President Obama talks about black folks being accountable and he gets a standing ovation. Dr. Bill Cosby does the same thing and he is labeled “out of touch with black life”? Why is one person a hero to the race and the other a traitor? Time for a reality check Black America!!!!
Obama is preaching to the choir. You don’t need to tell people that go to work everyday about responsibility. Rooms full of middle and upper middle class black folks are your wrong target audience. Your true audience was outside of last weeks NAACP Centennial Convention. They were in the streets……let’s be real people!!! They are our neighbors (depending on where you live), relatives (don’t act like you have a cousin, auntie or uncle that the accountability speech wasn’t tailor made for) and co-workers (yes, some of them have jobs at white collar businesses too). These are the people that are part of this cycle of generational misconduct.
Cosby had good intentions, sometimes sounding corny, but he didn’t have any support. The same audience that cheered for Obama left Cosby hanging. He ended up looking like a crazy black man without his pudding pops. We (yes us black folk!!!!) have turned our heads and kept silent far too long. Some of us don’t want to turn over the apple cart. We are afraid that we might alienate our families and friends by holding their feet to the fire. If someone mentions they know a 30 year old grandmother these days, all you hear is crickets!!!! It doesn’t even have shock value anymore.
I know Cosby is not as exciting as Obama but weren’t they saying the same thing? Black folks quit the Double Standard and let’s have a real conversation about Black Accountability.
2 comments:
I think the reasons why people turned on Cos are...
first and foremost the brother has had the opportunity to speak out for years, but didn't take the opportunity to do so until after he was out the spotlight. The dude was at one time referred to as the most powerful man in television, and NOW he decides to address his people???
Secondly, when the brother speaks he comes off way out of touch.
and last...he never seems to address the people with the power. I mean we all have power so to speak, but I'm talking about those that have input on the institutions that move our communities. He never talks to them. Instead he's always putting the poor folks on blast. I'm not saying they shouldn't recieve a "call to arms" so to speak...but I'm sure a bit more balance is in order.
Obama isn't frowned on basically because he's doing what Cos should have done...i.e. Talking when he's actually relevant.
Jay Fever - I’m not mad at your analysis at all. You could make a case that Cosby was playing it safe because of his popularity at the time. It’s hard to address the people in power when they truly don’t care. The black folks that know don’t Tell and the ones that Tell don’t know. I guess the new question is - if Cosby is late in delivering his message, does that mean the message isn’t relevant?
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