Bill Cosby Got It Right

Why is it that I understand what Bill Cosby was talking about more than some of his critics in the black community? Maybe it's because the Hispanic community is suffering from the same cultural decline Mr. Cosby described. The well-respected comedian drew some heat for his speech at a commemoration of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision in which he criticized certain segments of the black community for failing to use the opportunities the civil rights movement won for them. He specifically blasted low-income blacks for poor grammar and their high (50%) school dropout rate. The worst thing about his remarks, apparently, was that they were said out loud. Here in New York City, Wendy Williams, host of an afternoon radio show on WBLS-FM,said, "If he was going to make such a strong point, he should have chosen his words very carefully." Mali Zulu Shabazz, of Black Lawyers for Justice, appeared on an MSNBC cable show and hammered Mr. Cosby for his remarks. "I think he is wrong to talk family business in a public forum, which includes not just black people," Mr. Shabazz said. "It includes all of white America. I've never heard him criticize Bush or white society. But he is so open and frank about his feelings about the poor suffering masses of our people. "I think he is intellectually dishonest," Mr. Shabazz said. "He does not represent me. He is really pinning the tail on the donkey, which means black people, when he should be pinning the tail on the honky, white racism in America. I've never heard him do that." Whenever this discussion cropped up on television or the airwaves, I watched and heard Mr. Cosby's critics charge him with being an elitist attacking the poor in the black community. What Mr. Cosby said was plain and simple. It was not an attack on the poor, but on their priorities. It also needed to be said out loud because this silence by the black leadership has perpetuated the problem. Hispanic leaders are just as guilty. When Mr. Cosby asked why blacks were buying their children $500 sneakers instead of paying $200 for "Hooked on Phonics," he was exposing an attitude that is a fact of life in the inner city. There is a clothing store on Canal Street in Staten Island that specializes in trendy, hip-hop clothing with Madison Avenue prices. It is frequented by well-known rap artists who can well afford their pricey goods, but I've also seen neighborhood kids from the housing projects there. When I was a stay-at-home mom and our family had to survive on one income, we considered paying tuition to the local parochial school an important investment in our children's future. Consequently, fashion ranked rather low among our chief concerns, but I'd always been aware about the costs of clothing our children did without. Many of the children who went to this school lived in the projects and were not Catholic, but had parents who made the necessary sacrifice to send their children where they had a better chance for success than at the local public school. Many students at that public school, which ranked at the bottom in reading scores on Staten Island, wore name brand down winter coats that cost nearly two months' tuition. Mr. Shabazz, who appears on television as a representative of the Black Lawyers for Justice, is also the chairman of the New Black Panther Party and never fails to introduce the charge of race into every issue he's called on to comment on. What he never addresses is the "why" of poverty, because if he did, he'd have to admit that race isn't always behind the indigence of a family. My husband, who is white, grew up dirt-poor in Florida, yet his father was a skilled ironworker who could have provided well for his family had he not been a drunk. Likewise, my family would have fared better had my father stayed around and remained sober. Fortunately, our mothers drilled in us how important an education was for our futures. That is the lesson that is not being taught enough in our poorer communities. What Bill Cosby dared to say in public is not anything new. In fact, he said it more than six years ago, but the Washington Post didn't pick it up at the time. Since the flap, black leaders have admitted that they share Mr. Cosby's anger and concerns. If that is so, why haven't they addressed it before? Could it be that their job security is based on keeping their community dependent? When interviewed by PBS's Tavis Smiley, Mr. Cosby was indignant when Mr. Smiley suggested that the right wing was going to seize his speech and use it as ammunition. He said, "I don't give a blank about those right-wing white people." Mr. Cosby has issued a statement in which he said: "I feel that I can no longer remain silent. If I have to make a choice between keeping quiet so that conservative media does not speak negatively to galvanize those who want change in the lower economic community, then I choose to be a bell ringer." Bill, you may be more right wing than you realize.