Cosby Speaks - Words We Speak

#29

BILL COSBY

The issue here is the characterization of the English speaking styles among people of African descent. After all, it is not our native language. Willie Thompson

Joan's Thoughts and Other Responses

Scientifically, good English in America = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Bad English equals a record deal? Do the Math.

Are people now equating speaking good English with being successful in life? It is not our knowledge of English which is going to lift African people globally, but our knowledge of and ability to apply science. The language of the science is nearly universal. The world has accepted standards, symbols and units which are the same no matter the manner in which you speak.

aaron

When black people wake up to the FACT that we are all GOD having a human experience, all will be in DIVINE ORDER.

Time after time we can be witness of the self-hate of Black people. Most of the time we don't even realize that we suffer from self hate in the first place.

One Love!

It's gonna take bravery to stop (mental) slavery! Here, in the U.S. children attend school to learn how to speak correct English, just as they learn correct French, Spanish, etc. Children, today, practice how to speak incorrectly. Among black children, it's called EBONICS.

The problem is that in the corporate world, that is the world of $$$$$$$$$$$$$, EBONICS is NOT an option. So, people concerned with making $$$$$$$$$$$$ know what "bad English" brings you - little to nothing, unless you're a famous rapper, rhymer or DJ.

If you're a medical, legal or banking student, you know that Ebonics is something you speak in your neighborhood and "good English" is what you speak when you go to work.

For interest's sake, what is the definition of "bad english"? Here in Africa we speak and pronounce english depending on who we are. I mean that our english is heavily Africanised and we are not worried about that at all. Is "our" english therefore considered "bad english"?

Just curious

Thabo

* * * * *

JC-
I beg to differ with you. Ebonics is our natural language spoken in the home. In educational institutions, ebonics is not taught, but addressed for the purpose of correction. In America, Ebonics is our first language. Don't believe me? Just go to any playground and listen to Afrikan children's verbal interactions. Standard American English for us is a second language just as it is for others of non-European origins.

Just as children of other ethnic origins are given special instructions in English-as-a-second-language, our children deserve the same. I work in the professional arena and it is a conscious effort for me to contain my ebonics, but with family and friends, I casually speak ebonics. I recognize and accept that ebonics is my first language. It would be to our benefit for the Afrikan community to accept our dual language capabilities as well, if only for the purpose of instructing our children in Standard American English without ridicule. know wha 'm sayin'?
Hotep,
Terri

Terri,
I, too, catch myself using dem, dis, dat, etc. Actually, Germans and Swiss use these terms, too English is the language of the colonialist and most Europeans speak 5 languages, though they may not speak every phrase grammatically correct. The issue is not speaking correct English. The issue is succeeding in the capitalist state that we live in and this is where the adage, "When in Rome, do what the Romans do" fits in. I agree with Cosby that we need to improve our linguistic skills. I agree that parenting is a problem in our community. However, pointing fingers and blaming mothers for the absence of fathers is ludicrous. I believe that I received certain qualities and characteristics from my father that my mother was not in a position to offer me. The fact that black fathers traditionally leave mothers holding the "parenting bag" can be traced back to ship decks where African men were forced to watch white sailors defaming African women and to the plantations where their children were sold "like eggs from a basket".
This is the problem Africans in America need to deal with. Language is secondary to social conditioning. Europeans who performed these atrocities left an indelible mark on Africans in America. Abandonment of women and children is a HUGE problem that we must begin to face and deal with. We MUST stop blaming African American women for the failure of their sons and daughters. We MUST teach out sons to care for their families, to stick with their families, to be role models for their families, to give to their children when they have to give, to love the mothers of their children. This is the problem.
On the other hand, we must teach our daughters that, if they decide to have sex with boys, they do not have to have a baby. They can use protection. There is no way we can stop them from experiencing sex. It's the most natural experience on Earth. But our twisted views, derived from the Christian ethics of sin and guilt have given us the wrong idea about the most natural gift God gave us, sexual attraction. Without it, there would be no human race. And. . .this Christian ethic may be the reason why so many of our sons are becoming homosexuals. They are afraid to even deal with women. They are afraid of being fathers.

This is the REAL PROBLEM, which no language can solve.

