Comedian Bill Cosby created a firestorm over his remarks at an NAACP dinner commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education Monday night. Yet despite the criticism he has received from the left he continues to stand by his statements.

Here are some excerpts from his speech where he addressed the lack of personal responsibility, lack of English skills and crime.

 ”Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for their kids-$500 sneakers for what? And won’t spend $200 for ‘Hooked on Phonics.’”

“I can’t even talk the way these people talk: ‘Why you ain’t,’ ‘Where you is’… And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk… Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads… You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.”

“These are not political criminals. These are people going around stealing Coca Cola. People getting shot over a piece of pound cake and then we run out and we are outraged, [saying] ‘The cops shouldn’t have shot him.’ What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?”

As you can imagine delivering this speech at an NAACP event was a bold move and left black leaders in a quandary. Do they applaud him for getting to the root of the problem in black communities across America or do they chastise a man who has done so much for the cause? Are these problems self-inflicted or as the majority of black leaders would say, a result of a racist system? As far as I can find there has been no comment from Jesse Jackson or anyone in the Congressional Black Caucus, who normally aren’t shy about expressing their outrage. If this had been a black conservative you can bet that the media and the Jesse Jackson’s of the world would have been calling for their head. Not so when it comes from within.

He has also found out what it is like to deal with the media as he complained that the media has taken his statements out of context.  Welcome to the real world Bill.

Cosby’s remarks hit home with me. I am a middle class white guy who has spent a lot of time in the homes of blacks on the lower end of the economic scale. Thanks to welfare and other government assistance programs they live in nice subsidized apartments or townhomes and wear nice clothing. Most have cable tv and never think twice about spending money on what they want no matter what the cost. While I know the parents in these families love their children, many often go out with their friends leaving the kids behind without a babysitter or supervision. Is it any wonder we have neighborhoods where the high school dropout rate approaches 50% or that crime is rampant?

Bill Cosby was right and if he needs any more education on the issues plaguing the black community he should get together with Jesse Petersen and Star Parker.

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