I've heard much the same things you say in this essay when I was on the board of an anti-poverty agency n St. Paul. Many of the other board members were black, and sat with me over cups of coffee and cherry pie telling me - a white man, but fellow board member - how much it hurt them to see the kids in the neighborhood turn away from the ideas of success that these oldsters had fought so hard to make possible.

I'm not arguing politics or policy here. You live in America. I don't any longer. But I'm going to have to translate this article into Hebrew.

There are lots of blacks who live here. Ethiopian Jews who hve fled from the Jew hatred of their native land to come home. And they too find themselves discriminated against. I want them to see the reality that YOU describe - so that they never become foolish enough to copy the gangsta culture of your country. It would be terrible to see these attitudes that you describe above overcome the Ethiopian kids here. They came home to find freedom. They deserve that AND posperity.

Kol hakavód - all honor to you. This couldn't have been easy or pleasant to write.

This is bigger than Bill Cosby, and even bigger than the African-American community. Every racial group has a subclass of mindless thugs with growing cultural influence, telling all of our young people it's not cool to read, not cool to learn, and not cool to do honest work. Every racial group has an expanding clique of entertainers who glorify the pimp, the drug dealer, and every other exploiter, with no concern for who gets hurt by whatever criminal activity brings in the "bling bling."

Like many other social ills, this disease has been hitting our society hard and early in the black communities. Not because black people are somehow inherently more susceptible, but because leaders of both left and right have consistently neglected (and in many cases actively undermined) the health of the black community.

Just like tobacco can make a person more likely to die from diseases of the lungs, racism makes a whole society more vulnerable to social disorders that gain their first foothold among the targets of racism.

Bill Cosby is right about the need for a greater sense of personal responsibility, but that need is not limited to black people. We will all be at risk until every one of us feels personally responsible to do all we can to support our black brothers and sisters in their struggle against a social decay that threatens everyone's future.

At the very least, we can thank those who continue to fight the good fight against overwhelming odds, refusing to accept a racist definition of how they should live their lives, even when the racism twists its tentacles around to come at them from their own community.

Thank you, Robert.

Since I'm a white dude from rural Ohio, I almost feel like I'm barely qualified to comment on your incisive essay - six years of higher education have made political correctness a reflex that I must fight against.

But whatever.

Right on, Robert. Right on.

Bill Cosby is saying that blacks must take responsibility for thier own lives and stop using racism as en excuse for everything?

No wonder the racial demogogues like AL SHarpton and Jesse Jackson critisize him.

al sharpton and jesse jackson came into power in a different time, when the white man WAS the african american's worst enemy, but they did not come to power on a platform of hatred. times have changed, but not much... now the black man must deal with what years of the white man's racist attitudes have wrought.
bing, racism is a reality. it's just that sections (the thugs, the gangbangers, whatever you want to call them) of the african american community have either started to believe it, or they have reacted to it by saying "this is what you want, this is what you get." it's a myth that the white man invented, and, sadly, it has become something of a reality. that's not saying that whites are to blame, or that this reality is what anyone deserves.
but, bing, you sitting on your high horse is really fucking sickening. al sharpton and jesse jackson are looking out for their people. they are not racial demagogues. they are decent people who see some real issues. maybe they don't like to see one of their own criticizing what they see. maybe they come from the old "we have to stick together" school of thought.
they rose to power fighting for civil rights. they did not rise to power spouting racial hatred.
african americans do take responsibility for their own lives. some still use racism as an excuse. racism is all around. it's not an excuse for "everything" (as you so beautifully put it), but it is a reality.
bing, you should think about the things you say.
"Bill Cosby is saying that blacks must take responsibility for thier own lives and stop using racism as en excuse for everything?" YES! did you read the article? do you remember two years ago? jesus christ, if you are going to say something, don't just repeat what's just been said. your second sentence makes no sense either if you bothered to fucking know what you are talking about. yes, they criticized him. not because they are racist, but because they didn't bother to understand what he was saying either.

I hate to tell you this, but Al Sharpton sure as shit did come to power on a platform of hatred! He first came to national, that's national, not NY prominence, back when he declared that a young black woman had been raped and beaten and marked up with racial slurs in NYC. It came to light just a short time later that the whole story was contrived. That's a platform of hate...he attempted to do nothing but drive a stake between folks in teh city.

and for you to say that jesse jackson doesn't use race as an excuse for everything is just BULLSHIT!

Thank you for your article and even though I am white I have heard of the term Herb. When I see most of the kids today I think back to what I was like as a teenager and even though I was a little wild growing up in Brooklyn I prefered that life to what is now. The lifestyle now for every "cool" kid is about making money and not working. Not about being a kid. I do blame parents more than anything for not growing up themselves and letting their children go to places with then and being taught to listen and learn. Last night on the news they showed a group of 13-14 year olds in Jersey City beating and robbing a mad of a plastic shopping bag (clothes and a photo albumn inside). So sad... and now the parents are probably saying those kids were just kids... My family came to this country poor and my father worked two jobs most of his life and still does, but we were taught to listen and learn, to be respectful and above all else see every living thing as having a soul. We never talked about a Benz or Caddie. Every Sunday we had breakfast together, since it was the only day of the week we were all together. The simple things are what make great things.

bullshit. defending your own against racial injustice is not hatred. get your fucking terms right. maybe al sharpton is rough in the way he goes about things, but he's not out there to "kill whitey," he's just trying to get equality for his own. jesse jackson does not use race as an excuse, he just points out that racism exists, and that effects the daily life of every minority, including women. get your head out of your ass and look at the world.

