by Dark Side 127 Replies latest social current
Bill Cosby has said some harsh truths about the black community.
We lament the lack of role models for young, fatherless black boys - many of their sports heroes are not shining examples. So here is a black entertainer saying some things that perhaps might resonate - and he has been vilified. Is it what he says or how he says it?
A good discussion of this is in A Bound Man by Shelby Steele.
I think it's that he said it at all. Some wear this victim mentality like a mantle of honor.
What Cosby says is the unvarnished truth.
How he says it is demeaning and insulting.
Syl
I'm don't think it was demeaning but I do think it was meant to shame. Shame used to have a power, I'm not sure if it works anymore. Folks can be so shameless and either not be aware how bad it looks or just don't care.
Shame used to have a power ...
Now, that's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!
Syl
How he says it is demeaning and insulting.
Agreed, Syl, if we're talking about the same remarks. But I always thought he did that to get the attention of the young - meet them halfway at their own level of discourse.
"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. ... You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!"
I have in mind these remarks made by Cosby on the 50th anniversary of Brown v BOE, Constitution Hall, Washington, DC, in 2004.
If these were meant to engage young people, they were an epic fail.
Syl
You wanna talk about EPIC FAIL?
Leonard Part 6.
Ghost Dad.
Cosby is evil. End of story.
LOL Agonus.
If these were meant to engage young people, they were an epic fail.
Even though it seemed to be his focus I don't think his audience at that moment was young people.
His speech did remind me of how I was raised, my siblings and I were required to use proper english at home even when we were at our grandparents. As a result I rarely use ebonics to speak, cannot use it on demand, and it only pops out when I'm highly upset but I've been told it sounds like a mix of of a white girl trying to sound ghetto.
