Cosby brings his frank talk to town
Actor stands by earlier remarks
The Chicago Tribune
By Jamal Watson
Tribune staff reporter
July 2, 2004
Despite a storm of criticism, Bill Cosby’s unvarnished call for African-Americans to take responsibility for their actions has not changed.
In fact, his talk Thursday at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition’s annual conference in Chicago was every bit as forceful as a speech he gave in May in Washington that drew protests from across the nation.
“This is the time, ladies and gentlemen, when we have to turn the mirror around and look at ourselves,” said Cosby, whose tough talk at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers was greeted with applause and cheers. “We need to stop this. We cannot protect ourselves if the picture of ourselves is in a trough.”
Bill Cosby is out of touch with Black reality. Multimillionaire in Belair – what the hell does he know about black people trying to live their lives. He is a rich black man livng in a white world. That stupid show he had for years with wishy washy light skinned rich black people whining and screeching pretending to be hip for white TV. The man needs to SHUT UP unless he can put his money where his mouth is and DO SOMETHING CONSRUCTIVE like first talk to people and really find out what life is like for Mr ordinary Blackman/Blackwoman.
Actually, Cosby is guilty of promoting the myth of the “light-skinned black” by portraying mulatto women as the offspring of blacks – nearly always beautiful young women. J. Scott claims that all “blacks” are multiracial. That is a lie meant to imply that all “whites” are “pure” and Latinos and Arabs are somehow beyond “race.”
Barbara Ehrenreich suffers from a blindness all too common on the left. She refuses to admit that blacks bear some responsibility for their situation. Contrary to J. Scott’s contention, this recognition of responsibility is NOT synonymous with advocating a total end of social programs that help ordinary citizens. Gee, you could even advocate national health insurance and STILL hold American blacks responsible for the anti-intellectualism and racism that prevades their culture.
7/13/2004 3:46:38 PM