* * * * *

There is no such thing as bad English. To declare a language ungrammatical, we must understand the structure of the source language. African American Language, in my opinion, is not a dialect of English, though much of the lexicon or words are English. All languages tend to borrow words and place them into the structures and sound systems of their own language. This is precisely what AAL has done. The structure of the language mirrors its African structures, particularly in the tense and aspect system. This is similar to other African-based Creole languages.

So, if Cosby says that Black people can’t speak English, and that he wouldn't speak like that, then he is really saying that he is linguistically challenged and can only speak European American Language. Most African Americans can easily code switch, or change languages. African American Language is, like us, from Africa, and not a bad, faulty, slang, street or corrupt English. It works more like its African source languages than anything else. I recently presented a paper with a comparison of the tense/aspect systems of Wolof (Senegal), West African Pidgin English and African American Language. For example, the aspect marker "di" in Wolof means usually, habitually, or always. It works exactly like the "be" in AAL. It is not related to the copula, or "be" in English, though it looks like an English word. It can't be negated, it doesn't change for person/number, and it doesn't move to the front of a sentence for a question. I believe it came from the Wolof "di." The linguistic structure of AAL is, in my opinion, much more complex than English is. And we have been so criticized for the use of the word "axe" [ask] when in fact it is an Old English word that came into AAL through West African Pidgin English.

Jesse Jackson also jumped up with criticisms during the Oakland School Board proposal that simply spoke to his mis-education and lack of understanding. It looks like Bill and many others are lacking the knowledge and the liberation of the mind to accept the information. Our language carries our culture, our worldview, our brilliance, and our soul. It is as creative as we are, and people love to copy it, just like anything else that we do. And it seems to only carry negative connotations when WE use it! I often hear Steve Harvey and others saying that Black folks can't speak any language well, and I get so angry. We cannot carry our own oppression in our mouths. We have to be liberated enough to know that we didn't check our culture at the shores of the Motherland. We need to stop saying negative things to each other about our wonderful language. We need to stop telling our children that it is less professional. This damages their self- esteem. We should be honest, and say that since white people have the power, we must speak their language (EAL) when in their environments. I have so much pride in speaking African American Language, and I will never forget how liberating it was to read a story for the first time in West African Pidgin English.

Blessings,
Sheba Kane
Free the Land!
Africa for the Africans!

Hmm, this logic is flawed. There are many immigrants who come here that barely speak English and yet they become quite well off. Using your logic, the Black community should be prosperous, considering the large numbers who don't speak EUBONICS, who are financially well-off, and who have major organizational skills.

The key to economic prosperity "from a group perspective" is a love and commitment to one's people, not whether someone can speak English like White people. Let's not blame the unfortunate among us for their situation. We need to look at ourselves why we are not making a difference.

Olushola

Thank you Bro. Majaahid for an intelligent response to this Cosby issue. Again Mr. Cosby rises to the occasion to get us to thinking about assuming responsibility for our own front and center role in our demise. We can no longer continue to just blame it on the devil outside. For being the victims of systemic disenfranchisement is nothing new to us. But, we did used to have a healthier approach to dealing with it prior to Brown vs. Board of Education, aka integration. We used to have a sense of community, a sense of pride, a sense of aspiration, a sense of excellence, a sense of spirituality [in practice not ritual], a sense of self.

Addressing the devil within, rather than only the devil outside is a brilliant analogy of what we need to focus on. God gave us a mind just like anyone else; and we must begin to use it to rise above the atrocities afflicted upon us from the devil outside. Hasn't 400+ years of oppression taught us anything? We have pontificated about the devil outside for eons. Now we need to begin to focus on the devil within our communities, and exorcise them out of the fiber of our beings.

As Bro. Majaahid so brilliantly states, no one makes you pull that trigger to kill your brother, sister or child but you. If Black people were as insane as they act out from within their own communities, they would not restrict their acts of violence to within their own communities. Insanity does not discriminate, and neither does the devil.

Additionally, Mr. Cosby has nothing to prove to our community. None of the nouveau riche Negroes have been as generous, down to earth, involved and compassionate as have the Cosbys, except perhaps for Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. And when you got the kind of money and clot that the Cosby's have, you don't need to align yourself with the disenfranchised at all except out of personal choice, pure and simple. I wish the other nouveau riche snobs would wake up and take a lead from the Cosbys.

