Bill Cosby’s Rant
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, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be… 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. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.
People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we’ve got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won’t spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.
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? Or who is his father?
People putting their clothes on backward: Isn’t that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, 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 and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?
What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.
Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different ‘husbands’ — or men or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can’t write two paragraphs. We as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.
We cannot blame the white people any longer.
The full transcript of Mr. Bill Cosby’s Pound Cake speech at the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the Brown vs Topeka Board of Education Supreme Court Decision
Thank you, Mr. Cosby, for the years of laughter you gave blacks and whites alike. Thank you for being a lone voice in the wilderness, with the courage to speak against the gansterization that your own race is putting upon itself. Thank you for speaking the truth even when you’ll certainly be labeled a traitor and called ‘Oreo’ behind your back.
Thank you…for ~everything~.
Well, some of the things he said are certainly right. One cannot always blame other people for their problems. But with the way things are, not everyone is gonna be like what he’s proposing. I mean, people growing up in some very difficult communities have totally different and probably opposing views. And trust me, they don’t think they’re Africans as he seems to think.
My opinion is that things will not work themselves out, and we need a plan to deal with the situation. A ban on a particular word will not work either, because thats just forcing the issue on people. This has to start with the recognition of the severity of this situation. The actual people in the situation (the man in the mirror) needs to recognize that they are on the wrong road. To achieve this, we first need more rappers like Master P. who’s promoting a better lifestyle of education and clean thoughts. These under-privilege people listen to hip-hop so thats why I think we must start there. Then they need to discover the fact that education can be as much fun as whatever else they’re doing. Start with just learning to read, and read self-improvement books. Next read books on how to start businesses. You don’t need much education to start a business, so rather than going all the way to PhD, start a business and your kids will be able to do the “school thing”. I’m not saying college is a no-no. Its actually imperative that they go, but focus on improving the financial situation first. (by the way, nice smiley @ the bottom)
God bless Bill Freakin’ Cosby. He may be getting to be a cranky old guy, but at least he is thoughtful and honest in his crankiness. I am sure many people of whatever race have had these same thoughts, and it’s not just black folks who make these absolutely stupid choices with their life and behavior. I’ve seen my share of dumb & dangerous whites and hispanics, too, with all the bad parenting and ignorance that goes along with this dubious social set. We as a society need to really put pressure on this segment of guaranteed societal failures to wise up, stop acting like an idiot, and get on with being part of the larger world, instead of trying to be “cool” in their poorly imagined ghetto style. It ain’t cool. It’s lame, and a waste of all of our time.
This isn’t a “rant” from Cosby.. they’re RATIONAL THOUGHTS.
Bill,
You are so correct. This world has gone crazy. It is out of control. Although I love the internet, I believe it has been a tool for coruption. Where have all the morals gone? Education is the key. I was raised in a divorced family. I was never given any direction or push to go to college. I had a daughter at the age of 17 and decided myself, I needed to continue my education. I graduated but never went onto college as I needed to work to live. I regret not making an opportunity to continue my education. I may be street smart, but if your looking for that 6 figure job, you might as well hang it up as they want the degree. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, without that degree you cannot work in those high position jobs. Taking care of my father and his finances for nine months until he passed was a real eye opener on how much I still needed to learn. Although most would have looked at it as a burden, I took it as a Blessing. Knowledge is truly power in our society and as our children become men and women, we need to really pay attention to how we bring them up and the resources we make available to them. They are our future leaders. Everyone has a choice. Lets stop the blaming and go look in the mirror! Doesn’t matter what color you are, we all have the same choices to make, its the ones we choose that will dictate the life we live. Thanks for the message and God Bless!
AMEN!
truth hurts…
Amazing that Bill Cosby would blame his own people for the effect of racism on their lives; just amazing. “Higher education” sure whitewashed him.
Maybe, just maybe, when Richard Pryor (God rest his soul) was making fun of Cosby all those years ago, people should have shunned Richard/Eddie Murphy and the lot for decrying Cosby’s calls for proper role model behavior and language. There ARE role black models for boys and girls though, its just a matter of values, in the idea that parents need to have just as good role models (and behavior and language) to foster an environment where their children can look to them. Cosby is a good guy, a freakin ridiculously good guy, but his message is lost because he is TOO good a guy that others feel bad about their own behavior. Its easier to make fun of Cosby’s values being thrown in your face, than to accept that Cosby is telling you precisely what you need to hear to fix your life.
