gregory Clay of the Knight, Ridder/Tribune News Service says:

"Many black folk probably are surprised because Cosby broke the code; he stepped out of the box. A black person publicly criticizing other blacks, especially those in the lower economic stratum? Come on, no way.

Cosby left no stone unturned, though. He even blasted black athletes. 'We have millionaire football players who can't read,' Cosby groaned. 'We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs.'

Cosby openly chastised some black people for our dirty, little secrets. We are exposed.

To paraphrase a seminal Jack Nicholson movie moment: And many of us just can't handle the truth. Cosby broke the black code."

To paraphrase another seminal quote: "Get over it" ... and address the problems. "Code" or no code, the problems don't go away or solve themselves.

Thomas Sowell sums it up very nicely:

"Bill Cosby and the black 'leadership' represent two long-standing differences about how to deal with the problems of the black community. The 'leaders' are concerned with protecting the image of blacks, while Cosby is trying to protect the future of blacks, especially those of the younger generation.

Far from just bashing blacks, Cosby has given generously to promote black education. But he is still old-fashioned enough to think that others need to take some responsibility for using the opportunities that were gained for them by 'people who marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education' "

Which approach will be the most helpful and enduring for black Americans?

Protecting the "image" or "protecting the future"?

Cliff Huxtable would opt for the latter.

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