Bill Cosby Is Right

Bill Cosby is old.

Rich.

Conservative.

He's kinda like the old rich uncle who tells you how to get rich, but you have NO access to any of the methods that he used. And what you do have access to is NOT the same opportunity that he had, the world has changed and he can't see that his method may not work for you.

Not everyone is a talented comic.

I love Bill, especially his old stuff. But in today's world, a young comic can't recycle Bill's old jokes.

Bill has valid points, but he comes across as being distant, out of touch, not really comprehending what's going on with young people today. He comes across as not understanding the way that the underbelly of American culture, the drugs, the violence, has affected our Brothers and Sisters of Color, especially those who are poor.

This is not all race or color based, American has glorified violence and hate for a LONG time. Look at the gangsters of the 30s, how we've romanticized them, glorified them. (And I don't have time today to get into the long history of violence against People of Color [POC].) It's a long, long road that's gotten us ALL to this point.

Now we are reaping what we've sown.

Unfortunately the poor are the first victims, and since POC are disproportionately poor, we as a society are blaming POC for the conditions that we have set into motion a long time ago. Yes, racism, bigotry, prejudice are all a part of our culture and the problem too, intensifying the effect on POC. But it's moving "upward", in the long run, we all face the same issues.

White suburbia isn't getting it. They just see that their kids are falling into the same glorifying of hate and violence, drugs and guns. So they blame the poor, specifically our Brothers and Sisters of Color, never seeing that they've perpetuated the problem by their actions and more importantly, their inaction.

Bill's words are a two-edged sword. If only our society could hear the good side, and get down into the trenches with the good people who are working to make a difference right now, today.

Instead, Americans hear what we want to hear -- that blame game, never seeing that there is a hopelessness that keeps our kids from realizing their full potential.

I'm so, so tired of the white conservative line, that patronizing attitude that racism doesn't exist anymore and thus POC should just work harder and get themselves out of the ghetto. Hello? So sorry but if you live in a poor area, with less than adequate schools, few job opportunities, no transportation, it's pretty darn hard to "move on up to the east side".

And bluntly, too many white liberals are just as bad. "Oh my goodness, those poor black people, we need to 'bring them up''. Patting themselves on the back about what great non-racist kind of people they are. But do they LIVE next to their Brothers and Sisters? Do they get down in the trenches, volunteer at schools, help build affordable housing, provide on-the-job training, mentor young people? Ummmm, well, probably not.

Yes, Bill is right. People need to take responsibility for their actions.

Bill is right -- and that includes white society taking the blame and responsibility for over 100 years of oppression, which affects POC right up to the present.

We have a long, sad, ugly history to overcome, and the advances made by the Civil Rights movement have only made a dent in the problem. We still have much to overcome, including the unconscious attitudes of the society that surrounds us all.

Bill Cosby is right.

But not in the way that he thinks he is....