Kudos to Mr. Cosby for bringing the pain that he says he suffers by watching the news and witnessing the psychology of genocide in action as it continues to spiral in our communities to the table for dialogue, analysis and discussion, for I know that I shed a tear each and every day for our poor children and the sad state of our mental heal the overall in the African Diaspora.

Peace and Blessings,

PSeats

MORE FROM COSBY

June 9, 2009 - 2012 Candidate For President

Bill Cosby has a great way of distilling things. Looks like he's done it again!

I HAVE DECIDED TO BECOME A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE. HERE IS MY PLATFORM:

(1) 'Press 1 for English' is immediately banned. English is the official language. Speak it or wait at the border until you can.

(2) We will immediately go into a two year isolationist posture to straighten out the country's attitude. NO imports, no exports. We will use the policy, 'If we ain't got it, you don't need it.'

(3) When imports are allowed, there will be a 100% import tax on it.

(4) All retired military personnel will be required to man one of our many observation towers on the southern border (six month tour). They will be under strict orders not to fire on aliens..

(5) Social security will immediately return to its original state. If you didn't put nuttin in, you ain't gettin nuttin out. Neither the president nor any other politician will be able to touch it.
(6)Welfare - Checks will be handed out on Fridays at the end of the 40 hour school week and the successful completion of urinalysis and a passing grade.

(7) Professional Athletes--Steroids. The FIRST time you check positive you're banned for life.

(8) Crime - We will adopt the Turkish method, the first time you steal, you lose your right hand. There are no more life sentences. If convicted of murder, you will be put to death by the same method you chose for your victim; gun, knife, strangulation, etc.

(9) One export will be allowed, Wheat. The world needs to eat. A bushel of wheat will be the exact price of a barrel of oil.

(10) All foreign aid using American taxpayer money will immediately cease, and the saved money will pay off the national debt and ultimately lower taxes. When disasters occur around the world, we'll ask the American people if they want to donate to a disaster fund, and each citizen can make the decision whether it's a worthy cause.

(11) The Pledge of Allegiance will be said every day at school and every day in Congress.

(12) The National Anthem will be played at all appropriate ceremonies, sporting events, outings, etc.

Sorry, if I stepped on anyone's toes.

GOD BLESS AMERICA
Bill Cosby

January 12, 2005 UPDATE

Bill Cosby's Talk in today's Washington Post

Comments from the Village

In fiery remarks last week in Washington, Bill Cosby took the black community to task for parental failures that he says have led to high dropout rates, crime and other social ills. After we published brief excerpts of his cultural critique -- delivered at a gala marking the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation ruling-- several readers called for more. Conservative broadcasters seized upon Cosby's remarks, but he was unrepentant in an interview yesterday with The Post's Hamil Harris: "Do I not make a move to speak to the people that I love" he said.

He plans to continue preaching his tough gospel, which was motivated, he said, by District Police Chief Charles Ramsey, who earlier this year called on the community to do a better job of parenting. NAACP Executive Director Kweisi Mfume said he agreed with "most of what Cosby said" and hugged him after the speech. "He said what needed to be said," Mfume said.

"I was talking to the movers and shakers," Cosby emphasized yesterday. Here's more Cos, as tape-recorded by Harris Monday night: "I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2 Where were you when he was 12 Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol And where is the father . . .

The church is only open on Sunday and you can't keep asking Jesus to do things for you. You can't keep saying that God will find a way. God is tired of you," Cosby declared to loud applause.

"I wasn't there when God was saying it, I am making this up, but it sounds like what God would say. In all of this work we can not blame white people. White people don't live over there; they close up the shop early. The Korean ones don't know us well enough, so they stay open 24hours."

On fashion: "People putting their clothes on backwards: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong . . . People with their hats on backwards, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something, or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up to the crack and got all type of needles [piercings] going through her body What part of Africa did this come from Those people are not Africans; they don't know a damn thing about Africa.

"With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail. Brown versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. We have to go in there -- forget about telling your child to go into the Peace Corps -- it is right around the corner. They are standing on the corner and they can't speak English."

On sports heroes: "Basketball players -- multimillionaires -- can't write a paragraph. Football players -- multimillionaires -- can't read. Yes, multimillionaires. Well, Brown versus Board of Education: Where are we today They paved the way, but what did we do with it That white man, he's laughing. He's got to be laughing: 50 percent drop out, the rest of them are in prison.

