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 Subj:...Bill Cosby's Speech On May 17,2007 (S552)
        From: rfslick on 8/17/2007
Source: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/cosby.asp
    and http://www.gainformer.com/Files
......../Bill%20Cosby's%20Reflections.htm
Photo from PhotoBucket
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Entertainer Bill Cosby gave a speech on May 17, 2004, at an NAACP event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision that struck down school segregation.  In his exposition to that assembly, the man known to television viewing audiences as lovable, kindly, yet permanently bemused patriarch Dr. Huxtable spoke harshly about his perception of the ills affecting black American society.  Cosby cited elevated school dropout rates for inner-city black students and criticized low-income blacks for not using the opportunities the civil rights movement has won for them.  Blacks, by their unplanned pregnancies, poor parenting, lack of education, non-standard English, counter-culture dress, and involvement in crime, fail the black community as well as themselves, he said.

Parts of that May 2004 speech were cobbled together into "We Can't Blame White People," a widely-circulated essay that has been both damned and praised. 

Bill Cosby has not repudiated his controversial pronouncements or attempted to distance himself from them. Instead, he has chosen to expand upon his theme on subsequent occasions and to make himself a spokesperson for black self-empowerment through education and better parenting.  In serving this cause, he draws upon his celebrity to make his voice heard but, unlike many entertainers who take to the soapbox to decry their bectes noires, he brings far more to the podium than merely a recognizable face and a fan base.  This man who is best known  to the world as a comedian holds a doctorate in education.  He is also
highly regarded in the African-American community, where he and his wife, Camille, are prized for their philanthropy. (The Cosbys were present at the NAACP event to be honored for their open-handed generosity in donating money to black colleges.)
Photo from EarthLink
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They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. 
I can't even talk the way these people talk: 
Why you ain't, 
Where you is, 
What he drive, 
Where he stay, 
Where he work, 
Who you be... 
And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. 
And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it's important to speak English... 
except these knuckleheads.
Mushmouth is what they speak!
You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. 
In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education,
and now we've got these knuckleheads throwing that all away.
The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. 
These people are not parenting. 
They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? 
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.
I am talking about these people who cry 
when their son is standing there in an orange suit. 
Where were you when he was 2? 
Where were you when he was 12? 
Where were you when he was 18? 
And, how come you didn't know that he had a pistol? 
And where is the father? 
Or who is his father?

           Photo from
About Facts Entertainment
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People putting their clothes on backward: 
Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong? 
People with their hats on backward, 
pants down around the crack, 
isn't that a sign of something?
They're walking around with their nasty underwear showing, and
holding onto their pants to keep them from falling to the ground! 

Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? 
Isn't it a sign of something 
when she has her dress all the way up to her panty line,
and got all types of needle piercings 
going through her body?
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What part of Africa did this come from? 
We are not Africans. 
Those people are not Africans; 
they don't know a thing about Africa . 
With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mo hammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.
Photo from Mr. B's Ticket Service
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Brown or black versus the Board of Education 
is no longer the white person's problem. 
We have got to take the neighborhood back. 
People used to be ashamed. 
Today a woman has eight children 
with eight different 'husbands' -- 
or men or whatever you call them now. 
We have millionaire football players 
who cannot read. 
We have million-dollar basketball players 
who can't write two paragraphs. 
We as black folks have to do a better job. 
Someone working at Wal-Mart 
with seven kids saying... 
you are hurting us. 
We have to start holding each other 
to a higher standard.

We cannot blame the white people any longer. 
It is not for media or anyone of this time 
anymore to say whether I'm right or wrong. 
It is time, ladies and gentlemen, 
to look at the numbers.

Fifty percent of our children are dropping out 
of high school. 
Sixty percent of the incarcerated males 
happen to be illiterate. There's a correlation. 
Tell the media to stop asking me what I think about people who don't believe what I'm saying or feel that I'm too harsh or feel that I'm just running my mouth because I'm old. 
Seventy percent of the teenagers pregnant happen to be African American girls. 
Don't ask me to soften my message.
Bill Cosby
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Verified by Snopes.com at
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/cosby.asp
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