Al Sharpton out and out LIED about what, if true would have been a very serious allegation against NYC police! He wasn't defending shit...HE WAS LYING!!! Pull your head out of your ass! I like mine where it is...so nice and warm up there!

From wikepedia -

Tawana Brawley
In the Tawana Brawley case, a 15-year-old black girl was found smeared with feces, lying in a garbage bag, her clothing torn and burned and with various slurs and epithets written on her body in charcoal. Brawley claimed that she had been assaulted and raped by six white men, some of them police officers, on November 28, 1987 in the town of Wappingers Falls, New York.

The FBI was called in, and Brawley was questioned about what had happened. She claimed she had been raped by unidentified white men. When a rape test came back negative, she changed her story, saying that she hadn't been raped, but had been sexually abused. Further examinations revealed that Brawley had received no real injuries, nor did she show signs of exposure. Testimony from her schoolmates also indicated that she had been at a local party during the time of her supposed abduction.

The incident made headlines nationwide, and her cause was taken up by Sharpton, along with Alton H. Maddox and C. Vernon Mason. The three turned the incident into a media sensation; among other acts, they identified New York prosecutor Steven Pagones as one of the men involved, despite the lack of any evidence, and they likewise attempted to implicate higher officials in the State government.

Accusations flew in both directions; an ex-boyfriend of Brawley's told Newsday that Brawley had made the attack up, and admitted so to him. A grand jury was convened, and after seven months of examining police and medical records, the jury determined that Brawley's assault was a hoax.

In 1998, Pagones was awarded $345,000 (he sought $150 Million) in a suit for defamation of character that he brought against Sharpton, Maddox, and Mason.

yeah...that's "defending" ones own!

please keep writing. please keep on writing. that was very real and a problem i have seen but never been able to articulate, especially telling was your barbershop story. I have seen it replayed as well.

keep writing, its inspiring.

Everything that I've read today has been a real treat, and this piece stands on top of them all. It's knockout stuff.

As a poor white boy in college who ran with the militant revolutionary crowd, I learned quickly that these same sorts of discriminations cross class lines, religious lines, gender lines, and just about any line you can think up.

It is my opinion that we're probably entering a time when it will be necessary to revisit thinkers like Harold Cruse, Ralph Ellison, W.E.B. DuBois, and the like to bail us out of the illiterate, ignorant ditch that we've dug ourselves into.

You're spot on about the crisis and the ways in which it's deepening. Keep writing these sorts of personal essays -- find them an audience -- and you can't help but make a dent.

Cheers.

the current reality of black america can no longer be blamed totally on the white "man." it's a combination of what we've done in the past, what still goes on today, and the fact that certain african americans just give up in the face of it all. or they just give in to the glorified idea of it.
to say that racism doesn't exist today is just ignorant. it's a self-perpetuating disease. interracial attitudes have always created these tensions. fighting against these attitudes is not only right, it's noble and it's necessary. it's the sign of a civilized nation. if no one was out there, pushing people to fight against it in a political, not violent, way, then eventually it would lead to all-out race war.
if you were al sharpton or jesse jackson, and you had seen what white people did to black people back in the day... YOU CAN'T DRINK OUT OF THE SAME WATER FOUNTAIN AS ME!... i would have been very surprised if you had the humanity in you to not bash some fucking white man's head in and drink from his water fountain. that they didn't, that they didn't even follow malcolm x, that they followed a peaceful man goes to show that they are decent human beings who realize that skin color does not equal an attitude.

mmmhmm, and if you had heard that *yet another* black person had been beaten up by nyc police, you would have jumped all over it too.
maybe he got in too quick too deep, but it wasn't racism that guided him. i'm sure the case is deeper than that. he can't help it if the girl lied. she SAID she was beaten by six white cops. she SAID that she had been raped. she SAID that she had racial slurs written all over her body. turned out it was a hoax. perpetrated by her.
you ever been duped? he was defending his own. turns out his own lied. whatever.
he's not out to hate anyone. he's out to make sure that whites don't get away with shit (like... say... LYNCHING) ever again.

I am a "white boy". I grew up on the East side of Detroit. White people in detroit are a very small minority. I've met more than my share of racist black people so I find it hard to sympathize. When 90% of the country is hispanic, white's and black's can be "held down" together. How is racism attributed to the 70% of black babies born to a single parent?

