Posted on 05/31/2004 11:54:28 PM PDT by mastercylinder
I've got to give Cosby a lot of credit here. In a couple of instances I think he uses some poor judgement, but overall the man is trying to address an issue that has been clear as a bell for everyone but blacks for nigh onto forty years. Perhaps the worst mistake this nation made in the last 40 years was not Vietnam. It was the War on Poverty and the decision to give away trillions of dollars to people who would still blame everyone but themselves for their problems, even after those trillions had been spent to give them a hand up.
Cosby, I may disagree with your on your political views overall, but on this topic you have done your own people a great service. I only hope they will listen. Actually I know they won't. People like Jackson, Sharpton, N'Fume et all would lose too much power if blacks had to start to take reponsibility for their own failures.
From the NYT
Worst Rates of Graduation Are in New York, Study Says By GREG WINTER
Published: February 26, 2004
Black and Latino students in New York State are less likely to finish high school on time than their counterparts anywhere else in the nation, according to a new analysis of graduation rates around the country.
Less than a third of Latino students in New York earned a high school diploma in four years, the worst showing of any state, compared with more than half of all Latino students in the nation as a whole.
Only 35 percent of black students in New York graduated on time, also the worst showing of any state, while slightly more than half of black students graduated on time nationally.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Looks like Cosby was right.
It's worth noting that the comments in response to this article on the Atlanta Daily World are wholly supportive of Cosby's comments.
The Civil Rights movement has gone to hell since Martin was killed...
>>> 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. . . .
Sounds like the makings of a country song...
This is a first for any "Black Leader". I am amazed.
Of course he was right, which only goes to highlight what a complete fraud those who dissed him were trying to perpetrate. Honest to God, those people have done more to harm blacks and other minorities than 500 conservative administrations could ever hope to, as if they did.
The democrats have almost singlehandedly torn black communities from stem to stern, with their pandering ways.
What's truly sad, a real tragedy for the ages, is that some blacks truly think all whites want them to fail. It seems as if the vast majority of blacks do. I and the people I associate with, are happy when we see blacks become successful. And if they are decent middle-class family oriented folks who are doing their best to raise another generation of like minded kids, I am thrilled.
In actuality, color has nothing to do with it, because that's the way I feel about everyone. The more successful people our nation has, the less that will be feeding at the public trough, remaining a drain on society.
Why would I want anyone to fail? And for heaven's sake, how can a black leader foist off the opposite opinion on blacks, without them reasoning this out for themselves? Do they truly think I want them on welfare for another 100 years?
"That white man, he's laughing. He's got to be laughing: 50 percent drop out, the rest of them are in prison."
No.
Nothing to laugh about.
Very sad and very expensive for those who pay their way.
Culture.
Gee, I wonder how much of Jessie Jackson's personal fortune goes to educate black youth? Keep 'em Dumb, Dependent and Democrat! (sarcacism)
That comment in it's entirity, was one of the unfortunate comments I thought he made. Of the 50% that drop out, a good number wind up in prison. I thought it was a little over the top to say that 50% dropped out and the rest were in prison. I know what he meant and agree, but the wording of this said something I don't think he intended to say.
What continues to amaze me is that the most common response to his observations is to attack the messenger, and to discredit small details while ignoring the overall point.
He issued a wakeup call, the NAACP hit the snooze button. No wonder minorities are coming to the conservative cause in droves - there's no one left with any sense in their leadership.
If he becomes a battering ram for the purpose he might succeed in persuading some of his people to come out from under the pall placed on them by their popularized leaders who live by keeping them under.
God, help the man and let him be heard.
"Cosby cited a 50 percent dropout rate for Blacks. However, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the dropout rate for African-Americans was 13.1 percent in 2000, the last year for which statistics are available."
This is no doubt another case of innumerate reporting - - - failing to note the distinction between annual and lifetime dropout rates: BOTH of these figures may well be correct, since it would be easy for an approximate 13 percent annual dropout rate in a certain range of grades to accumulate to a 50 percent (or larger) dropout rate by graduation year.
Shows how far a clueless reporter can go in dissing a subject they don't like by using fraudulent statistics.
Shows how far a clueless reporter can go in dissing a subject they don't like by using fraudulent statistics.
Thanks for taking the time to elucidate. I had a general sense that they were full of it.
Cosby, I may disagree with your on your political views overall, but on this topic you have done your own people a great service. I only hope they will listen. Actually I know they won't. People like Jackson, Sharpton, N'Fume et all would lose too much power if blacks had to start to take reponsibility for their own failures.
If the black community is smart, it will fire the current leadership and hire Bill Cosby. He had the courage to state the problems..Granted he might have used exaggeration in a statement or two but the principal was exactly correct. When people are still failing after receiving preferred treatment and help unheard of for other groups, something is wrong and in the case of the black community, it is the culture. Millions of kids have been lost because it was not "cool" to be devoted to education rather than to the "rap and drug" culture. Cosby loves his people enough to speak the truth. I suspect he knew he would be condemned for it..A prophet is nearly always hated for stating the truth. Bill Cosby is a prophet and his people need to listen.
BUMP
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