If anything, the man at least gets people talking.

While sometimes he can seem out of touch, he does bring to light many issues that other people seem to ignore.

When I (low/middle income 1-st generation hispanic) entered the public school system in 9th grade (parents couldn't afford Catholic H.S.) I was absolutely horrified at some of the things that I saw & heard in my mostly black High School.

Two things in particular I still think about;

1) Black kids that were studious & well-spoken were considered "oreos" and white-wannabes. Somehow, there was this "black ideal" among the majority of the students that did NOT include Honor Roll or Regents courses. Now, I know that every student in America can relate to the "popularity" contest...but somehow I think it's so much WORSE when your very being (your race) is called into question as opposed to just your popularity.

2) The poorest kids had the most expensive outfits. I could never get with this. The white kids walked aroung in jeans and a t-shirt, while the black kids had on $100 sneakers, $30 Coca-cola shirts and those bi-color LEE jeans that were in style that I couldn't afford. I remember our 9th grade dance...kids rented tuxedos and limos...some of whom I know got reduced lunches that even I didn't qualify for. WTF?

Now, I'm not going to oversimplify the issue and pretend that there aren't a multitude of factors at play with the ills of our society. But the fact is that Cosby does say alot of these things that are true...and pisses people off because (face it) the truth hurts.

PurpleJedi said:

PurpleJedi said:

If you prefer I lie and BS around my honest opinion(s) regarding political, racial or religious attitudes in this country, to make you feel mentally secure or at ease, then it serves no purpose for me to discuss any of those issues with you. Next!

uPtoWnNY said:

PurpleJedi said:

1) Black kids that were studious & well-spoken were considered "oreos" and white-wannabes. Somehow, there was this "black ideal" among the majority of the students that did NOT include Honor Roll or Regents courses. Now, I know that every student in America can relate to the "popularity" contest...but somehow I think it's so much WORSE when your very being (your race) is called into question as opposed to just your popularity.

That's nothing new. I experienced it too, and I'm probably ten years older than you. It's not unique to America. People of color in European countries have told me similar stories - trying to achieve is seen as 'selling out'.

Graycap23 said:

uPtoWnNY said:

That's nothing new. I experienced it too, and I'm probably ten years older than you. It's not unique to America. People of color in European countries have told me similar stories - trying to achieve is seen as 'selling out'.

True.....and I hate 2 say, but any one dumb enough 2 by into that theory, deserves 2 fail.

So, poor people are naturally immoral, is that right? The first question is, how does poverty make someone immoral and then would that mean that poverty programs are bad, because you are rewarding immoral people by giving them things? This is right out of Rush Limbaughland, folks.

This is a real right wing idea you all are supporting, if you looked in the mirror.

So, should welfare be banned? Should bible reading be forced in schools, since the poor are so devoid of values, whatever that means. Who decides what values are, you??

Social plans lead to immoral behavior is that it? No liberal person believes that. You help behavior by making the inner city better. Social change is based on helping human suffering. It will end wars and end poverty. End poverty and you encourage people to give a damn.

Wave your wildsigns high!!

Yea, that Bill Cosby sure is a moral guy:

http://www.thesmokinggun....sby_1.html

Also, Mr. Cosby is not very generous when it comes to charity:

http://www.thesmokinggun....osby1.html

He gives ten thousand dollars in one year! Jesus wants his ten percent! Remember, this man is worth hundreds of millions.

Wave your wildsigns high!!

2freaky4church1 said:

If you prefer I lie and BS around my honest opinion(s) regarding political, racial or religious attitudes in this country, to make you feel mentally secure or at ease, then it serves no purpose for me to discuss any of those issues with you. Next!

Revolutionary, Tupac's mother, Assata Shakur takes Cosby on:

http://www.assatashakur.o...anism.html

Her computer must be screwed up..lol

Get him Sister!

Wave your wildsigns high!!

2freaky4church1 said:

2freaky4church1 said:

http://www.blacknews.com/...ry101.html

Bill Cosby Calls on All Americans to Donate $8 to Build Slavery Museum

By DIONNE WALKER
The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) - Bill Cosby called on each American to contribute $8 (6) to help build a national slavery museum amid the battlefields of the Civil War.