Robert --

This is a superb piece.

so then...it's ok to go national with bullshit? It's not necessary to check the facts? Do you by chance work for the NYT??? I bet Al ain't a big fan of Cosby's...

hrm... in reading up on the brawley case, it's not 100% sure that it was a hoax anyway... look at the facts of the case, and look at the civil suit that guy brough in 1998.

no-- you no longer can blame the high number of single parent black households on white people. but, this is not a new statistic. it's been like that for a long time, ever since slave families were "sold separately," ever since black men went in search of work in the north to escape the prejudice and lack of opportunity in the south, ever since african americans were unfairly penalized for the same crime as their white counterparts, and ever since our segregated neighborhoods devolved into white suburbs and black ghettos.
70% is a high number. you can't help but think that there is some deeper sociological ill that is causing this.

no, it wasn't okay to go national without checking the facts. yes, sharpton jumped the gun. that doesn't make him a racist.

alright...I'll agree with you, it doesn't make him a racist. That doesn't mean I have to like him, does it?

dislike him all you want. i don't even particularily like the guy. i think he is a bit to harsh in his rhetoric, and doesn't always think about what he is saying. but, he is effective, he makes people think and he's real fun to listen to.

fiery, angry black leaders are necessary. someone needs to express anger about the inequality in society on a national level. they also need to be able to separate anger from hatred and violence. al sharpton is a great example of that. if he wasn't around, it's very possible that someone who couldn't express the anger without also advocating hatred and violence would really fuck things up for us all.

Zingzing, take your white liberal guilt and shove it up your ass.

From "Family Structures," Encyclopedia of American Social History

"Although slave marriages and family ties lacked legal sanction, and owners were free to sell husbands away from wives and parents away from children, most African Americans married and lived in two-parent households both before and after emancipation. Fathers played a larger familial role than previously thought. The nuclear family received support from an involved network of kin. Indeed, the kinship system forged under slavery would continue to function in twentieth-century rural and urban communities as a source of mutual assistance and cultural continuity."

bing--i don't feel guilty.

in fact, i feel pretty good about myself. i don't hate anyone, i'm not racist or bigotted, i believe in the same rights for everyone, i don't see the point in violence, but a little anger never hurts... it facilitates heated discussion, where real issues can possibly be resolved, without anyone getting hurt.

it's really a nice feeling to have. do you feel like black people are trampling on your rights? i should hope not.

"The nuclear family received support from an involved network of kin."

still happens today...

"still happens today..."

That's a lie and you damm well know it. In 1964, the number of fathers not in the home was 30 percent. Now it's seventy.

to most everybody who commented, thank you.

I'm glad your inquiring mind is alive and well. This was an excellent piece.

You obviously possess a great deal of stupidity than if you can't even admit that Al Sharpton is a racist demagougue Zingzing. You can spin the Tawanna Brawley incident and all his ohter actions and statements anyway you want but the man is a racist.

It may surprise you to know that it is possible to be black and racist zing.

I know my having said that will probably lead you to label me a bigot but it's true.

of course you can be racist and black. and it's spelled "demagogue." i'm not spinning the brawley thing either way... do you think that anyone, if they knew that it was a hoax, would put themselves on a national stage and make accusations like that? i think he was fooled like everyone else, and was extremely (and rightfully) angry that six white men (supposedly) raped, pooped on and wrote racial slurs on a 15-year-old girl. shit, if i had been him, i would have torn some white man's head off.

i'm not going to call you a bigot for ssaying that it's possible to be racist and black, but i will call you one for several of your other statements. maybe you're not a bigot, just ignorant. who knows.

robert lashley, quoting me: "still happens today..."

That's a lie and you damm well know it. In 1964, the number of fathers not in the home was 30 percent. Now it's seventy."

ahem, me, quoting someone: "The nuclear family received support from an involved network of kin."

i wasn't talking about fathers. i was talking about the "network of kin." like grandmothers, etc. read, man, read.

Comment #30: Zingzing called the shit poop!!

just injecting a bit of humor into a rape story... or just calling it what it is.

zing,

No, what you said about an extended family isnt true either. Any study in to the nature of single familes and black broken parent homes will show you that there is almost no family structure for young blacks to have. So no, we dont have big momma. And im sick of radical militants like you who think that we are these defied creatures who can do no wrong and that nothing bad has ever happens to blacks by our own hand and the greater amount of problems can be solved by the greater amount of times you san scream "RACISM" at every problem.

Let me answer a question somebody asked you. Yes, you are happy. You are ecstatic. Racial militants like you always are. You just plug race over and over again in the problem and assume the problem is solved that is always the white man's fault that black america has problems. Your happy because you dont want to or have the ability to think and feel about racial problems in america, because for the people who do think clearly about race in america, the subject tears at their gut. There is no easy answers on both sides of the aisle and hard intellectual work needs to be done by people of all races. And the lack of commonsense regarding the subject is painful. But not to you. Your's happy.

Too bad it isnt much of a intellectual life, however.

perhaps instead of calling each other black, white, nigger, and honkey, we should all come together as brothers and decide how to live in a way that makes everyone happy. I am white, and as long as someone treats me decent, I don't care if they are black, white, hispanic, or a smurf. The only things that make people different is their skin color (which is just pigment) and the attitudes they develop because of this difference (whether it be from internal or external sources). Until we say screw it, we are equal, this battle will rage on forever, with no winner.

robert, i'm white, and here's some quotes from earlier in the discussion, maybe you could read them:

"the current reality of black america can no longer be blamed totally on the white "man." it's a combination of what we've done in the past, what still goes on today, and the fact that certain african americans just give up in the face of it all. or they just give in to the glorified idea of it."

"you no longer can blame the high number of single parent black households on white people."

i'm not saying that white racism is the only reason for current realities. certainly, the past influences the present. and racism does exist today. i'm no radical. but, as a white man, i do believe that all i can do for the black man is not be a racist, and point out racism where i see it. black-on-black violence is something out of my control. it's obviously part of the problem.

you oversimplify my position. and of course i'm not happy about the situation. so don't put words in my mouth and emotions in my brain.

