How? By criticizing blacks for abdicating various personal and social responsibilities.
Cosby's very public censure of blacks for rebuffing the many opportunities for education and social advancement open to them earned him wide excoriation in the black and (to a slightly lesser degree) mainstream press. He was accused of being too harsh, lacking compassion and not being able to relate either because he's too old or too rich. Generally, many black activist types felt that being dragged to the woodshed by the indisputably respected elder was completely uncalled-for and counterproductive.
Few if any chastised Cosby for not being “black enough” or for being an establishment puppet, since Cosby has enthusiastically supported mainstream black causes and activists such as Jesse Jackson over the years. It all would likely have been forgotten, a forgivable faux paus born of frustration on the part of the beloved entertainer.
But then he did it again.
On July 1, Cosby once more collectively spanked black people at Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Citizenship Education Fund Conference when he criticized blacks' skills in the areas of parenting and domestic relationships.
Again, the press — mind you, not blacks at large — got monumentally ticked. Don Babwin's (Associated Press) article of July 2 began “Bill Cosby went off on another tirade against the black community Thursday …”. On July 3, The Black Commentator webzine ran an article that dripped vitriol with the potency of molecular acid. Obviously the attitude on the part of the black and mainstream press is: What is he doing? He's supposed to be one of us!
And by “one of us” they don't mean a person of color.
Were Rush Limbaugh or Pat Robertson to say such things, they'd be tarred and feathered in the press for a day or two, but it would be expected of them. If Mychal Massie or Thomas Sowell or I were to do so — well, we're just Oreo neo-con puppets of the white establishment. Again, expected.
But when one of them, tested and true, says such things, it's another matter entirely. I mean — in the name of all things politically correct — he even used the N-word!
Suddenly, Cosby has become like the drunken uncle who upsets family gatherings. Sure, he's well-heeled, generous and funny, but then he goes over his limit. Even though many of the guests appreciate his antics, he still winds up embarrassing the heck out of the host.
Much of the criticism Cosby is receiving now comes from the younger black press as well as a few profiteers such as rap producers and publishers who have a stake in rotting black minds. Typically, traditionalist whites (and Oreo neo-cons) are quickly accused by these people of attempting to “deprive black folk of they cultcha” (I cannot attribute this quote to anyone in particular, but I've heard it probably on at least as many occasions as you have). This cultcha is, of course, little more than a cult of mediocrity, which is the point Cosby is making so well right now.
Personally — and this is purely speculation — I believe that Cosby, though not overly political per se, will ultimately remain in the camp of those of Jackson's ilk. It is however, as they say in the MasterCard commercial, priceless to see simple common sense overtake someone of Cosby's iconic respect and influence.
Also priceless are the expressions on the faces of Jackson and other heavy-hitters present when these incidents transpire. They're a combination of the embarrassed host as he frets over the intoxicated uncle and that of the older sibling who bought the bag of pot the younger gets busted with. Will he squeal? Will this come back to me?
Because it is Jackson himself who has been instrumental in actualizing the malaise about which Cosby rails, spouting pseudo-poetic bastardized Tony Robbins aphorisms to youth audiences whilst supporting the socialists who have conspired to keep blacks in that very cult of mediocrity — and becoming a multimillionaire in the process.
Of course, everything the entertainer has said is 100 percent spot-on true, but in the end, other than concerning the sanctity of personal responsibility, blacks as individuals oughtn't be blamed for their shortcomings any more than anyone else who has bought into liberalism and allowed their families and communities to degenerate into self-seeking, undisciplined entities. It's the foremen such as Jesse Jackson, working beneath their socialist overseers in the ongoing design to debase black America, who are the real villains in this tale.
Erik Rush is a columnist and award-winning author whose first novel, The Angels Fell, a mystery-thriller, was released in 2002. He’s also been involved in music production, biomedical research, marketing and local politics.
This article appeared on the World Net Daily website, July 10, 2004, and is used by permission of the author.