On teenage sex: "Five, six children -- same woman -- eight, 10 different husbands or whatever. Pretty soon you are going to have DNA cards to tell who you are making love to. You don't know who this is. It might be your grandmother. I am telling you, they're young enough! Hey, you have a baby when you are 12; your baby turns 13 and has a baby. How old are you Huh Grandmother! By the time you are 12 you can have sex with your grandmother, you keep those numbers coming. I'm just predicting. . . .
"What is it -- young girls getting after a girl who wants to remain a virgin Who are these sick black people and where do they come from and why haven't they been parented to shut up This is a sickness, ladies and gentlemen."

COMMENTS FROM THE VILLAGE

From: H Rolandesq

My People, My People; Why are we so alarmed at Brother Crosby telling the truth If he had lied, I'd be the first to be on his case, but in this instance, he spoke the truth. We my Brothers and my Sisters, must take a good look at where we are, and ask the question why I've been Black 3-times; Black Baby, Black Boy and Black Man. From being a Black Boy to now, I have been telling my Black brothers and sisters what my Black father told me. Quote; "Junior, you can do anything in the world you want too; however , there are two things required of you. First; is to have a command of the King's English; (meaning get and Education), Second; Keep a clean shirt.". I understood the first as to my being able to communicate with others. The second, I knew would dictate how others received and accepted me. Nothing, has changed those two things, as to date. I received my Doctorate in 1997, and pay very close attention to my appearance. If we keep this in front of our children, the next generation will be better off.

Keep the Faith, My People. We come from the land of First Man and the lap of civilization. I dare anyone to tell me that little Black boys and girls cannot learn to read, write and communicate.

Respectfully, Roland Holmes, Ph.D.A Proud Black Man

Jones, I hear u sister! The Cos was right on as usual. I have young adults appearing in front of me in Court and they can't talk. I can't understand and and there here for welfare or some other type of benefit but they can't speak English. We now have just a many men on welfare as women. The men do not have children ( or they don't claim them) they are getting aid for single adults. They (men & women) come to court with do rags on their head ( I throw them out). The women come in with their boobs expose, hootchie momma fingernails (tips) and hootchie momma hair. After spending the money for all that hootchie mamma crap, they don't have any money for rent and facing eviction...it happens over & over & over again. somebody needs tell the truth. These kids have no sense of discernment. They don't distinguish between the corner, the bar, the church, the court ...they look and sound the same no matter where they are.

From: khaadvisors

I don't understand the controversy of Dr. Cosby's remarks, they are all true. The NAACP and Dr. Swygert looking stone faced were embarrassed because their focus is wrong. No the NAACP does not focus on the basic issues any more. Images in Hollywood should be addressed, but if people could speak and think, they would boycott the movies that show poor images, turn off today's musical influences and put some clothes on. Dr. Swygert on the other hand, he needs to walk down on Georgia Avenue and listen to the talk, and observe the behavior of students at Howard instead of riding by in his big fancy car. Each time I go to Negril for a chicken patty, I'm on guard.

Lies pinch, but the truth hurts!

Attallahs Eden

Greetings.

I can understand the shame and embarrassment of the statement, but if this is seen in public, is should be corrected in public. Those who have eyes and can see what is going on in this world, is saying will someone else speak up, accept the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. Lets tell it like it is.

We all know that the cracker is racist, basically all of them, we all know that the handkerchief head uncle tome will be exposed, by those of us who are a united Black Nation will fight for truth and freedom. Those who are not working in this direction should be called out. I thank brother Bill for standing up for the truth and what is right and what he believe. You cannot hid this any more. God Bless him and those Freedom Fighters who will speak up for the freedom, justice, and equality of our Black Nation. We must unite and build schools and hospitals of our own, and stop blaming and looking for the slave master and his children to help us.
The new world order is surly coming as of yesterday.

May Allah bless us.

Sisterwam

From: Saxxoncarr

Bill Cosby is correct in his assessment of the way things are. I teach English. I'm familiar with similar problems with other new-to-America groups.