Can I get a "Who cares?"

Hi, I came over from the link at metafilter.com, and wow. This issue is so overwhelmingly huge and complex, but this is a good starting point for talking about it.

What it really came down to for me was this:

"Thinking about the fact that no one openly supported what she was doing, no one helped her storm city hall on her behalf, no one went to the media to publicly advocate for her, and the fact than no one even made a passing mention to the crime or offered condolences, but instead spent their time BITCHING ABOUT A GODDAMM MOVIE"

I was almost in tears at the end of this sentence, because this isn't just an isolated incident, this is what is going on every single day and has been going on for so goddamned long it just breaks your heart.

The fact that these bangers are shooting up college kids really speaks about the human race as a whole, and it doesnt really say anything too nice. I can think of a couple explanations for that sort of behavior, but none of them are easy to swallow.

Possibly it is a reflex of the world, saying "don't forget about the people you walk on" In some ways I almost see the total disregard for life as religous expression, making a point at the expense of the body, allowing the soul to turn over. I dont imagine it will be too long before there are african american gangs equivalant to Mara-13, people who believe that no life has any intrinsic value whatsoever.

What's most impressive (other than the well written article, good work by the way), was the ads i saw on the page. Hip Hop Samples, Hip Hop Vinyl. Thats all well and good, as I collect vinyl. However, were these ads placed on the page solely due to it being mainly about African Americans. I didn't hear anyone mention the new Pete Rock album. Is this how google and amazon conduct business. Browse blogs, see that a black person wrote one, then advert atention to their Hip Hop vinyl for sale... Wow

What a superb piece. It's not just reasonable and intelligent, it's extremely well written as well.

Of course, what Bill Cosby and this essay are saying is very similar to some of Malcolm X's speeches. As he noted, the NOI had PLENTY of problems however the one thing that they did right was take black men out of the cycle of poverty and despair and teach them how to live as men. Today, we need someone to teach thugs and gangstas how to act like men. Of course that requires an understanding of history and an understanding that the thug mentality is perfectly okay with White America: If you all keep shooting yourselves in black neighbourhoods, you can keep acting like thugs. The way out is, again, to understand what it means to be a man. Unfortunately, today, we don't have someone with the courage and intelligence Malcolm X had to teach that lesson.

Excellent piece. I think what you are getting at and what is at the heart of the matter is that 'gangsta' is looked upon as the dominant manifestations of being 'black.'

Note the scare quotes: I think it's essentially a racist position to consider 'gangsta' and 'blackness' being synonymous. Cosby, and others, seem to be taking this position to an extreme. As if black people are as a whole responsible for 'gangsta!' As if there is some unifying concept of 'blackness!' This is all racist claptrap and unfortunately it's subscribed to by many intellectuals, both black and white.

I agree with you that this culture of thuggery is a poisonous influence. I'm saddened by the thought of an entire generation being seduced by it. And I can concede Cosby's ultimate point: right or wrong, Black people need to do something about it.

The worst is this constant use of 'nigga.' Whatever happened to 'brother?'

To me the saddest part of all is how thuggishness and stupidity is seen by some young blacks as a form rebellion, when it's really just them buying up the latest product from a bunch of mostly white record companies.

The problem isn't just white racism, but its capitalism too. Willing to sell you your own identity at 17.99 a pop. Willing to sell you repetitive fantasies of materialism and violence, instead of anything that demands you think, or that assumes you read. But is capitalism going to push a real revolution? It is going to push for an ethical world? Don't bet on it, my friend.

Good luck to *any* young American--not just African Americans--who are hoping to find ideas and art of real worth in the morass of seductive and addictive hype that today confronts us at every turn.

If we ignore the issue of racism, per se, in this excellent post, there is the (believe it or not) issue of reading. What could be more telling for the needs of the Afro-American community than their hatred of reading, knowledge and intelligence. It is one of the great weaknesses of America to not have created an atmosphere where everyone looked forward to learning and knew (as did immigrants of many cultures) that it was the key to being part of the human race.

For a culture and community to reject learning and reading so totally is the same as that idiocy that has (out of a Spike Lee movie) a community burning down their own homes, neighborhoods, local businesses to "hurt the honky". Stupidity breeds stupidity. This is not racism but a deep fault in a culture.

Obviously, Cosby was right and the sad story of gangsta threats against people who read are a dreadful indication that discrepancies in opportunity will continue if the discriminated against won't act to help themselves.

Once we made our first trip from Mexico to Belize. Since Belize is English-speaking, I had great hopes for a bookstore full of books in English in the little border city of Corozal. When we asked a young woman in a grocery where we could buy books, the woman replied, "You mean to read?.

I just wanted to thank you for writing such a strong article on this subject. I am not black, but Indian, and have experienced some of the racism you have described from a different angle. I live around Temple University in Phily, and since moving there I have had at LEAST two incidents of being slandered and/or intimidated because I "did not belong". I have been called "cracker" many times. what infuriated me was not that I had been called a derogatory name, not that they had mistaken me for white, not even that they were just plain out being rude shouting that stuff down the street. No, it infuriated me that these guys thought I SHOULD respond to that. It's given me a different perspective on racism, especially these days - while the War on Terror births a newer form of labelling for those of Middle Eastern or Indian descent. Thank you for writing this again, I'm glad that you're making your voice heard.

