A friend mentioned this book and I thought I’d probably be worth my while to pick it up and give it a read. So, I grabbed Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors, by Bill Cosby, from the library and gave it a quick read. It was decent, but I’m not sure how I feel about it overall, this is a review, not an endorsement of Cosby or the book.
As Cosby has begun speaking out on issues within the black community, the biggest critique he’s received is that the issues he’s addressing our ‘in house’ issues, for the black community, not society at large. He’s airing the dirty laundry in front of everyone, which leaves justification for the society at large not to address more systemic issues. Basically, his speaking out gives many white people a token person of color to point to that they agree with, and let’s them off the hook from addressing the issues of systemic racism that they are in a position to address. And, in large part, I’d agree with this critique.
The book is good. It covers a lot of issues, suggests solutions, encourages action, but overall I think it was a poor choice of medium for the message. I don’t believe the book will reach it’s intended audience. Interestingly, I’ve only heard Cosby’s name and his statements referenced by white people, when his audience is clearly African American’s who have been the victims of oppression for years.
So, whether you read this book or not, understand this it isn’t intended to let anyone off the hook. It should simply be an encouragement to everyone that we are all working on and making an effort to address the problems that exist in our neighborhoods and communities.
A couple quotes I found interesting. The first is to counter what people commonly refer to as Cosby’s critique of Hip-Hop. He actually has some positive things to say about Hip-Hop; his critique is mainly against the misogynistic, violent, drug-promoting and demeaning lyrics of some more popular rap music. Here is a brief quote:
Expressions like “right on,” “give me some skin,” “give me a high five,” not to mention “cool” and “hip” and “jazz” for that matter, all drive from the black experience. No ethnic roup in America has had nearly our influence on spoken English, much of it energizing. In music, the use of black vernacular in the lyrics of blues, jazz, and today’s hip-hop are a part of the richness of American culture that has been embraced by people around the world. Black people can be proud of their contributions to American language and speech.
And this one I just appreciated,
Parents and caregivers, have you heard a kid say, “well, I can either flip burgers or go out here and make some real money selling drugs?” When you hear that, do you stop the child and say, “Wait a minute, fool. You don’t flip burgers for the rest of your life. You flip them to become the manager of the place. You flip burgers to move from manager to owner of the damn franchise”?
You have to say this to your kids more than once. So do their teachers. If the kids give you lip, ask them to identify a middle-aged, home-owning drug-dealing grandpa with a family that loves him. That will keep them quiet-and busy.
That’s for you folks who work and raise kids who brought up that question, not for those standing from afar critiquing the community.
a-
Plenty of writers criticize, encourage, cajole, and call out other groups in a public way and no one seems to have a problem with it. How many books and articles have been written taking issue with how Christians or white people or educators or lawyers conduct themselves? In most cases a member of a group who comes out and says “Hey what is happening here is not right” is called a heroic whistleblower. You yourself are not shy about calling out Christians in this public space.
Why is it that black American can’t be criticized publicly? I have not heard you or others take issue with what Cosby actually said, but where he said it. Is he supposed to only talk to black people directly?
Can black people do no wrong because they have been mistreated?
We can acknowledge the wrongs done to black people and work to ameliorate them. But we should also be able to point out the error of anyone’s ways, even though previous mistreatment may be a contributing factor to those bad or foolish behaviors.
Aaron,
I think you raise some interesting questions.
Why is it that black America can’t be criticized publicly?
Its not that any particular group can’t be criticized publicly, but I think you would agree there are appropriate and inappropriate ways of doing it. And maybe I’m just going on feelings here, but I’ve felt like Cosby’s way of doing it hasn’t been as sensitive as it could be.
I’m trying to think of a decent analogy, but you’ll have to settle for some lame ones:
A pastor criticizing his wife’s drinking problem from the pulpit. Is that insensitive? And what if she drinks because he abuses her, does that change the situation at all? Whether or not it’s accurate doesn’t necessarily make it appropriate.
