At the invitation of the Chicago school board, the actor and comedian Bill Cosby shared his sometimes-controversial message about responsibility with some 9,000 parents here last week, urging them to take charge of their households.
The Dec. 6 address, to an overwhelmingly African-American audience at the district鈥檚 fourth annual 鈥淧ower of Parents鈥� conference, was the latest in a series of speeches Mr. Cosby has delivered since 2004 urging the black community to step up and tackle the problems of its young people, including low student-achievement levels, violence, and what he views as objectionable speech and disrespectful behavior.
He began with a May 17, 2004, speech in Washington鈥攁t an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court鈥檚 decision in Brown v. Board of Education鈥�that startled and upset some observers with its blunt language and touched off a fresh debate over long-standing issues concerning race and social ills.
At that time, Mr. Cosby criticized black youths who failed to use standard English and whose indifference to education, he said, had consequences for the rest of society.
鈥楾aking Responsibility鈥�
Rufus Williams, the president of the Chicago board of education since July, said in an interview that he invited the entertainer to the nation鈥檚 third-largest school district because he understood Mr. Cosby鈥檚 message to be one of 鈥渆mpowerment, help, and taking responsibility for oneself.鈥�
When asked whether Mr. Cosby might put off some parents because his speeches don鈥檛 discuss the institutionalized racism that others have said hinders black Americans, Mr. Williams, who is the founder and president of a company that provides business and financial management to athletes and entertainers, said he didn鈥檛 think so.
鈥淲hen you talk about self-empowerment,鈥� Mr. Williams said, 鈥測ou talk about what you can do, not the things that hold you back.鈥�
Listen to a clip of Bill Cosby explaining the
intention of his remarks to teachers. (3:09):
Over the past 2陆 years, Mr. Cosby, who has a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts, has spoken in communities across the country. In October, when he appeared at a church in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles at an 鈥淓ducation Is a Civil Right鈥� conference, he chided teachers for not making clear to students why they should learn academic material.
Michael Eric Dyson, a prominent black intellectual who is a professor in the humanities at the University of Pennsylvania, published a book last year critiquing Mr. Cosby鈥檚 May 2004 speech, called Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?
In the book, he criticizes the entertainer as downplaying the economic, social, political, and other structural factors that affect low-income black parents, including welfare reform, the export of jobs to other countries, and an ongoing racial stigma.
Mr. Cosby鈥檚 beliefs, he writes, are typical of those espoused by the 鈥淎fristocracy,鈥� which Mr. Dyson describes as 鈥渦pper-middle-class blacks and the black elite who rain down fire and brimstone upon poor blacks for their deviance and pathology.鈥� Mr. Dyson contends that such African-Americans ignore a lack of personal responsibility that is present in their own social and economic class as well.
鈥楶icking on Poor鈥�?
In his remarks to the Chicago parents, Mr. Cosby, who played the wise father Dr. Cliff Huxtable on the television program 鈥淭he Cosby Show,鈥� addressed such critics, acknowledging that some people say that 鈥淏ill Cosby is picking on the poor.鈥�
He added: 鈥淚n order to tell you how to get out of poverty, I have to tell you what you鈥檙e doing wrong.鈥�
Mr. Cosby recalled how in the past, illiterate parents who 鈥渃hopped cotton鈥� were able to inspire their children to go to college because they knew how important an education was. There is no excuse for today鈥檚 parents not to instill a similar confidence in their children, he argued.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to build the confidence in your child in your home. If it鈥檚 possible to teach a child that he can take six bullets,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 possible to teach him to take algebra.鈥�
鈥淭his is what we need to do at home,鈥� said Mr. Cosby. 鈥淔irst, we need to teach love. Love is not buying the child whatever the child wants.鈥�
Also, he said, 鈥渁s a parent, you have to understand, I know what I鈥檓 doing and I鈥檓 in charge. You don鈥檛 have to smack the kid. You don鈥檛 have to punch the child.鈥�
The audience was responsive to Mr. Cosby, often applauding his remarks or nodding. About 49 percent of Chicago鈥檚 421,000 public school students are African-American, and 38 percent are Latino. Eighty-six percent of the district鈥檚 students come from low-income families.
A number of black parents said after the speech that Mr. Cosby鈥檚 comments were on target.
鈥淗e said some things that encouraged me鈥攚e need to love our kids and not beat them. We need to stand up and be the parent in our homes,鈥� said Ollie Powell, who has a 17-year-old daughter attending Chicago鈥檚 South Shore High School and three grandchildren in elementary school.
Of her three older children, she said, only one, who works in a car factory, has a high school diploma. A second son, who is working on his General Educational Development certificate, is a caterer. A third son is in jail.
Ms. Powell said she realizes now she should have done more to support the education of her older children, and she鈥檚 trying to remedy that with her daughter and grandchildren. Attending the parent-involvement conference is one example of how she鈥檚 trying to get more involved, she said.
鈥楾he Truth鈥�
James and Coretta J. Pruitt, who have six children in prekindergarten through 5th grade in Chicago public schools, said they see Mr. Cosby as 鈥渢elling people the truth.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 from the old-school approach,鈥� said Mr. Pruitt, who runs his own business as an information-technology consultant. 鈥淲e do spank our kids when they get out of line. But we do give them rewards.鈥�
His wife, a real estate agent, said Mr. Cosby is right in saying African-Americans don鈥檛 look out for each other鈥檚 children as they once did. She recalled that when she was a girl and was out in the street while she was supposed to be 鈥渙n the porch,鈥� a neighbor would call her mother to report where she was.
鈥淭hat whole looking out for another is not where it used to be,鈥� Ms. Pruitt said. 鈥淲e can get back to that.鈥�
At least one Chicago resident who works with black youths, Tio M. Hardiman, the director of mediation services for the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, initially wasn鈥檛 happy that Mr. Cosby was invited to speak in Chicago. He believes the actor showed he was out of touch with black youths in his early criticisms of their language.
鈥淲e respect Bill Cosby as an entertainer, but it鈥檚 not incumbent on him to be the person who dictates how African-Americans communicate,鈥� he said in an interview before Mr. Cosby鈥檚 visit.
Mr. Hardiman didn鈥檛 attend Mr. Cosby鈥檚 speech to parents or a second speech he gave that evening especially for men and boys. But Mr. Hardiman said he talked with several people who had heard one of the speeches, and he believes Mr. Cosby has fine-tuned his message for the better.
Lavon Tims, who as a 鈥渧iolence interrupter鈥� for CeaseFire Chicago goes into neighborhoods and tries to stop people from shooting each other, said he felt Mr. Cosby was generally on target in his speech for the male audience, which Mr. Tims attended.
He said Mr. Cosby was right to say that African-Americans downgrade themselves in some of the 鈥渄irty comedy,鈥� movies, and music they produce and listen to. It鈥檚 a way for some people to make a living, but that doesn鈥檛 make it right, Mr. Tims said.
Mr. Tims, who has eight children in Chicago public schools, said that while he鈥檇 heard that Mr. Cosby had previously criticized the nonstandard English of black youths, he didn鈥檛 touch on that issue in his evening speech.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard about his controversies,鈥� Mr. Tims said. 鈥淟istening to him [for the first time], it鈥檚 not all that controversial, because the points he made are valid points.鈥�
