Essay 654

Cosby needn’t look far to find fine black men

By Dawn Turner Trice

A few hours before entertainer Bill Cosby gave his recent commencement address at Spelman College, Atlanta’s historically black women’s college, I was sitting in the audience at a graduation ceremony across the street at the historically black men’s college, Morehouse.

I was there for Harold Lee Whack Jr., a young man I’ve watched grow up. Four years ago, he graduated from Homewood-Flossmoor High School and began his post-secondary education at Morehouse, majoring in international studies.

Around the world, Morehouse is perhaps best known as the alma mater of Martin Luther King Jr. It’s also known as the private liberal arts college that often graduates more black men at one time than any other college in the U.S.

What I didn’t know and wasn’t quite prepared for was just how moving the school’s 122nd commencement ceremony would be. (And not solely because I have a crush on actor Denzel Washington, who was in the audience on behalf of his graduating son.)

As is tradition, the ceremony began with the young men--decked out in their robes and Sunday best, and led by drummers--marching from the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel across campus to the quadrangle, where the ceremony is held.

We audience members viewed the pageantry of the march on two video screens over the stage.

We watched more than 500 graduates pass through the campus gate, which was closed behind them, symbolizing the end of an era. They were joined by alumni who held signs indicating the decade in which they graduated. Some went as far back as the 1930s.

It rained on and off that Sunday morning, but little could detract from the moment or these impressive men.

Perhaps this is why I was troubled when I later heard about Cosby’s comments to more than 500 Spelman graduates across the street.

According to a transcript, Cosby told the women that it was time for them to lead because too many black men were incapable of doing so.

He said, “The men as young boys are dropping out of high school, but they have memorized the lyrics of very difficult rap songs and they know how to braid each other’s hair.”

He said the black race depends on the young sisters graduating all across this United States.

It’s true that you don’t have to look far to find any number of grim studies or statistics regarding young black men. Here’s one: For every white male in prison who is college age, there are 28 in college; for black men, that ratio drops to less than 1 in 3.

Though statistics like these can no longer be ignored, they tend to overshadow the achievements of young black men who are marching forward.

During the Morehouse ceremony, we learned about a young man whose father died in the Sept. 11 terror attacks and another who spent part of his teen years in homeless shelters. Both still found a way to graduate Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude.

The class valedictorian, an English major who had a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, was a star athlete in high school but wanted to prove himself as a scholar. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. Although he has been accepted into Harvard Law School, he’s deferring his entrance a year so he can study and work in Asia.

Whack, my young friend, graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and is heading to Northwestern University for a graduate degree in journalism.

This year, nearly half of Morehouse’s seniors graduated with honors. The students excelled in activities from mentoring to athletics. Many already have traveled the world.

What’s ailing black males is such a complex stew that some folks have reached the point of utter frustration. I understand this.

And I don’t deny that Cosby offered up some truths as he called on Spelman’s graduation class to step up. They should, but not because there are no brothers willing or able to do so.

Cosby knows better. He’s on Morehouse's board of trustees.

I agree that we can’t ignore the young black men who are falling behind. But neither should we disregard the ones who, in the face of all these negatives, are standing tall.