The Art of Politics

Phat Albert

Hey Hey Hey... Bill Cosby's got more to say...

Bill Cosby has once again addressed sensitive issues facing the black community, this time in comments at an event commemorating the Civil Rights Act.

As with his comments during the commemoration of Brown v Board of Education, Cosby harshly criticized domestic violence, educational ignorance, and the violent, misanthropic, self-destructive trends ravaging the black community, especially in impoverished areas.

And once again, Bill Cosby is right. He's not saying something that hasn't been said before as the American blank community struggles with new challenges and changes facing them. He is, however, adored and well known in the predominantly white media culture, which is why his comments receive so much air time.

At the root of his complaints lies the concept of personal dignity, and what has become of it in the black community. The civil rights movement was marked not by violent demands for change - but by passive demonstrations of basic human pride and dignity in the face of hatred and ignorance. Rosa Parks didn't spray paint the bus and light it on fire, she demanded just to sit with dignity. Dr. King didn't raise his fists against those who oppressed him, he just walked upright with dignity that was irrepressible. The movement succeeded because it showed the rest of America not a violent backlash, but the dignity of people in the face of unacceptable conditions and intimidation, who refused to lose that dignity, that personal pride and belief they were indeed worthy of respect and equality before the law.

At each event this year, Cosby has upbraided those who take for granted that which came at such a grievously high cost. It is a shame that those who fought for integration and educational opportunity see their efforts lost in high dropout rates and a failure to learn. It is a shame that those who faced hoses and dogs and an unchecked power under the color of the law in order to secure equality before the law now face such high rates of crime and domestic violence.

An interesting question is - does white America have a place in the discussion?

Posted by MEC2 at July 3, 2004 07:48 PM