Come On People, Listen To What Bill Says

I have mixed feelings about Cosby's message, in part because it is easy for him, sitting high up in his perch, to criticize poor blacks. But part of me understands the large truth in his message.

Latinos need someone like this... an elder statesmen to call it like it is. We have similar problems, high un-wed birth rates, too many teen pregnancies, the wrong priorities in regards to fancy cars and education, etc.

I agree with Adriana: It's easy for Bill to say what he's saying, when ultimately, his generation is just as responsible for the current state of black America as the folks he's targeting this book to.

That said, Bill is telling the truth, and I commend him for being outspoken, raising awareness to the problem with his efforts.

No question for this African America, Dr. Cosby, and Dr. Poussaint are right. They've seen people get their heads cracked open just for the right to urinate in a bus stop. Forget about the fighting that went on for workers' rights, voting rights and educational opportunity initiatives.

Kwame Ture (Stokly Carmichael) used to say to journalist Gil Noble, that the revolution(for Blacks) would be by "ghetto Negroes, and bourgeois Negroes like you and me(meaning he and Gil Noble) aren't going to like it one bit.

But I'm over forty, and only listened to Public Enemy when I was younger. So what do I know?

Having said that, the idea that "race music", and that's what rap is, is corrupting our youth, is an idea that dates back to at least the fifties. Norman Mailer wrote a famous piece about the "white hipster", and his desire to be Black.

Young people, always look for ways to differentiate themselves from their parents. the problem is that the so called Liberal media companies didn't think they could get away with producing and promoting vile lyrics. They've learned that the market wants it, just like drugs, sugary treats, and tabloid magazines.

Too many young people have bought into the idea that to be poor, stupid,drunk/high and unhappy is to "keep it real". Look at East LA, Brooklyn, and West Virginia.

The problem is, that for minorities all to often that "phase" turns into our very real lives.