I don't know what to say. but you hit the target dead on. I'm white, and even alot of my friends look at me funny when they see me reading or writing short stories. they think it's stupid that I want to become something.

you have it right on the money...

Why do I think someone would take part ina hoax Zing?

MMMMM.....because they think they can get away with it.....


DUH!!!!

Sharpton knew she wasn't raped.

I am white. i am a male. And i live in South west texas. I have seen more hispanics in my life than White people combined(and thats including the CMC crap Tv). Sure what Robert says is true but its rite what some you others say to. I Live in a town 35 miles south of San antonio. Pop. 1600. THe town had its pop explosion when it struck oil back in TX's glory black gold days. Hundreds moved over night to find glory in the black money pits. Then it dried up and thus many went bankrupt and had to find another source of income in the middle of nowhere. Simply put most of them took the Government check and Said,"where fine and we'll get work in no time." 25 yrs later this town is poorer than certain parts of West Virginia. The saddest part of all is that these people passed down a sad legacy to their kids in just 2 words " give up." My father teaches these kids who come from homes where most of the parents do nothing but drink and go hog hunting(excluding the woman.) Some get out others don't. Some say i'm hispanic and its the way it is. They say it because their parents told them to simply give up.Robert is correct about this new generation of "THUGS". If they hate knowledge and criticize someone for reading then it becomes something scarier. It reminds one of The facsicst movement and the book burners who said" Books are for the jewish vermin." We have places like my town where there's ignorance and don't care. And then there's the Ludacris wanna be's who are ignorant and care if you have a book. Atleast the black panthers were educated and respected the human mind. What will become of the next generation raised by these fascist category typed white,black, and hispanic thugs who simply hate an educated man? And what of these who don't think? MLK's gone so is JFK and COmmander KUKU BANANAS in the oval office couldn't give a two bit shit about education or black people. I think Hurricane Katrina proved my point on the latter so tell me you guys give me some Ideas? what do we do about the IGNORANT MOVEMENT.

Ahaha. Man, it's amazing on how society's dwindled down into a pit of shit. It's still going in a downward spiral.

When I was growing up, I was mostly picked on by black people. This isn't a racial attack, either. Being an adopted Korean kid, that messed me up a bit more than what adoption does for a while (especially when you're still in a period of questioning yourself and/or who the hell your folks were).

High school was sure as hell a pure example of racism to me as well, especially when these ignorant morons made retarded comments like "LOOK AT DIS, IT'S JACKIE CHAN!". Three years later, things are just progressively getting worse with kids and society in general. So I've dealt with that bullshit for quite a while. Although, about the only friends that I have that are black are ones that are intelligent. And geeks, too. Hah. :(

This was an awesome article, though. It really brought out some points that most people tend to ignore and not give a damn about. A lot of grouped racial societies can be such hypocrites. Koreans included.

one more thing to add. In this time and age think of this. It wasn't the jews fault that 6 million of them were killed by a mad Hungarian. and it wasn't africans fault they were held in slavery for 500 years in america. Why? simple... those things were done by force. When black people entered integration they were given a true world of freedom, just like the jews were set free at the end of WW2. CHild abuse, welfare, and crack you cannot blame on us whitefolk like the 2 ones i named at the beginning of my blog. No white slave masters saying here "Boy" take your check. here take your crack. here hit your child now or i'll whip you. but white people have a part to do as well in ruining the ghetto. Republicans turn a blind eye. And liberals build up SHarp and Jackson to go out and be crusaders for the black men. The way Bush is supposedly a crusader for Iraq. What bullshit. Instead of attacking other races heal and mend your fellow brothers and sisters hearts. heal their children. Just like BUSH attacking with no proof but a big mouth leads to disaster. in the end Thanks robert and thanks ZHJS for your honesty and your trueful views.

Robert, I'm totally in agreement, and on top of that you've affirmed my own thoughts. You've no idea how many times I've been called a racist and been told to "shut the hell up before someone kicks your ass" because I am a) white, and b) argue the same point you're arguing.

I've worked at a gas station in a black neighborhood for a few years now and I've seen at least 30-40, and no that's NOT an exaggeration, kids ages 6-9 slowly become corrupted by their thug brothers and sisters and even parents. Man, it's sad. This is a neighborhood store and I know these people and I know their situation and it's hard to see kids that are now 13-14, whom were only 9 or 10 when I started working, living the thug life.

Keep writing this stuff... you've got talent and the more you do it the better you'll get at articulating this very complicated issue.

And to all the people that think Robert's article "aint keepin it real" or racist, then think about this.

Rich white people get into the thug life too. In fact, at my old high school some of the richest families had kids that delt cocaine, drove SUVs, wore gold chains, etc, etc... It's not just a black thing, it's more then that, it's the fascist American idea that one's pursuit of knowledge is something to look down upon, that books are jokes,the smart people are geeks, that the only thing you should bother yourself with is the pussy , the money, and the weed. fuck that.

Good point John.

Too many buy into the MTV pop culture bullshit. They'd rather watch Paris Hilton making an ass out of herself than actually read a book or learn something useful.

Rap music also shares some blame as it glorifies the "gangsta" image. Young kids see this and it looks so much easier qnd cooler to them than going to college and getting a real job.

