Mary, I do not think it is Dave's title, methinks it is the title of the video. Jenny, Research shows some children are capable of lying in a deliberate attempt to deceive by age four, and perhaps even earlier.

WE CAN'T BLAME WHITE PEOPLE ANY LONGER They'restanding on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way thesepeople talk: Why you ain't, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be... 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 thatkind of crap coming out of your mouth.In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living. People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics? I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or, who is his father? People putting their clothes on backward.... .......Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't it a sign of something? Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing's] going through her body? What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans;they don't know a thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail. Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands'- ---or men or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million- dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard. We cannot blame the white people any longer. By:Dr. BILL COSBY

Hi everyone, First of all, I would like to apologize for the confusion resulting from the title of this thread. I simply used the title of the video to title the thread. Personally, I do believe that relationships between people from different backgrounds and of differing ethnicities have improved immensely in the western world, at least, over the last 50 years. Ignorance and bigotry has not died, but it has died down a lot. Secondly, I do believe that parents need to be far more responsible in the way they raise their children, and that fathers need to stick around and be more than just genetic. That said, you would suppose that I agree whole-heartedly with Dr. Cosby. However, the statistics reported in the following article say that he is in error. Decide for yourself. I would suggest that you check out both sides (it's called DUE DILIGENCE!) Dr. Bill Cosby, I respectfully disagree - by Edward Rhymes (2004) On May 12th of this year Bill Cosby addressed the graduating class of Hampton University (a historically black university). During his speech he reminded the audience of the value of parenting (not a bad thing to do in and of itself). He also decried teenage pregnancies, rampant drug use and incarceration among African-Americans. Before I begin to comment on Dr. Cosby's remarks, I would like to say there are few men in this world who I respect more than Bill Cosby. His humor has warmed me and his life has been an inspiration to me. Furthermore I believe the remarks he made were an earnest appeal to African-American young people to take responsibility for their lives and to push themselves to excellence. Nevertheless, I must admit that I am a little disturbed by the comments made by Dr. Cosby during the commencement exercises at Hampton University. As I stated before, I believe in Dr. Cosby's sincerity, but take issue with his accuracy. I have found, in my work as a sociologist that we as African Americans have allowed ourselves to believe the lies about ourselves. That we are all too ready to accept anything negative said about ourselves. I would like to point out four issues that Dr. Cosby touched on concerning the African-American community at large. 1. Teenage pregnancies: According to a press release from the National Center for Health Statistics (dated December 17, 2003), teenage pregnancy has gone down by 30 percent in the past decade. The sharpest drop of any group was among African-American teen-age girls -- 40 percent in the last decade and 50 percent since 1991 2. Rampant drugs: According to the National Institutes of Health (2002), when African-American high school seniors are compared to white students of the same age the statistics are as follows: cigarette smokers (W-30.9 percent/AA-11.3 percent), marijuana use (W-22.8 percent/AA-16.4 percent), cocaine use (W-2.8 percent/AA-0.2 percent), ecstacy use (W-2.5 percent/AA-0.5 percent), binge drinking of five or more alcoholic drinks in a row at least once during a week (W-32.9 percent /AA-10.4 percent). Nevertheless, even though blacks are only 14 percent of drug users, they are 35 percent of those arrested for possession, 55 percent of those convicted and 75 percent of those incarcerated for drugs. 3. Weapons in school: according to the departments of Education and Justice, white high school students are more likely to bring a weapon to campus than blacks, and according to the Centers for Disease Control, white male seniors are twice as likely as black male seniors to bring a weapon to school. In fact, among all major racial and ethnic groups for which data is collected, blacks have the lowest rate of carrying weapons to school. Perhaps most interesting, when it comes to violence at school, there are no consistent differences between urban, suburban and rural schools in terms of levels of victimization. What differences exist actually indicate slightly higher victimization rates in suburban schools than in urban schools, though researchers note that these differences are not statistically significant. In 2000, for example, suburban students were victimized at a rate that was nine percent higher than urban students for all crimes, and 27 percent higher for violent crimes: mostly simple assaults in the context of a fight. From 1992-1999, victimization rates in suburban schools were equal to urban victimization rates as well, indicating that there is simply no greater general risk of violence in city schools than non-city schools, contrary to popular belief. Although acts of serious violence are more common in urban schools, these incidents are so rare in either setting that it hardly makes sense to view urban schools as places of unbridled chaos. 4. The "50 percent dropout rate": According to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census, the African-American dropout rate (as of 2001) was at 10.9 percent -- the lowest its ever been. Also, it is almost identical to the national average (meaning all students) of 10.7 percent. By the stating of these statistics I do not mean to imply that the African-American community is not in crisis (but a careful and unbiased view of the statistics tells us that all communities are in crisis). I believe we should tell the truth about ourselves (when it is the truth). However, I do not believe the way we combat that crisis is with uninformed opinions or generalizations. I don't believe that African-American youth are any more prone to crime, unwanted pregnancies or drug use than their white equivalents or other groups. What the statistics show and what American society has taught us, is that we can't afford to indulge in the same negative or self-destructive behaviors as whites because we do not have the benefit of white privilege. When you get right down to it, it is a cruel irony that African Americans can be less guilty of a thing and still be looked upon as the greatest perpetrators of that very same thing (i.e. drug use and distribution). The sad thing about all of this is that because of Dr. Cosby's high visibility and immense popularity, many will receive his words as gospel truth. Yes, Dr Cosby, I do believe in facing the truth, but it has to be just that -- the truth. Moreover, I too believe that we in the African-American community need to hold a mirror up to ourselves, but it must be a clear mirror not one obscured by misconceptions or blurred by stereotypes. Edward Rhymes is an educator who lives in New Bedford This story appeared on Page A13 of The Standard-Times on June 2, 2004. God bless, Dave