May 31, 2004
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THIS IS AN OP-ED PIECE BY CYNTHIA TUCKER.
Bill Cosby’s remarks
have started a long overdue dialog about a subject that is off limits
to those who are afraid of being labeled a racist.
BILL COSBY’S POINTED REMARKS MAY SPARK MUCH-NEEDED DEBATE
By Cynthia Tucker Op/Ed – Tuesday May 25, 7:41 PM ET
Never mind Howard University. The administration of the Washington,
D.C., 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.But much of black America, especially its middle class, is ready to
have that conversation. In that sense, Cosby’s speech was a watershed
event — a sign that black America is now comfortable enough with its
accomplishments to discuss its shortcomings. “Perhaps Bill did us a
favor,” says NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, who attended the ceremony,
“and more people will now be prepared to step forward. It’ll be a
tough-love conversation, whether or not people want to have it. And it
will take opinion leaders to say those things that should be said.”Not all black Americans agree with the remarks Cosby made at a May
17 celebration of the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court (news
- web sites)’s Brown v. Board of Education decision. Indeed, his
criticism of everything from speech patterns to spending habits among
the black poor was pointedly politically incorrect.“Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up
their end in this deal,” he said. “These people are not parenting. They
are buying things for kids — $500 sneakers for what? And won’t spend
$200 for ‘Hooked on Phonics’” to improve their children’s reading and
speech. Of the disproportionate number of blacks in prison, Cosby had
this to say: “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 in the hell was he
doing with the pound cake in his hand?”After the speech, Theodore Shaw, head of the NAACP legal defense
fund, rushed to the podium to serve up a rejoinder, noting that larger
(read “white”) American society still bears some responsibility for the
failure of so many black Americans to join the economic and cultural
mainstream. That is clearly so. But isn’t it about time that black
Americans acknowledge that, at the dawn of the 21st century, personal
responsibility has at least as much to do with success in modern
America as race? Isn’t it only fair to note that the landmark Supreme
Court ruling of 50 years ago did roll back much of systemic racism?After all, if you believe that racism continues to largely limit
black success, that will certainly prove itself true. “There is no
reason that black students have to do poorly in math and science, in
speech, in cognitive abilities,” Mfume said. “When you’re quiet about
those (shortcomings), young people notice, and it sounds like you’re
giving your approval.”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. I’m sure Boortz and Limbaugh have already made ample use of
Cosby’s speech to stir up racist rants among a certain segment of their
listeners. So what? They’d look for excuses to poke the tender wounds
of race, no matter what Cosby had said.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 the AIDS (news – web sites) 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.
Cynthia Tucker is editorial page editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She can be reached by e-mail: cynthia@ajc.com.