This stuff isn't good for anyone, black white or anyone else. Bill Cosby knows this and he's trying to help young black people see this. Some people claim that ebonics is a form of cultural expression for black Americans but it's actually jut very bad grammar. The same could be said for whites who live in rural areas and have thier own special way of butchering the english language. regardless of what race or color you are, if you can't speak and write proper english you most likely aren't going to go far in life. That's what Bill Cosby is trying to make young black kids understand cause he does care unlike some other so called black leaders.

I am also white, and have been happily for over 12 years. My wife is black and my three children are bi-racial. Words spoken such as these can not be heard loud enough. The soap box you stand on, is the exact one I preach from everyday to my own children. It is not the white man that I feel will hold my children back from theie dreams, but the ignorant and racist "black community". So many have fought and died for things even I take for granted, let alone my children. More and more people need to stand up for what is right, and speak out about it. Only then, will the real "activists" shine equality into this abyss we call humanity.

i'm from malaysia, and i'm not sure how things really work in US, but the racist thingy works the same... my country is multi-racial and multi-culture.. what i'm trying to say is chinese, where is minority in this country ,have had fought hard for thier own right... when u fought hard, people will see, and will acknowledge youe hard work... same goes to black man, or green man or purple man... if u work hard, u will get what your deserve.. i dont know much bout bill cosby, but he sure telling the right thing... he is just like a mother telling her own children to get good grades... just that people over react... as long as u believe you can make it, i'm sure the public will give you a chance... i'm 5th generation here and i dont see what's the different between chinese and the majority, and i'm given the same right... and i'm sure you will get what u deserve if you work hard enuf..

Funny thing just happened.

I finished writing my comments, went downstairs for a bite to eat, and noticed a postcard sitting on the table. It was for me and from a black friend of mine. This is verbatim: "I've been on the bus all night reading Henry Miller's "Tropic of Cancer," my favorite part was about the Russian princess with the clap. I feel like everyone's looking at my funny as I happen to be literate."

Could be nothing, but I found it amusing.

Everybody:

Thank you. I was just trying to be as honest with myself as I could

Robert, excellent article. I've got a question that I don't mean to be provocative, just a question: why are Jackson and Sharpton considered to be leaders? I always assumed it was the mainstream press who promoted the two or three loudest "authentic" black voices because they made good copy. Are they really leaders, people who can summon a following?

There are a lot of stupid white people who'd like to lead me, I'm sure, but I don't care. My beliefs and actions are my own. Pat Robertson, Howard Dean, and whoever else have no influence over me. (I would kill or die in service of Brett Favre.) Do African-Americans follow their leaders moreso than other Americans? If so, why? Is it part of the culture? I've heard it said that blacks don't ever criticize other blacks in public; I wonder if that's part of it. I also wonder, as I stated earlier, if it's just a false impression created by the press.

The funny thing is, where I live, most of the hip-hop kids I see are white. Something like 70% of US rap cd sales are to young white suburbanites. So I always think that black rappers are trying to act like pale high school kids.

"that the only thing you should bother yourself with is the pussy , the money, and the weed. fuck that."

So what are you gonna do? Have a drug war? Throw a good proportion of the community in prison? Pass ridiculously draconian anti-drug laws that are ignored by all and sundry? Glorify law-enforcement mouth-breathers who don't understand the first thing about drug use and prohibitionist markets?

Yeah, I thought so.

Bullworthy, the focus of my statement was not on drugs. I said "the pussy, the money, and the weed" to invoke the image of a "thug." I don't want to start a drug war. ha.

Really touching, thanks 4 sharing your comments Robert.

I would like to point out that I meant "happily MARRIED". Sorry, I left that out by mistake. I was just reading what I wrote, and laughed my ass off. Minor edit there.... hehe. Thanks.

Powerful, brother.

Move to Canada. You'll be better off.

Excellent article!

You were probably told about for the 400th time a book called "Losing the Race" by John McWhorter. He's a professor of linguistics at Berkeley.He makes similar arguments to yours but his book is most concerned about what he calls a culture of Anti-intellectualism in African-American culture. Growing up Africa-American in Philly, he has experienced both overt racism (his description of being the only black person in a college German class taught by a bigoted professor is hysterical!) but also the same ridicule of black intellectualism and that hurt him even more in some ways.
He notes that children of African or Caribbean immigrants excel academically at the same rate of whites and Asians. He wonders, if it is racism holding back black students from acheivement, why that should be. I don't agree with everything, but it is a great read.

I'm white, but I've been thinking about this issue since Cosby spoke those words. Racism goes beyond color; I think every person has some level of bias or judgement locked into their heads. I think the resolution is transcending the need to feel superior. The best way to eliminate racism isn't on a racial, cultural, or ethnic level, but rather an individual decision to look at everyone as a person, not an object. Once you learn to respect everyone, you are a better person and a perfect example of how we should act.

Leaders like Jesse Jackson promote a racial divide. I don't think what he and others preach is a resolution to anything, but rather spreading their own branch of racism to their respective communities.

The best way to combat racism, I think, is being an example to everyone else. This "thug" lifestyle will show to be a temporary fad, but the real question is how much damage has been done to Americas youth. I know we as a country, and even more so we as a member of the human species, can overcome the challenges of racism and become so united that we can accomplish anything.

