I received an e-mail from a reader named Jim McCaffrey today, who via a link at Townhall.com came across my June, 2004 National Review Online article about Bill Cosby's bracing speech to the NAACP, and the contrasting immediate reactions of the mainstream media and blogosphere to that speech.

Jim's e-mail is rather bracing itself, and puts a fine point on the cancerous aspects of the "hip-hop culture" that is too often uncritically hyped by the MSM; witlessly integrated into school curricula with approval of teachers, principals and school boards; and blandly accepted by skittish white liberals. Jim wrote:

Hi Matt, came across your...piece...on Bill Cosby. It's still quite relevant. As you've no doubt noted, Bill's made the headlines again for speaking the often uncomfortable truth about the shortcomings of black parenting, and "the community", which spends too much time on blaming others, and much too little, in dealing with the realities of their plight.

It occurred to me that we are experiencing what amounts to a new kind of Mau Mau movement. The "hip hop" industrial complex, including the "music" purveyors, MTV, BET, clothing manufacturers, and marketers of personal care [?] products, which cater to this "gangsta" element of the African-American community, all benefit handsomely from the surly, undisciplined, and isolated nature of these young people. The broadening antagonism towards things like education, traditional morality, and the prevailing popular culture keep them firmly in the clutches of both these "rap-trepreneurs", and the other racial hustlers who decline to examine just why too many blacks are regressing, and why their neighborhoods are becoming less inhabitable.

Of course the heart of this problem can really be found among white elitists who irresponsibly lionize the symbols of this dangerous decadence, and with politicians of every persuasion, who lack the courage required to first publicly expose the nature of this cancer, and then seek to do something about it. Wouldn't it be great to see a, "Cosby Congressional Caucus" formed with the goals of doing what the "Black Congressional Caucus", has expressly refused to even discuss?

There are only so many "gansta" jobs in the NBA, and the so-called music industry. Perhaps in the future young adults who cannot read and have no discernible talents or skills can contact their fellow "hip hop" enthusiasts, among Hollywood's and NY's illuminati for career advice. That is those of them, who have not already found their way to prison, to join the real "gangstas".

USA Today on Cosby's talk last night in D.C.:

WASHINGTON — Bill Cosby had just listened as five mothers who lost their teenage sons to gun violence told their tragic stories. He looked out over the audience. "I hope none of you ever has to get that call," he said. "Those of you with children that age need to look at the walls in their rooms, see what they're writing, see what they're listening to. If you don't want to know that your child has a gun or knows how to get a gun, and if you don't want to believe that this could happen to your child, look up here."

It's stories like these that prompted actor/comedian Cosby two years ago to begin a crusade to spur action toward solving the problems that plague inner-city communities — crime, illiteracy, teen pregnancy. He has held "A Call Out with Bill Cosby" events in about 20 cities so far. They are locally sponsored gatherings aimed at finding solutions for what Cosby sees as self-destructive behavior, and at offering inner-city kids encouragement and better options. Tuesday night the venue was the University of the District of Columbia. In the audience: the mayor, the chief of police, government officials, parents, children and caregivers. The response of the crowd was enthusiastic, not just to Cosby but also to the panel that joined him on the program, including educators, legal experts and the mother of adopted and foster children.

....Cosby says he has been encouraged by the response he has received on his tour. He has found, he says, that "people have been waiting to hear the truth, they don't want to be coddled. ... They want these issues talked about." He is especially interested in reaching black males and convincing them of the importance of embracing their roles as fathers. At the same time, he says that women have to take control.

The Washington Post reported on Cosby's D.C. outreach, as well:

During a second session last night, the panel included D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who warned of rising juvenile crime, and the District's chief coroner, who said that from 1982 to 2005, nearly 1,000 homicide victims were ages 16 to 19. The coroner, Marie-Lydie Y. Pierre-Louis, issued a warning to teenagers who don't get their diploma: "There's one waiting for you at the office of the medical examiner. It's a death certificate." Taking the microphone, Cosby told audience members that he encouraged Pierre-Louis to deliver the grim numbers so they "would understand that it has to be stopped." To those who ignore their children, Cosby said: "I'm calling you out, and I'm holding you accountable. If you're having a problem, visit the Jesus in your heart."

Related Rosenblog posts:

"The Disparities Scam, Vol. 7."

"It's Hard Out Here for The Pimped...."

"The Cost Of Absent Fathers To Young Black Men."

"Guns Don't Kill People, Hoodlums Do."

"Reparations Conferences And Black Ski Trips At UC Berkeley."

"Get'Cho Gold Teeth Grillz, From Behind Bars."

"Don Diva: The Lifestyle Quarterly For The Discerning Gangster."

"Word Cop Sez: There Are No 'Articulate' Black People."

"The Emergency Management Task For Black New Orleans: Escape Poverty."

"Community Responsibility Theme At Grand Rapids Black Summit."

"Pimp Culture, Ghetto Branding: Fa' Shizzle."

"'Heralds Of A Brighter Black Future' Could Get NAACP A Clue."

TECHNORATI TAGS: BILL COSBY, WASHINGTON D.C., CALL OUT, BLACK PARENTS, PARENTING, EDUCATION, VIOLENCE, SUCCESS, RACISM, HIP-HOP, TEETH GRILLS, PIMP, REPARATIONS, GUNS

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at May 17, 2006 05:22 PM

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