Cosby, who already has committed $1 million (780,000) to the project, joined Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder on Friday in launching a new campaign to raise $100 million (78 million) toward the Fredericksburg museum's $200 million (156 million) price tag.

"The incentive is that they would join in with the rest of the United States of America in saying yes, as an American, I gave $8 (6) to help build something that tells the story," he said in a teleconference with Wilder.

In a nation of some 300 million people, even a tepid response would surpass the$100 million (78 million)goal, Cosby said.

I bet they're STILL waiting on the money.

http://www.hollywood.com/...ge/2440752

HOLLYWOOD - Comedian Bill Cosby and his wife, Camille, have boosted a troubled college's morale, after handing over a $600,000 gift.

Over the past month, North Carolina's Bennett College for Women president Johnnetta Cole announced a 10 per cent cut in the school's work force, resigned as president and then changed her mind and decided to stay.

On May 18, as she stood in front of the school's chapel to announce the Cosby gift, a smiling Cole told the crowd of about 150 students, staff and faculty, "Bennett is fine and I am fine with Bennett."

In all, says Cole, the Cosbys have given the college $800,000 this fiscal year, some of which will be used to start a 'Cosby Scholars' program.

http://news.usti.net/home...e_GuA.html

Cosby Gives $3 Million For Mental Health

ATLANTA, June 10 (UPI) -- Bill and Camille Cosby have given a $3 million gift to Atlanta's Morehouse School of Medicine to aid the study of mental health.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the Cosbys are endowing a chaired professorship at the school in honor of mental health advocates Dr. David Satcher and Dr. Alvin Poussaint.

Satcher, interim president of Morehouse School of Medicine, is a former U.S. surgeon general. He is also former director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Poussaint is a child psychiatrist at Harvard University Medical School.

A longtime consultant to "The Cosby Show", Poussaint is also author of the suicide-prevention book, "Lay My Burden Down." He is considered one of the nation's top authorities on mental illness, particularly in disadvantaged populations, the newspaper said.

The Cosby's gift, the largest that Morehouse has ever received, reportedly strengthens Atlanta's reputation as a premier center for the study of mental health.

http://socyberty.com/life...ough-love/

Cosby’s critics claim that the entertainer’s interest in the black community is new-fangled. That Cosby, for decades, never spoke about race, preferring “universal themes.”

But the notion that Cosby’s roots with the black community are only three and a half years deep is laughable. Since co-starring in I Spy, 42 years ago, Bill Cosby has been putting his fame and talents to use to help his community.

Cosby’s 1989 donation of $20 million kept historically black Tuskegee University afloat. Spike Lee’s epic Malcolm X wouldn’t have seen theaters but for Cosby’s largesse. And according to Poussaint, Cosby has sent scores of black youth to college over the years, and sought neither credit nor publicity. Perhaps that’s why Cosby’s critics are so foggy on his record.

Indeed, Cosby wouldn’t have met his co-author but for his work in the black community. The two met, over 30 years ago, at a BlackExpo event at which Cosby was performing. Cosby the entertainer made fast friends with Poussaint the doctor.
[Edited 10/2/09 14:50pm]

2freaky4church1 said:

2elijah said:

2freaky4church1 said:

SCNDLS said:

2freaky4church1 said:

Revolutionary, Tupac's mother, Assata Shakur takes Cosby on:

http://www.assatashakur.o...anism.html

Her computer must be screwed up..lol

Get him Sister!

Exactly where did she "take him on"??? I didn't see anything on that page that discredits anything that Bill has said about the state of parenting and education in some black communities.

How much of Tupac's money has she donated to inner city schools and colleges? Either put up or shut up.

Mstrustme said:

SCNDLS said:

Exactly where did she "take him on"??? I didn't see anything on that page that discredits anything that Bill has said about the state of parenting and education in some black communities.

How much of Tupac's money has she donated to inner city schools and colleges? Either put up or shut up.

- That's a mistake; either that's not Tupac's mother or someone got the names mixed up; Assata is his aunt and she definitely isn't getting any of Tupac's money; she's in exile in Cuba; Afeni is his mother

Mstrustme said:

SCNDLS said:

Exactly where did she "take him on"??? I didn't see anything on that page that discredits anything that Bill has said about the state of parenting and education in some black communities.