Well since my comments on racism are often badly interpreted I won't say much other than this is a great article and I hope it gets voted in as a Pick of the Week.

anybody see the Boondocks "Return of the King" episode? i saw that well before i saw this article and was instantly reminded of Cosby's comments. and though that show isn't the best thing on the air, it's good to hear these sorts of opinions getting some time in the public square. after all, isn't self-criticism an importat tool to help people (individuals or groups, for that matter) change and grow?

and at the end of the day, if you're acting like a jerk or a fool, it doesn't matter what color you are. you're still a jerk or a fool.

I live in a Latin American country. I just came back from a tour. It angers me that this hip hop gansta SHIT culture is being emulated by black kids on the continent. From São Paulo to Guatemala City, this culture of crime is being emulated by kids who think it's cool to port a platinum .44 handgun and get involved in drug dealing. They also begin to emulate the "I'm black" attitude in countries where race relations were not so clear cut and binary as in the United States. The only countries apparently safe are the ones were there are very few blacks. Black youth in countries like Venezuela, Brazil, even Cuba are being brain-washed.
And now we're seeing that beatiful mulato, multiracial, joyful, colored, rythmic culture be infiltrated by mass-media Black Boys of Hate and their monotonic pornographic criminal singing, where all women are "bitches" and "hos". Women where something to be worshiped in Latin America. Not bitches. Until the American corporations started buying air time.
God, I truly hate America. America's the world's greatest disease.

THanks for an excellently written and thought provoking article.

My boyfriend lives in the Bronx, NY, and there are a lot of very decent hardworking folk here, mainly of Latino and African American origin. What saddens me, however is that education is, in my opinion, not being stressed enough at all in some cases.

Yes, the NYC school system sucks, but it's more than that. Some parents of all races do not teach their kids to honor reading and learning, and the tradition of indifference is passed on. If your parents don't have a single book in the house, and don't encourage you to do well in school in order to get ahead, it becomes that much harder for kids not to succumb to negative peer pressure. And let's face it, most kids would rather party and hang out with friends anyway--most have to be actively encouraged to have the self-discipline to pursue their studies.

On the local news a few weeks ago, there was a report about Bronx public schools. With few exceptions (such as the prestigious Bronx High School of Science, and even here I think the stats were devolving as well) the vast majority of students were graduating with the local diploma rather than the more selective Regents Diploma. The latter, of course, would be significantly more preferable if one wanted to go on to college. There was vague talk of "lowered expectations" to explain this trend.

I see some kids (teens and young adults) firsthand here who may or may not have been born here but whose knowlege of English is very poor. If you ask the stock person at the local supermarket a question, many times they cannot understand you at all. If they want to rise above the ranks of stock person, it would certainly help to learn English. Not lecturing, just saying what I'm observing.

The neighborhood is beginning to experience a subtle renaissance. A brand new state of the art library has just opened, with desperately needed additional internet access for those who cannot afford a computer at home. I know from observation and reading the local paper that the libraries are well used by local children and parents who take advantage of after school and summer programs. The old library, which is I believe is about a century old, was similarly used by the immigrants of the day in the early to mid 20th century--albeit mostly Eastern European rather than Latino in origin.

So some signs are encouraging. But some are not. Education and literacy are the key here, as you said. The one and only bookstore in the neighborhood--a mom and pop affair that had probably been there back in the day when the neighborhood was considered "rich and fancy"--is gone now. Meanwhile, there are more cell phone stores than you can shake a stick at.

Someone mentioned Malcolm X as an example, I think, of a radical/racist mentality. On the contrary; Malcolm X modified his views after making a pilgrimage to Mecca and seeing the diversity of his Muslim brothers. Of course, the old school could not allow him to spread any kind of message of hope and potential unity, and so did away with him.

Kudos to you, Robert, for this beautifully written and important article. Your "from the inside out" viewpoint is invaluable, as most white people can only talk about this issue from the relative "safety of the "sidelines"--and in hushed tones at that.

Great, thoughtful, moving post, Robert

Elvira: Im sorry to hear about some of the families in your neighborhood. When I lived in the hilltop area of Tacoma, there were people who did think that I was acting white for liking to read books and parents who didnt value teaching their children. But there were also a lot of single mothers doing the best they could to raise children without any help from their fathers. And when I lived at those projects, there reached a point where the neighborhood crips decided to leave me alone, that I was going to get out of there and do something positive with my life.

It is my belief that you will hear the most honest and the most pragmatic talk from the poorest and most working class black neighborhoods. When I moved to the suburbs, I heard a lot more black kids willing to blame their problems on white people. My younger cousins grew up in black tacoma all their lives, with relatively underpriviliged upbringings. Like me, they all latched on to my grandfather as a mentor. And also like me, after they had their first year a college, all of their politics turned somewhat rightward on the subject of race.

It is also interesting that all the leaders I just mentioned, (Jesse and Al, along with Louis Farrakhan) came from a priviliged upbringing. Same with Amiri Baraka.

Paulo: sorry to hear that, but that's just a bad demographic of America, that isnt all of America. It is a shame that the gangster image is going global, though

Andy: totally agree with you.

