Spring Break
Bill Cosby's controversial words contain meaning
Left Turn
Vivek Thuppil
Issue date: 7/23/04 Section: Ed-Op
Next time you leave Drexel a little after lunchtime, walk a couple of streets to the west and observe the kids walking out of West Philadelphia High School at 36th and Market Streets. To describe what you would see on an ordinary day, I'm going to quote Bill Cosby:
"Your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 p.m. every day. It's cursing and calling each other nigger ... they think they're hip. They can't read; they can't write. They're laughing and giggling, and they're going nowhere."
He said this in response to those who suggested that perhaps he shouldn't air blacks' societal problems in public. His response couldn't have been better. If you want to fix this problem, and we have a huge problem here, you can't keep it under wraps. It has to be brought out into the open, and dealt with through a combined effort by society as a whole.
Once again, I'm going to ask you. Those kids you see walking out of West Philadelphia High School, how many of them are going to be part of freshman orientation at Drexel University next year? How many of them are going to be part of freshman orientation at any university?
Forget reading or writing most of these people seem to lack even the ability to speak in a dignified manner. My friends and I often joke about the ridiculousness of the slang that has words like foshizzle, izzle, nizzle, etc. However the saddest part of the situation is that there are people that actually speak like this in their day to day lives. Last time I checked, these words weren't in the Oxford dictionary. As Bill Cosby remarked, "You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth."
Good for Bill Cosby! The first step to solving any problem is in recognizing that there is a problem. And there definitely is a problem. The average SAT score for blacks is a full 200 points lower than that of whites. According to the Economist, black high-school students graduate an average of four years behind white students in terms of basic academic skills. In today's service oriented economy and intellectual atmosphere, most jobs that can be done only with a high school diploma are either being mechanized or being outsourced.
There is no doubt that I will probably come under quite a bit of fire for writing this commentary. I might even be accused of racism. I say these things not because I look down upon today's black youth, but because I know that those kids walking out of West Philadelphia High School can be far better than what they are right now. In them are potential doctors, astronauts, scientists, engineers and lawmakers. If today's black youth aren't educated, it's going to make it even tougher for the next generation to be educated, and all the struggles of the civil rights movement would have come to naught.
Vivek Thuppil is a junior majoring in bioscience and environmental science.
"Your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 p.m. every day. It's cursing and calling each other nigger ... they think they're hip. They can't read; they can't write. They're laughing and giggling, and they're going nowhere."
He said this in response to those who suggested that perhaps he shouldn't air blacks' societal problems in public. His response couldn't have been better. If you want to fix this problem, and we have a huge problem here, you can't keep it under wraps. It has to be brought out into the open, and dealt with through a combined effort by society as a whole.
Once again, I'm going to ask you. Those kids you see walking out of West Philadelphia High School, how many of them are going to be part of freshman orientation at Drexel University next year? How many of them are going to be part of freshman orientation at any university?
Forget reading or writing most of these people seem to lack even the ability to speak in a dignified manner. My friends and I often joke about the ridiculousness of the slang that has words like foshizzle, izzle, nizzle, etc. However the saddest part of the situation is that there are people that actually speak like this in their day to day lives. Last time I checked, these words weren't in the Oxford dictionary. As Bill Cosby remarked, "You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth."
Good for Bill Cosby! The first step to solving any problem is in recognizing that there is a problem. And there definitely is a problem. The average SAT score for blacks is a full 200 points lower than that of whites. According to the Economist, black high-school students graduate an average of four years behind white students in terms of basic academic skills. In today's service oriented economy and intellectual atmosphere, most jobs that can be done only with a high school diploma are either being mechanized or being outsourced.
There is no doubt that I will probably come under quite a bit of fire for writing this commentary. I might even be accused of racism. I say these things not because I look down upon today's black youth, but because I know that those kids walking out of West Philadelphia High School can be far better than what they are right now. In them are potential doctors, astronauts, scientists, engineers and lawmakers. If today's black youth aren't educated, it's going to make it even tougher for the next generation to be educated, and all the struggles of the civil rights movement would have come to naught.
Vivek Thuppil is a junior majoring in bioscience and environmental science.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 12
Anonymous
posted 5/16/06 @ 12:12 AM EST
I dont think Mr Cosby have heard that much Rap music in his life.
Anonymous
posted 5/16/06 @ 11:13 PM EST
Vivek,you said what is right, especially when you stated" If today's black youth aren't educated...all the struggles of the civil rights movement would have come to naught. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 6/09/06 @ 1:44 AM EST
How much rap do you actually need to hear these days. IT'S ALL THE SAME. Are you stupid or are you just mental retarded that you can't see that mr. anonymous. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 7/03/06 @ 2:44 AM EST
I know this comment is late, but I think John B. Watson said it best.
"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select ? doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 8/22/06 @ 8:47 PM EST
Learn how to speak English before you post a blog on the internet. Honestly, half of this blog doesn't make any fucking sense.. For example, your first sentence "Bill Cosby's harsh words on the condition of many of today's black youth have evoked many responses. (Continued…)
anon
posted 9/01/06 @ 10:13 AM EST
leave bill cosby alone u fools he is one of the comedic people in history!!!
anon
posted 9/04/06 @ 5:46 AM EST
if any one wants to argue with send me an email and i will rip ur heads of and shit down it
Mike C
posted 12/28/06 @ 4:44 AM EST
"far more black youth today seem to emulate the thugs who pose as music artists"
I would say they are music artists posing as thugs, with the exception of a very few pioneers like 2Pac and Biggie Smalls. (Continued…)
david
posted 6/11/07 @ 12:40 AM EST
sup fellas,
as a 20 year old white college student i dont know how seriously you all will take my comments, but I just felt like adding something here: Some rap is good and most of it isnt but honestly, its pretty convenient, and unconstructive, to blame a deep, historic social problem just on music. (Continued…)
j davis
posted 5/12/08 @ 2:47 PM EST
Calling these (c)rappers 'artists' bugs me to no end. They are all quite simply, scum of the lowest order. If these people are artists then our civilization is in serious trouble and probably does not deserve to survive. (Continued…)
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