The issue of Ebonics was brought up a few years ago. I understood what the authors of that message were saying. I was disappointed in the timing, the arena in which the subject was made public, etc. Nevertheless, to know a language is not the same as having the ability to communicate. Quite often, young students (as well as older adults) are from worlds (including the home, the neighborhood, family groups)...who "put down" anyone who attempts to speak correctly. They are considered "phony"; pretentious, trying to "act white," ... and on and on. My suggestions have included the fact that no one should disrespect their family groups, etc.; that guardians are proud of their efforts to become educated and that they can make those guardians proud by improving. I am an African-American female who understands the dilemma. I also handle Spanish-speaking, French, German ...and Vietnamese speakers. We teach one another.

And this concerns the comment that statements shouldn't be made public. My answer may agree. Nevertheless, if not in public, where There is no common venue for Blacks to say what needs to be said without the ears of the curious, the critics, the "I-told-you-so" crowds. There was the church, once upon a time; there were barber shops, once upon a time. We no longer control public speaking areas in parks, corners, etc. without fear of drive-bys, drug dealers and bullies who command common ground from people who fear retaliation should they report a felony.

I believe that people are going to get fed up with the stuff that's going on and will revert to "the Bush" in dealing with our neighborhoods and lowered standards of behavior.

From: Glenda PC
I too agree with Mr. Cosby,
The sad truth is, "The Fruits of intelligence is eaten by the mouth of ignorance"

From: EC Williams
I am a biiig Cosby fan. However, I have some reservations about his comments. It is no secret that uneducated people will raise uneducated children. Children learn behavior from people in their immediate environment. Those African Americans that are on the top, the middle or the bottom that understands the importance of proper articulation should constantly convey their concerns everyday and with everyone they come in contact with. There is nothing more important than the ability to communicate one's thoughts.

From: Cristian343
Sneakers cost $500.00 dang, my Reeboks cost $19.95 and they wear very well these last two years......

Bill Cosby does have a point. With all his money and influence he needs to AID in the up building of our community lest he become a Clarence Thomas, an empty share who cant stand himself or his lineage. That is the greater travesty........

From: Virgo945
Read your comments about Cosby in Girlhome, and felt the need to I respond. When I first read Cosby's comments...my first thought was -- whew!!! it's about time!!! I felt many many moons ago what Cosby was now publicly expressing.

I'm a 58 year old grandmother, and I raised my daughter to talk clearly and not use so-called ghetto slang. She was not in the majority of clear speaking black adolescents.

All I'm saying to you is -- Bill Cosby is rich, however he speaks the truth. He is not suffering from insensitivity. I feel, what you need to do is open your eyes and look more closely around you.

As a grandmother and apartment manager, I watch my people dying from Aids at an unprecedented rate - black on black crime is absolutely heartbreaking, and drugs are destroying us as a people.

Cosby is sooooo right! Some of our priorities are on ass backwards. I've watched people that were waaaay behind in their rent -- go out and purchase a 2004 car. They would rather have a new car and no roof over their head. I've witness women buying designer clothes for growing babies when they should have been shopping at the thrift store.

I'm just tired of my people not facing reality -- we always blame reality on 'appeasing white folks'.

When are we going to stop blaming and start doing what we have to do to clean up our act!!!!

Peace and love to you Grace, Ms. Margaret

From Sankomys:
I agree with Cosby. I'm sometimes appalled at the dialogue among certain people, especially between parent and child. The question arises, though, what can and will we, the Blacks (African race in America) (Black is a color, not a race) do about it

Next, I want to commend Zoë Chloe (BSN RN) below. Her achievements through dedication, perseverance, and application of apparent innate abilities are sensational. However, our problem clearly is not about reaching out to people like her except to congratulate and applaud. The big problem is to reach the millions of equally able and talented who are unmotivated towards setting and achieving meaningful goals. I certainly believe that we can concentrate our efforts. A first step is for our leaders to get beyond the rhetoric and take steps to organize efforts to meet the mind killers head on. We stand very little chance of helping anyone by labeling them as untouchables. We have to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty. There are far fewer self-motivated people than there are those who need a push, be it ever so gentle, or harsh and firm.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=38565

http://www.seattlebloggers.com/cgi-bin/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=4984

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800036559&cf=biog&intl=us

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001070/board/nest/8643995

PROBLEM IN SUDAN

	Life expectancy in Sudan is just 58 years. In the United States, the average person can expect to live to the age of 77.
	Of every 1,000 babies born alive in Sudan, 94 will die before their fifth birthdays -- compared to only 8 out of 1,000 in the United States.
	Safe water is accessible to just 75% of the people of Sudan. Almost everyone in the United States has access to safe water.
	Illiteracy is a major problem in Africa, as is the disparity between men's and women's education. In Sudan, 72% of the men and just 51% of the women are literate. In the United States, nearly all adults -- 97% of both men and women -- can read and write.
	Annual per capita income in Sudan is $1,970 (real GDP per capita, ppp$). It is $34,320 in the United States.

