Cosby Attacks Lower Class African-Americans
Comedian Bill Cosby embarrassed the National Association For Advancement Of Colored People (NAACP) at a gala on Monday - by attacking lower class African-Americans. The legendary star was speaking in Washington DC to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling - which eradicated segregated schooling in America - but shocked organizers by using the platform to unfavorably compare sixties civil rights activists with today's youth. He said, "These people marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids - $500 sneakers for what? I can't even talk the way these people talk, 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!" Cosby then added his thoughts that petty criminals who are shot dead should not be a source of sorrow. He explained, "These are not political criminals. These are people going around stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake and then we run out and we are outraged, saying, 'The cops shouldn't have shot him.' What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?"
It's worth noting that Cosby holds a Doctor of Education degree. He is not speaking out against the developmentally-disabled, who have a harder time learning language than others. He is cracking down on the laziness and insecurity leading some people of every race to present themeselves not as well as they can. These people want to seem cool or they are afraid to improve themselves. Being educated does not brainwash people; it does not make them forget where they came from. It does present more options in life. It's then the individual's decision what to do next.
2 comments:
Sigh. I can't believe I'm actually doing this... I'm going to defend the "ebonics" type of talk. Remember, this is how these children grew up. It's not lazy speak, it's a rule driven language or at least a dialect that shows the black person's identity. It should not be taken away from them. However, I do agree that these kids and people have to know when to turn it on and off if they want to get by. Not that that's the right thing, it's just the way it is. The language is looked down upon and while it shouldn't be, to succeed in life you're going to have to learn to talk several different ways. I talk to my boss differently than I do my students than I do my friends.
We agree that it's most effective to master several ways of talking. That's what I mean by "present more choices." If people have the opportunity to learn, they should--the opportunity Cosby is saying was earned for them by the Civil Rights Movement. This way they won't be limited to one way of presenting themselves when two or three are called for.
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