My blog for example, is public, but it is clearly directed to a Christian audience. Similarly many challenging messages within the black community are quite public, but they are directed to the community. I guess I sort of felt Cosby’s message, though it appears to be directed to the black community, has primarily been communicated through mediums that are not reaching the community, but rather those already critical of it.
Maybe nothing I’m saying makes sense, but at the very least I think you could agree that just because something is true doesn’t mean you can say it anywhere and become an “historic whistleblower.” There are still appropriate and inappropriate ways and venues in which to communicate your message. Whether you agree with my opinion of Cosby or others is a separate issue where we can agree to disagree
What happens among a large and impactful group is not personal or private in the way that one person’s private activities are.
I think the real beef about Cosby (not necessarily your beef) is that he is criticizing at all.
I also think that it is a failure of courage by those who purport to want to see black people in this country advance to avoid criticizing in this case. Whether it is black people or any other person or group, part of loving well has to be pointing out error, and that can be done without judgment or condemnation. Here Cosby says “Come On People”, not “You Suck People!” after all.
Charlie Peacock says it well in one of his songs: “Betrayal wears two faces, both easy to explain; one is what you say and do to bring another human pain. When you refuse to act though you know the good to do – when you refuse to speak what’s right, you’ve worn the face of number two. You don’t ask a drowning man if he wants to be saved, when you know he’s sinking down beneath the crashing waves.”
“What happens among a large and impactful group is not personal or private in the way that one person’s private activities are.”
I know it’s obviously different in some ways, but could you elaborate on this more as to why you think it’s not even a useful analogy? Are there not some issues discussion that a large group could or should keep private or personal?
“I think the real beef about Cosby (not necessarily your beef) is that he is criticizing at all.”
I believe you might be right that some individuals have beef with anyone who would criticize at all, but I don’t think the majority of people feel that way. There is plenty of well-spoken, timely and sensitive constructive criticism within the black community.
All that said, I talked this over with my brother this weekend as well and I think my approach to this topic was wrong. And I think it did a disservice to Cosby’s efforts. You said it well by pointing out:
Here Cosby says “Come On People”, not “You Suck People!” after all.
My real critique should be directed at those who I’ve heard misinterpret and misuse his message to point the blame at the black community and let them off the hook for addressing systemic injustices. Cosby has made a concerted effort at speaking to the community directly, and for that I applaud him.
Ariah –
I have twice now written longer responses, but something weird keeps happening, so I am giving one more shot here with a Cliff’s Notes version:
I’m glad that some of what I said made sense to you. You are correct that it is unfair to judge what a guy says by what others say about what he says. That happens to Jesus a lot, as you know.
As for the “private issue” thing, the kinds of problems that Cosby talks about, such as fatherless families, out of wedlock births, and the celebration in the dominant popular culture of violence, ignorance, and misogyny are not secrets to anyone. Do you think that if Cosby did not write about these issues in a published book that no one would have noticed them? Should he only have private meetings with the NAACP, or at black churches? Not if he intends to reach the broad group of blacks in America. This is not the airing of dirty laundry otherwise unseen by the rest of us.
I have not read his book, but I have heard him speak. I don’t hear him excusing or forgiving the bad that has been done from outside the black community at all. I just see him saying that to the extent that black America has done things to themselves, or reacted poorly to outside influences, or failed to take the actions that they are able to take for themselves, that they should change their ways. He is not condemning, but exhorting. He should not avoid saying things that are true just because some others may take this and run with it in a way that he did not intend.
One aside not directly on point, but I have to say what I think about this: America has spent more money, shed more blood (over 500,000 lives in the Civil War alone), and exerted more influence in the world than any other nation or people group in history toward fighting and righting racism. The same could be said for its efforts in fighting poverty, hunger, disease, and the like he and abroad. There is more to do, and better ways to do what is being done to be sure, but those facts get little “airtime”, and I think it is worth noting.