Cosby Remarks Spark Cultural give-and-Take

By Stephen Magagnini -- Sacramento Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, September 17, 2004

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In classrooms, hair salons, ski-club picnics and private parties, African Americans in Sacramento and across America are debating Bill Cosby's searing remarks on dysfunctional black families.

Since May, Cosby, one of America's best-known fathers for his beloved TV role as Dr. Cliff Huxtable, has been calling out some African Americans for poor parenting and moral bankruptcy.

In the process, Cosby, 67, has taken on hip-hop and rap lyrics "degrading to African American women," saying they promote irresponsible sexual behavior.

Those messages, he says, contribute to a debilitating cycle of teen pregnancy and an "epidemic" high school dropout rate approaching 50 percent in inner cities.

Cosby, who performs two sold-out shows tonight at the Cache Creek Casino Resort in Yolo County, has provided fodder for "Boondocks" cartoonist Aaron McGruder and dozens of talk-show hosts,
columnists and academics.

He's been called a prophet and an elitist, on the money and out of touch. But no one has questioned Cosby's credentials as a former inner-city Philadelphia kid - the son of a cleaning lady - who
earned a doctorate in education and has given generously to African American schools and causes.

Melanie Lewis, chair of the English department at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, agreed with Cosby that many young African Americans aren't taking advantage of the educational
opportunities their parents and grandparents fought for during the civil-rights movement.

"These doors have been opened - why are we not walking through them?" said Lewis, 35.

"I've had students tell me, I can't come to class today because I have to make it to Foot Locker to buy the latest hot shoe. School should be the priority, not shoes.

"I'm absolutely appalled when I see all this 'bling bling' stuff. It's not what you know, or even about who you know, it's about what you have and can obtain."

Lewis said she had three African American students drop out last week "because they couldn't handle the demands of the class, and yet they're driving real nice cars and wearing expensive clothes.
... I fear this generation is going to be a lost generation."

But Cosby's critics argue he is perpetuating negative stereotypes, thus providing ammunition for those who would cut aid to poor African Americans.

Others say he doesn't fully understand African American youth culture.

Some young African Americans in Sacramento said how they dress - or talk - doesn't affect their ability to succeed in school.

Audrey Fant, who became a single mom at 15 and works and goes to school at night, said she listens to Hot Boyz and Lil' Wayne singing "Bling Bling," which Fant defines as "really nice things, no
matter how you get the money to pay for it."

Fant, 19, doesn't take it personally that rap and hip-hop lyrics denigrate women. "Just because we like to listen to hip-hop and buy expensive things doesn't mean we don't want to get an
education."

Fant and several other young single moms in a class at the Family Resource Center in Del Paso Heights said a lack of sex-education classes for younger teens - not hip-hop - led to teen pregnancy.

Cosby sees a link between raw language, self-esteem and success. "If single moms have jobs and they're supporting themselves and their child and getting along, fine," he said during a telephone
interview Thursday.

"But do they see themselves as women who better have sex - as some of the lyrics say - or be gone?"

At Hiram Johnson High School, senior Nikkol Green said she and her friends talk slang among themselves, then switch to "proper" English with teachers, parents and employers.

Black slang often includes variations of the "N" word. Lewis, the Cosumnes River College professor, said many young people don't know the damage the word did historically, and added that if
they're not careful, ghetto language "becomes a part of who they are and how they see the world."

Dr. Jan Murray-Garcia, a pediatrician in Davis, said ebonics, or black English, is fine in the right context: "Even though I'm from a solidly middle-class family, it's what I use when I'm relaxed, and it's
what I use in my practice to win (African Americans') trust because it's what they use."

Murray-Garcia, 41, is president of the Davis group Blacks for Effective Community Action. She calls Cosby "an incredible advocate for black folks," but wonders if he's letting mainstream America off
the hook.

