Preach On, Bill Cosby

I have always liked Bill Cosby. Even back to when I was a kid, listening to cassette tapes of his comedy routines. Reading his books. Watching the Cosby Show. Watching him speak in interviews. Not only does he carry himself very well in public, but unlike some conservatives, he is not putting on a front. He does get mad. He does say provocative things, and sometimes it may go overboard. But he calls it like it is, and tries to do so in an educated, insightful manner.

The one single thing I admire about Bill Cosby is his willingness to rightfully critique the growing problem of fatherless children amongst the black community, as well as the large amount of black males in prison. Having an educational background that included a Doctorate in Education (that wasn't honourary, although he has received plenty of honourary degrees since), he is well versed as a voice of authority in order to tackle the issue of black crime, absentee fathers, gangs, etc. Cosby, while espousing family values indirectly through his criticism, is not as cocky as other conservatives who seem to wear the label with pride and draw seemingly undue attention to their views, until they fall in some scandal. Cosby practices what he preaches. He's been married to his wife for 40+ years, and for an entertainer in Hollywood to have achieved that, that's worth mentioning.

Cosby also champions the notion that families, whether black, white, Asian, or otherwise, cannot fully realize their potential unless two parents are present - and by two parents, he means a man and a woman - married, not common-law. I find his views on how the high black juvenile delinqency rate and high single mother rate can be attributed directly to the fact that responsibility and discipline are not taught in a married father and mother home, to be quite refreshing. Especially in this day and age where you have supposed "black leaders" who simply run off at the mouth (read: Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton) who make up every freaking excuse as to why blacks have a higher incidence of out-of-wedlock births and being in jail per capita than whites or anyone else. Cosby has been criticized for betraying his race or the more insulting label, being called an Uncle Tom. But he presses on, silencing his critics by simply speaking the truth. It is hard to argue with the truth.

I heard Dr. Cosby on a radio show today, where he lightly promoted his new book, but moreover, spent considerable amounts of time analyzing the psychology behind why a disproportionate amount of young blacks turn to crime at an early age, or join a gang. I think he hit the nail on the head when he talks about the disintegration of the family unit as a means to support these kids. While this is nothing new to me, it's great to hear Black folks who have some prominence either in entertainment or politics state the obvious common sense view. I know J.C. Watts, a prominent Black Republican congressman in the U.S., who espouses similar views, gets a lot of flak from others (mostly liberal Blacks who call him all sorts of names)
, but he has it right as well. Stop playing the victim card, but instead, move above your circumstances and take responsibility for your actions. By no means is this targeted strictly towards the Black community, but also for Whites, Latinos, Asians, Indians, etc., though the Black community obviously has a serious problem with maintaining stable family structure, when 70% of Blacks are born to single mothers. Sometimes what is needed is for someone to tell you some bad news about yourself, even if you don't want to hear it. Kudos to Dr. Cosby for speaking the truth.