Volume II. No. 49
 05-27-04
 Stop Blaming Whitey
 { Bill Cosby's Painful Truth }
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2004
 

 African-Amercan actor Bill Cosby broke away from the crowd last week. 
 On May 17th, at an event in our Nation's Capital celebrating the 50th anniversary 
 of Brown vs. Board of Education, Dr. Cosby let loose with some incendiary
 remarks that took the appalling step of actually blaming poverty-striken 
 blacks folks for their own lack of success in this land of opportunity. Instead 
 of his assuming the more expected role of an indignant black person - at a 
 black sponsored event - contentedly railing against white racism and white 
 cultural oppression for the sorry-lot of so many African-Americans in this 
 country, today. 

 The many dope dealers, welfare mothers, parolees under court supervision,
 high-school drop outs, assorted junkies and crack heads, one parent fatherless 
 families, and the scores of incarcerated black men, who are all stuck at the
 lowest, most miserable rungs of society. And yet, their condition is almost
 ALWAYS somehow, in some manner, the fault of  "The Man."

 Nothing could be farther from the truth.

 Dr. Cosby should be applauded for directing the blame squarely where
 it belongs. -- Upon the same people who are suffering because of their 
 own bad choices. For example, in one of his more colorful comments Dr. Cosby 
 said, "These people are not parenting. They are buying things for their 
 kids -- $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for `Hooked on 
 Phonics.'... They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English."

 Cosby also complained about, "...these people who cry, when their son
 is standing there in an orange suit... Where were you when he was 12?
 ...Where were you when he was 18, and how come you didn't know he 
 had a pistol?"

 Are the remarks inflamatory? -- Absolutely. But, these colorful examples
 are the result an attitude in Black America that buckling down and studying 
 hard is somehow "not being real" and is a sign of assimilation into white 
 culture. It is a weakness. Or the idea that being overly concerned about
 YOUR OWN CHILD and accepting responsibility for the life you brought 
 into this world, is too much of a bother. And if these self-defeatist attitudes 
 are not frightening enough, being labeled an intellectual person in today's 
 Black America is very uncool, as such an individual will be endlessly rediculed 
 as "acting white."

 On the other hand, spend 16 hours a day on the basketball court improving
 your "skillz." That's okay. You might make the NBA. Spend 16 hours a day 
 running around a track, or up and down a football field. That's okay, too.
 Spend 16 hours a day practicing keyboard, or on a drum set, or learning to 
 play a new musical instrument. That's okay. Afterall, there is big money in
 the entertainment industry. But, if you spend those same number of hours 
 in a university library studying for an advanced degree, then something is 
 wrong with you. Or you are trying to be more than what you are. As if, the 
 only intelligent people in the world are supposed to be white folks. Or Asians. 
 Or Jews. Or East-Indians. -- Anybody but a black person.

 This anti-intellectualism - and the blame it all on Whitey - attitude is a tragedy,
 and an insult to the sacrifice of life and limb, that African-Americans long 
 since dead, made so that future generations might live more comfortably.
 Why is it that penniless immigrants from third-world nations can come to 
 this country, and their kids can go inside of the same broken down schools 
 { too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter } and emerge at the top of 
 the class? While within these same school systems there are always ready
 excuses and convoluted reasons { often put forward by African-American
 administrators } why their kids cannot achieve academic success to the same
 level as the new arrivals. In effect, it is accepted that the black kids, will do
 poorly in school. 

 Whitey, again. 

 Perhaps the lack of success of these students reflects a culture that has become
 cancerous and profane. The attitudes endemic in rap music, the booty-shaking, 
 drug dealing, quick money, fast cars, and fx@# the establishment lifestyle 
 that impressionable young African-Americans are brainwashed into believing 
 is obtainable,if they are just man enough, or woman enough, to make it happen.
 Anything but hitting the books, skipping a party or two, and achieving success legally
 through personal sacrifice and hard work. 

 Bill Cosby's remarks only demand attention because he was audacious enough
 to say some painful things - in public - about his own community that other 
 so-called black leaders will not do. As they say, "the truth hurts." 

 If penniless immigrants can achieve economic success within a single generation, 
 there isn't a reason that African-Americans born and raised in this society can 
 not do the same. The first step is for black leaders - such as Dr. Cosby - to speak 
 the truth, and to denounce the anti-intellectualism, and self-defeating attitudes 
 that pervade Black America.

 The cancer must be excised. It has spread far enough.

 Blaming Whitey has never worked, and never will.
 

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