When he criticizes African Americans in mixed crowds, she said, "it tends to excuse people from examining the structural inequality that blacks and other disenfranchised folks have faced for
centuries and still face today."

Murray-Garcia said that when the Davis Joint Unified School District started testing all third-graders for the Gifted and Talented Education program last spring - instead of relying on teachers to
recommend candidates - the proportion of African American kids who qualified quadrupled.

In the interview, Cosby acknowledged institutional racism still exists, but said "we have to understand that the fight is with believing in oneself, and that education will empower us."

Systemic racism, he said, doesn't excuse African American parents from "raising your child, explaining to your child about life, knowing what subjects your child is taking in school, knowing who
their friends are, being active in the PTA ..."

Cosby said when he and his younger brother were in "pajamas with booties, my mother was reading Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain to us."

Kristene Smith, who runs her own marketing and public-relations firm in Sacramento, believes successful African Americans - most of whom have left the inner cities - need to go back as mentors
and role models.

She makes her daughters - ages 10 and 12 - as well as her six employees read about 30 minutes each day, and she counsels African American kids at Hiram Johnson on the proper way to shake
hands and interview for jobs. You can't stop kids from saying "homey this and whassup that" with their friends, she said, "but savvy parents need to stay on their kids about the proper way to
speak."

Some younger African Americans say Cosby simply doesn't understand them.

Aaron McGruder, the 30-year-old creator of "Boondocks," tweaked Cosby in some strips this summer. In one, Huey, the little kid with the big Afro, tells his grandfather, "I'm not saying Bill Cosby's
crazy ... I'm saying that he maybe sounds a little cantankerous ... and a little out of touch. And he didn't always make complete sense, and maybe he was kinda self-righteous, but hey ... what old
person isn't?"

McGruder, in an interview with National Public Radio, chided Cosby for wearing dark glasses a la hip-hop producer P. Diddy: "It's at least as silly as having your pants down real low."

But in a later strip, McGruder seems to be holding African Americans accountable, too, when Huey draws this conclusion: "Black people drove Bill Cosby crazy."

Many African Americans 40 and older applaud Cosby's candor.

"He's a prophetic soul who has seen his people - those who can least afford to - go down the road of destruction, and he's saying it's not funny anymore," said Sacramento community activist Sam
Starks, 43.

"If it was an issue of poverty, we would have died out as a people long ago. It's a critique of attitudes and behaviors not based on moral correctness."

Cosby shows no signs of quieting. In recent weeks, he's held town meetings in Newark, N.J., and Springfield, Mass., to address violence, teen pregnancy and the dropout rate.

He says it's time to "turn the mirror around for the community to look at itself."

"Immigrants come here feeling they can make it by getting an education and their children getting an education," he said.

"The way out of everything is education ... You can say (the problem is) systemic, but there's something people did in their homes that broke that (value) down."

About the Writer

The Sacramento Bee's Stephen Magagnini can be reached at (916) 321-1072 or smagagnini@sacbee.com

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Easy targets v. hard lessons
by Ed Whitfield

A Different View

Dismissing it as a justified “airing dirty laundry,” Bill Cosby has gotten little grief from prominent African Americans for his diatribe against our “lower economic people” at the NAACP's commemoration of the 1954 Brown decision.

I, for one, am outraged, and I think Cosby and his apologists are guilty of promoting an unfortunate and backward view of community and our responsibilities as a people. His broad generalizations and crude stereotypes were reminiscent of the old racist justifications for the subjugation of blacks. They indicate that, in this time of general economic decline, it's open season on poor black people.

Instead of taking a deep look into the dynamics that have caused the conditions he spoke of, Cosby took the easy way out - hatefully, hypocritically and like a cowardly bully, taking aim at the easiest of targets.

“These people are not parenting. They are buying things for their kids - $500 sneakers for what? And won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.' I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't? where you is? I don't know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk. It' all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and when you got in the house you switched to English. Everybody knows that at some point you switch to English, except these knuckleheads.”

Speaking of the large number of black folks in jail, he said: “These people are not political prisoners. These people are going around stealing Coca-Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake. Then we're all outraged. `Ah, the cops shouldn't have shot him.' What the hell was he doing with the piece of pound cake in his hands?”

