Essay Three

Back in 1997, Chris Rock sparked some controversy with his rant, “I hate niggers.” In fact, Bill Cosby even scolded Rock for the younger comic’s stand-up routine. Now Cosby essentially makes the same critical commentary—albeit without the comedic edge—and he appears to have no problem accepting the applause his routine generates.

It sure would be nice if the real solution to the issues presented by Rock and Cosby simply involved looking in the mirror, as Cosby insists. But the truth is, a mirror is probably the last item needed right now. The issues won’t be solved until everyone stops viewing things as blacks’ problems. Rather, we need to view them as America’s problems or society’s problems—or heaven forbid, humanity’s problems.

It’s not your dirty laundry. It’s America’s dirty laundry. It’s not black-on-black crime. It’s citizen-on-citizen crime—or better yet, it’s crime (incidentally, any social scientist can show the relationships between crime and poverty, but you’d be hard-pressed to find one arguing that crime is inherently racial). Keeping things segregated has never been an effective solution for anything. What’s more, it ultimately perpetuates stereotypes, fosters ignorance and fuels biased thinking.

Let’s give Cosby the benefit of the doubt and believe that he’s honestly motivated to create positive social change. Unfortunately, negative persuasion won’t sell progress any more than it will sell Jell-O Pudding Pops. Cosby could do more good by influencing his media friends to spend time reporting on community volunteers versus community villains. Guess what? The volunteers clearly outnumber the villains. But you’d never know it from reading the newspapers or watching the idiot box.

It’s interesting that the media quietly allows Cosby to air his grievances. If President Bush, John Kerry or Rush Limbaugh made the same remarks, every talk show host and newspaper columnist would be debating the monologues 24/7. And why is Cosby more qualified or justified to make the case here? Is a black multimillionaire really more in tune with poor people than non-black multimillionaires—or is anyone else, for that matter?

One newspaper columnist related Cosby’s soapbox grumbling with the Million Man March. Sadly, the two events may possibly have similar end results. Presenting a platform can be inspiring; but without an action plan, it’s all rather pointless.

Tactics that include self-blaming, self-motivation, self-regulation, self-reliance, self-respect or even self-hypnosis have been ineffective because the issues were not self-generated. While these tactics can and should be employed, they’re only a small part of the overall solution. Otherwise, Booker T. Washington would be a greater hero than Martin Luther King, Jr. or Malcolm X.

I could go on, but I’ve got my own problems to worry about. And that’s the real problem with all of this.