He’s absolutely right. Most of them act like animals and then blame anyone else they can, usually white people. (I am not white). Its time they “kept it real” and started taking some responsibility.
Holy Crap Bill Cosby,
That is a great logical statement.
This goes to show that TV and peers have a large effect on what our children think like, and do. But I think this should go a step farther and say that we as “Humans” need to stop blaming every one and every thing, and get agreeing on something as common as “this is not right for us to be uneducated” or “we should have better standard”.
This maybe my own rant, but its not all “black” folk doing what you describe, its everywhere, and its become a culture that really never needed to be.
The blame for everything can be summed up as a simple thing.
[Ignorance]
The Slave era was done by not just assholes, but by ignorant people.
This just shows what ignorance is capable of even in the year 200x.
People need to take responsibility.
1. Where do you buy $500 sneakers?
2. Who would really buy them?
3. Where are the laws that say you must where your clothes, that you have bought with your money, a certain way?
4. From reading your rant, it seems to me, that you are really out of touch with the young black folks of today.
Please stay quiet and enjoy your elder years.
Please stay quiet and enjoy your elder years.
Whatever happened to “Respect your elders”? Or “Youth learns from aging”?
thank you Bill, But its what kids do and they have had the right to blame white people for so long its now just what many do. But I don’t blame any one when some one does something to you, Your next move is to keep harming your self or stop and get ove it.
to omar…
so yeah…$500 sneakers is an example of buying something expensive that you don’t need…
People do….
There are no laws…it’s called “common sense” It’s like a guidelines thing…use George Carlin if you must: “It isn’t wrong, just don’t do it”….besides…everything you buy has “rule” about what you can and can’t do with it…(think electronics and movies/music for one) why should clothes be any different…
and if he did keep quiet, he wouldn’t be excercising his right to free speech…and that would be un-american…
to Omar
3. Where are the laws that say you must where your clothes
people actually WEAR clothes Omar… you are the epitome of what Bill Cosby is talking about.
Thanks for showing us that he is 100% right in this “rant” of his.
I agree with him. But what a lot of white people have to remember is that it is not all black people that are like this. So please don’t let his article breed hate. Yeah the ones that talk like that are very annoying and have as many kids as possible so they can get more welfare or are just to dumb to use condoms. We are better off with out them but please don’t label them as “black”.
I think that it needs to be clarified that being black has absolutely nothing to do with asinine behavior and juvenile deliquency. The issue at hand is inner city and poverty-stricken cultural problems, areas of which happen to be populated mainly by minorities.
Thus, it is not a problem of race, but a problem of social engineering, since it does not matter what tone your skin is when you grow up in the worst possible situation.
Amen to everything Bill Cosby said. The butchering of the English language heard everywhere everyday makes me cringe. Even TV newscasters, who have good jobs and are educated, drive me crazy by telling everything in the present tense as if every event they mention is happening right now, even if it took place yesterday, a week ago, or even an hour ago. Another disturbing and disgusting behavior, exemplified right now on national TV in the World Series, is the vast number of people spitting all over the place. How uneducated is that?! It’s certainly not just black people who talk, dress, and act like ignoramuses, though; it’s in every race and culture. In my opinion, it just makes them all look, act, and sound stupid. It’s no wonder the United States is losing credibility in the whole world, and it’s no surprise to me that so many of our high-tech and other jobs requiring highly intelligent and well-educated minds are going to persons born and raised in other countries, where an education is still highly desired and sought. We are going to lose the very freedoms our forefathers fought for because we no longer appreciate and value them. Unless this trend reverses by people waking up as to what is happening, this beautiful, glorious, FREE country that we are taking for granted will soon go the way of the Roman Empire and we will no longer be free to enjoy life as we have known it. Listen to Bill Cosby and others like him. He is so right on!
Omar, are you a high school graduate?
Do you have a legit job with a paycheck?
Can you name any of our past presidents or even present ones?
Chances are you will answer NO to all of those questions I have asked above…
If I were to ask you about the newest rap album that was released or what the 5th track on Lil’ John’s latest album was,I am sure you would have those answers….If I asked you how to vote or where to even start with voting you would have no clue I am sure…It is probably in your best interest and those of your “friends” if you stay quiet and have people think of you as uneducated rather than speak and have us remove all doubt and see you indeed are.
wow… he hit the nail on the head here. Its not a problem of race, its a problem of culture.