Since when does a piece of pound cake justify shooting someone? Why nothing about Rodney King, Amadou Diallo or Abner Louima? Why put down the struggle against police violence and injustice so casually?

But Cosby plumbed new depths of insensitivity and ignorance with his attack on poor black women.

“Grandmother, mother and great-grandmother in the same place raising children and the child knows nothing about love or respect from any one of the three of them. All the child knows is give me, give me, give me.”

Black women don't love and nurture their children? He may as well be an old slave breeder who justifies selling children away from their parents with the argument that they didn't love them anyway.

The real problem here lies with understanding issues of race, class and community -- even among us.

In periods of economic decline, especially, there is something that makes people want to place the blame on those below them on the totem pole. Many people prefer not to look at the systemic problems that prevent all sectors of our society having the opportunity to succeed. This might require us to act to change the injustices that prevail, but that's hard. It is easier to blame victims: They don't talk right; they
buy their children the wrong sneakers.

Perhaps many of us also want to avoid the feeling of helplessness and confusion that results from thinking that the very folks we want to emulate - the ones who set the standard of over- consumption and waste and whose children go berserk and kill their classmates in places like Columbine and Jonesboro and Paducah - are not worth emulating.

Many people have a hard time facing the fact that it is more the greed of the wealthy and powerful than the indiscretions of the poor that cause our social misery.

Mr. Cosby should have directed his comments more to the “knuckleheads” with him in the room rather than ridiculing the less fortunate ones who were not there. He should have implored his associates to return to the communities from which they have recently escaped and model the values, language, parenting skills and purchasing skills that they feel are missing.

Such a presence will go a long way toward that worthy goal making people more self-reliant and helping them help themselves. I am sure that if Cosby and his middle class cohorts could get a little closer to some low income communities and themselves quit saying “give me, give me” so loud, perhaps they'd see all the poor black kids with Wal-Mart and second-hand shoes; perhaps they could see and hear the love and nurturing of black great-grandmothers and grandmothers and mothers that continues to be the key to our survival.

African Americans are only 139 years out slavery, 39 years past another hundred years of legalized inequality and exploitation, and we are still living with institutional racism and discrimination in the criminal justice, economic and educational arenas. The extravaganza celebrating the Brown v. Board decision was a time for celebration - not hate. Cosby should have been offering congratulations for the long path we have traversed so far, and encouragement, support and a pledge of more involvement in the continued challenges ahead.

WORDS WE SPEAK

JC,

I agree with you whole heartedly. Because we live in America and because we have the freedom to be or not to be whatever we want, many fail to recognize that we all have to make changes that includes the way we speak. Speaking correct English as to proper Proper English is the difference which needs to be distinguished. One involves enunciation and diction whereas the later involves use of words or linguistics as it is particular to the various regions.

If you decided you wanted to travel to China or Japan, every effort would be made to learn as much as possible in order to communicate. African Americans are journeying through White Corporate America, and we need to know not only the language but how to use it. To do so does not mean we lose our identity, it simply means we should be flexible and adept enough to know when and where to use it.

yolanda

Peter wrote:

It is not the fault of Black African-American students that they are only presented with "One Language" to learn and master. That they can not utilize a word(s) in it's proper place merely require some emphasis on enunciation and diction skills. But when they are in communication with peers, friends and non -strangers and non business interest, their verbiage rules would greatly depend on what the cultural experience has produced and evolved for their convenience.

Regarding Bill Cosby and those like him, I ask when did we stray away from the sayings of The Honorable Marcus M. Garvey as he so eloquently stated in The Course of African Philosophy lesson 3: "Every Negro in the world must be a part of the con-fraternity. Every Negro's interest must come first in all things of humanity. Not until you have served every Negro in the world should you seek to be kind to others. Charity begins at home "Negro charities are first attended to. So long as there is need in your race, attend to it first and always. Never deny help to your own race".

Garvey would go on to state that: "Never be unkind to your race. Never curse your race. If anything is being done that is wrong by a member of your race, try to put him right. Don't condemn him without hearing him. Give him a chance to do what is right, before you denounce him. If he provokes you, try to put up with his ignorance and persuade him to be kind, good and gentle".

How well spoken, how many of our Black African youth feels as if they have been abandoned by their older Black society. Not cared for, not thought of or even planned for. The burden is ours.

Hotep

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