Baronius: you make a truckload of points. 85 percent of black people that I come in contact with HATE sharpton. People dont know that he was a member of a group that threatened to kill Marvin Gaye, was implicit in a drug deal, and took a half a million dollars from a republican action comittee( Read the article on the village voice). I think Elvira is right, Black people are really getting tired of leaders like him. He does have a constituency however, because he appeals to a damaged core black people, by assuageing some of the real wounds they have about race and poverty. But he has no solutions to heal that wound, all he does is pet it.

Everybody else: thank you, again.

It pains me to hear such stories. Growing up in a small town in western Canada, we had to my knowledge no such racial issues. In my town there were 1 african american family and 2 chinese families, the other 10 thousand or so people were caucasian. To me the interesting thing was that until after high school, it never even dawned on me what racial background anyone had black white or otherwise. Call me naive but I never recal any racial catagorization of people by anyone. The realization of racial background only hit me because I became more aware of global issues as I got older. I never knew what the 'N' word meant until late teens.

"Some parents of all races do not teach their kids to honor reading and learning, and the tradition of indifference is passed on."

The key to success in the US is education.

That was very moving, as I read I had the same thought that you had:

"Because if those thugs did that to me, a 25-year-old college student, imagine the hundreds of young kids they have done it to also."

The kids who aren't as emotionally centered as you, are pulled into this gangsta thought pattern.

Reading a book is acting white? Pfffft.

Excellent analysis, Mr. Lashley.

I believe that Dr. Cosby's wake-up call marked a turning point in recognizing that hard work, a good education and personal responsibility are key to success, regardless of color.

Thank you for providing a forum to reach more thinking people.

Is there any medical research available about the long term effects of the abnormal gait required to keep baggy pants from falling while walking?

PS.

I believe the banning of Affirmative action in California and, just recently, Michigan will be our wakeup call. The problem is a large majority of us have assimilated to the point where we will just hit the snooze button and roll over into another false state of "la la" land.

I think that what really bothers me about Sharpton is his denial of black on white racism and the detrimental effects it has on our desire to better our society. As the movie 'Crash' showed, racism is racism is racism. Have whites suffered at the hands of blacks as blacks have at the hands of whites? Not even close! But to deny that black people can be racist really slows down our forward progress, just as the white man that claims there is no racism in America today does.

As to these thugs, it just kills me that the parents and grandparents of these children worked so hard for equality and they just crap all over their progress. The black middle classed parents in our neighborhood might well have had to work so much harder than any white man to get to where he is at and their child laments the fact that he wasn't brought up in a ghetto!

Today I watched Bill Cosby and Harvard Medical School Psychiatry Professor Dr. Alvin Poussaint on Meet the Press. These wise grandfathers gave advice to the American man (Black, White, Latin, Asian, Native American ... all races). Although Bill Cosby has been villafied by Black leaders, who are afriad of loosing their power over the masses, this man is a prophet of all men and women, and should be listen to and followed. God Bless Bill Cosby and let his words be echoed throughout this country to all races and cultures.

Jeff Petty
Shell, Wyoming

My commendations to Dr.Bill Cosby. No good can come from living one's life with a chip on their shoulder.

Bill Cosby's own son was killed by a white man. Bill went to court because he had sexual problems with these white women accusing him and now Bill feels we should not blame the white people.

LETS PAINT BILLS FACE WHITE AND CHANGE HIS NAME TO CLARENCE THOMAS.

Bill Cosby seems to have forgotten the days when he played a two bit hustlar or a want to be drug dealer(Mother Juggs and Speed, Lets Do It Again) the guy is a comidan, a payed clown, he did not make his fortune being a scholar and he is not brave enough to get into politics (Jesse and Al both ran for president) as for the guy who was called a "herb" you have to learn how to speak the thugs lingo,if you knew how to defend your self physically you would get there respect, which is what it sounds like you wanted. I grew up on the Hill, i love to read, but I also can throw blows with the best of them, its not always good just to be smart, sometimes you have got to be tough as well,kind of like how America is ,tough and smart at the same time. So if you ,or Bill think you can make better leaders for our people step up to the plate, don't talk about it, or wine do something about.

Sorry I fogot somethings, Isn't Brother Billy the one who made up a cartoon(Hey, Hey, It be ah Fat Albert)about a junk yard gang (We is ah gonna have some fun now with Bill and all the Gang, while ah we all do our thang!)This is the same dude who put what cuold possibly be his own daughter in the pen, and this is the guy to listen to? His son got shot by a white thug, and white people are not to blame,o.k. not for all of our problems but at least 95% of them! See it's funny how this works whites use to hate us because we wanted an education, and wanted to work, now they talk about how ignorant and lazy we are, (danmed if we do, and they claim that we don't, want to work that is) you see if hard work in a racist ass country like Amerikkka really paid off like uncle "Buck Billy" says it does the slaves wuold have had it made, the call us criminals when they stole us from aother country! for the weak brother from the barber shop why don't you go to a all white barber shop and see how you get treated o.kkk., how come you give the whites a pass(I don't want to go into that, that's a whole different story altogether) your just like all the other bootlicking "Toms" with this don't you be blaming the master now ya hear. Your problem is that you and the rest of you "wiggerwhoos" think your better than other brothers if you want whites to except your dumb ass go to a Skinhead or Klan rally and see if they give you a honorary all white, I mean right pass since you love whites and hate thug Negroes so much!