How much of Tupac's money has she donated to inner city schools and colleges? Either put up or shut up.

- That's a mistake; either that's not Tupac's mother or someone got the names mixed up; Assata is his aunt and she definitely isn't getting any of Tupac's money; she's in exile in Cuba; Afeni is his mother

If you prefer I lie and BS around my honest opinion(s) regarding political, racial or religious attitudes in this country, to make you feel mentally secure or at ease, then it serves no purpose for me to discuss any of those issues with you. Next!

SCNDLS said:

If you prefer I lie and BS around my honest opinion(s) regarding political, racial or religious attitudes in this country, to make you feel mentally secure or at ease, then it serves no purpose for me to discuss any of those issues with you. Next!

2elijah said:

Mstrustme said:

2elijah said:

Wait a minute, you mean Assata aka J. Chesimard?? I know she is living in exile in Cuba, so that has to be her. I am shocked to know she is Tupac's aunt if in fact you are talking about her.. Chesimard was her married name, if we are talking about the same person. Her ex-husband's younger brother and sister lived down the block from where I grew up, and I will keep their first names private, but they were a part of our childhood friends' group growing up, playing together and attending the same schools at various times, through our childhood. They came from very, disciplined family, and I remember their grandmother, who I was always thought was so strict. They also had a cousin that visited during the summer months and all the girls on the block hada crush on him. Wow, interesting, Assata being Tupac's Aunt.

You didn't know? I have her autobiography (great btw); she's kin to him and I'm pretty sure she was his aunty, she might've been his god-relative in some way also

If you prefer I lie and BS around my honest opinion(s) regarding political, racial or religious attitudes in this country, to make you feel mentally secure or at ease, then it serves no purpose for me to discuss any of those issues with you. Next!

2elijah said:

SCNDLS said:

2freaky4church1 said:

Revolutionary, Tupac's mother, Assata Shakur takes Cosby on:

http://www.assatashakur.o...anism.html

Her computer must be screwed up..lol

Get him Sister!

Exactly where did she "take him on"??? I didn't see anything on that page that discredits anything that Bill has said about the state of parenting and education in some black communities.

How much of Tupac's money has she donated to inner city schools and colleges? Either put up or shut up.

2elijah said:

marxisreal said:

SCNDLS said:

Exactly where did she "take him on"??? I didn't see anything on that page that discredits anything that Bill has said about the state of parenting and education in some black communities.

How much of Tupac's money has she donated to inner city schools and colleges? Either put up or shut up.

I don't think it's about individuals having to put their money on the table to fund something like education. Education should be a high quality public service in any civilized society - open to all, regardless of economic background. I think the criticism Assata Shakur makes is based on: what are the real causes for the social decline in black, working class communities? Do these people only have themselves to blame, like Cosby - unsurprisingly applauded by right wing pundits - claims, or are there political and economic processes at work?

She makes the point: "Why didn't these brothers just go get jobs? Uh, hmmm, I guess people forgot what the economy was like during the Reagan and Bush Sr. years. Does the word 'Reaganomics' ring a bell? Does Mr. Cosby recall the assaults upon the Civil Rights act of 1964 (that Cosby says we should take advantage of) ring a bell by the Reagan Administration? Dr. Huxtable never seemed to be affected by that, either."

She says economically there was progress in the '50s and '60s for some Afro-Americans, but this declined again starting in the '70s and the decline accelerated because of Reaganism. The point Assata Shakur wants to make is, using a string of statistics: all these people claiming the need for education, like Cosby, need some education themselves. They don't appreciate the fact that the crisis in a lot of black, working class families reflects a more general social and economic crisis in society. Instilling values in your children is very good, but once they step outside the door they enter a value-less society marred by structural unemployment, poor education, poverty, and extreme individualism.

Bill's got a point but maybe he should also discuss some of the ills plaguing upper and middle class African Americans.

Of course we hear about the guns, drugs, etc., but how about the B.O.B. crime in corporate america? That's almost equally degradative.

I would like to see Bill put more on an onus on the kids themselves.