Ramblings' Journal

Man you need to come to the message boards over at this hiphop site i frequent. Its located here

http://community.allhiphop.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

Your insight will be very helpful in the daily deluge of leftist propaganda. Great post by the way on the Cos. All of that stuff needs to be uttered in the public arena. The problem with so many of us is that we hate to hear people tell us the truth in public. So this tongue-lashing is long overdue

Thank you, Brother Bill, for the tongue-lashing we so well deserve! I hope he will expand on this even further and tell us all that we should be doing better in critical thinking, as well. Not just accept everything because it comes from one party and ignore anything coming from another party. I think you all know what I'm talking about.

We're all blogging about this one, baby!

I am always extremely happy to see anyone, regardless of color, stand up in public and call for personal responsibility.

It is even nicer when it comes from someone that garners the kind of respect that Cosby does.

You have to love what Mr. Cosby has been saying lately. And, it is nice that Jesse Jackson understands the message; I just wish that he didn't feel the need to smother his concurrence under a subtext of 'we must overcome'. For, while Cos says to forget that you may have been getting a bad deal and to get on with bettering yourself; Jackson is saying that even though you are getting a bad deal you can fight through it to achieve. In essence, Cosby says, use the freedom of choice which you have, Jackson says, remember that you are getting a bad deal no matter how hard you try.
Cosby's approach, optimism and responsibility, will produce. Jackson's approach, victimization and hardship, will restrain.

I hope this works. A lot of people need someone they know to get a disease or a revelation before they can address the problem and celebrities are often that person. I hope Bill Cosby sticks to his guns and doesn't back down in the face of criticism.

There are a lot of things unfair in the world, don't add to them by handicapping yourself.

>

Just imagine a world in which more prominent black personalities spoke up like Mr. Cosby.

Within a very short time period, we would see real change in the black communities that are identified with generational poverty and welfare issues in the US.

I think it is simple ignorance and a feeling of hopelessness that has pervaded many black families. And it is not an easy issue by any means.

I'm a white teacher in an all black southern high school, and I see some success stories - kids scoring Advanced on state testing and high ACT scores. But without exception, behind every single one of these success stories is an active and motivated parent visiting my classroom and being supportive and nice to teachers. And yes, it is actually often a single parent home too. Yet somehow, the single parent, mom or dad, hold the kids feet to the fire and do the right thing for their futures. This is the only way to break the cycle and embrace a better and different future for the black community.

On the other hand, over 70% of first time black marriages in our community end in divorce, at any time the local penal facility has over 80% black male population, over 25% of black males in this community will go through the local jail or juvenile detention facility during their lives, and sadly only 10 out of 75 seniors this year are going to college straight from our high school due to low scores and limited opportunities. This has got to change.

Many teachers are sick and tired of having a momma or daddy come to the school and snap the fingers, hands on the hips, twisting the neck around, enjoying the heck out of telling off another teacher in an effort to deflect blame for their own kids lack of school performance. I usually just walk out of those meetings nowdays. I don't have time for it. There are kids sitting in my classroom who need to learn while these hotheads and pitiful excuses for parents get some joy out of telling me how bad a person I am or horrible a teacher I must be because their kid scored low. Without fail, the kid is almost always a 'thug-wanna-be' and doesn't value the education anyway. Their minds are on pimpin, and ridin, and ho'ing, and bling-bling, etc...(you've heard it before) There is usually little we can do to help those kids until they come back to reality.

It's time to stop blaming the system and the teachers - hell, we are more than ready to teach and help these kids. The problem, which is never addressed, is the parents not preparing their kids for school and not enforcing good social behavior at home. If you really want to change things...find a way to make the parents accountable for their child's education. Make them responsible to have the child ready and fully prepared to learn prior to entering school.

I think Cosby hit the nail on the head. It hurts my soul to hear kids call each other n*****. I don't allow it in my classroom, never have, never will. My kids know how I feel about it, and respect me enough not to say it anyway.

I think it is degrading and insulting not only to the person it is directed at, but to people of other ethnicities (me) that have to hear it. Its embarrassing and elicits a feeling of pity for the obvious ignorance of the individual saying it. But don't just tell kids not to say it around other people of different races, practice it yourself...don't say it anywhere at any time. Consistency with the kids is one of the cornerstones to good parenting.

I think the kids, if left alone by the previous generation, would be ok for the most part. Too many of the previous generation is obsessed with making these kids carry a burden of the horrors of the past, instead of trying to help them improve their lives.

It's the never ending battle.

My students tell me they just want to move on and not be identified as the minority - just kids and Americans like other ethnic groups. They are bored and tired of being singled out and are shutting it out entirely.

But, it seems to me that this is never going to happen as long as the black community has words like the 'n' word that only alienate and seperate them from other groups.

Doesn't make sense to me to have a word that you can say to each other but get severly offended when it is uttered by other groups - the very same groups that you a ticked off at for being exclusive instead of inclusive. It's just crazy and beyond my understanding I guess. And yes, I've been told this before - I'm the one who doesn't understand. Give me a break.

What we need is for everyone to just do their best and be Americans first and stop worrying about trying to make the next generation fight the same ole battles. All it is accomplishing is institutionalizing generation poverty, limited opportunities, ignorance, and hurtful segregation.

So, at some point, like Mr. Cosby eluded, things have to change. We need to grow up and stop worrying about this not being politically correct and just confront the issues and problems head on. If you do this with love in your heart and wanting only the best for your fellow man - we can't help but succeed.

Here's to better days.

J.B.Dunn
bdunn70@hotmail.com
(Yes, you probably guessed it, I'm a southern writer for a local newspaper, a teacher, professor, and incessant thinker about these issues. And I want things to be better some day.)

I heard Jesse Jackson speak one time. The press reported "Keep Hope Alive!" and "I AM! SOMEBODY!" The press didn't report him telling us kids, stay in school, work hard, don't do drugs, don't get involved in crime.

But you wouldn't know that unless you were there.

How many of you know that at the start of every school year, at least since the late 80s anyway, Jesse has told Black parents to go to school with their kids on the first day of school? He also said, don't make it the only time, join the PTA, volunteer, check homework, etc

But unless you were tuned into Black media, you missed it. Hmmmm...