• July 19, 2004
• Vol. 62
• No. 3

Cosby Cries Foul

In a Passionate Plea, the Comic Urges Parents to Look Hard at Their Children's Values and Behavior

As Dr. Cliff Huxtable, Bill Cosby was all smiles. But lately Cosby has been dispensing some tough medicine. Back in May he lit up talk radio switchboards after a Washing ton, D.C., speech in which he accused some African-Americans of "not parenting" their kids and blasted women who have "five, six children" and "eight, 10 husbands." Defending his comments at a July 1 conference for Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Cosby said he wasn't the one airing dirty laundry. "Your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day," he said. "It's cursing and calling each other 'n——-.' They think they're hip. They can't read; they can't write.... They're going nowhere."

Many black leaders nodded in cautious agreement. "The big fear in the room...was not what Bill said, the fear was how the right wing would twist it," said Jackson. NAACP chief Kweisi Mfume said he "agreed with most of what he said." And Congressional Black Caucus chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said "there was a lot of truth" to it, though "[Cosby] ought to be more careful by balancing it out." (Cosby declined further comment.)

But others, like hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, say Cosby, while well intentioned, missed the point. "The real profanity is the poverty and ignorance in our community," says Simmons. "So those who have the opportunity to promote education and opportunity for others shouldn't use Cosby's words to hide behind the fact that America does owe African-Americans greater access."

More From This Article

Feedback

Weighing in on Cosby's comments

REV. AL SHARPTON "I think a lot of what Cosby is saying is good, I think, though, we've got to question, Are we just going to attack young people or are we going to try to constructively get something done?"

MARY J. BLIGE "It seems like the people don't care anymore. It's like the grown-ups are like, 'Aw, let 'em do what they want,' and [the youth] are just kind of doing what they want. Somebody has to do it, and maybe it was [Cosby's] job to do it."

RUSSELL SIMMONS "It depends on your lens whether you choose to blame those who are in struggle rather than help them."

DONNA BRAZILE "He's saying what people have been talking about for a while. Cosby has done his part, but now it's time for African-American elected leaders to do their part."