I had no idea this was going on. (I'm removed from television these days.) So, without further preface: • Asim, Jabari. "Did Cosby Cross the Line?" Washington Post, May 24, 2004. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51273-2004May24.html I admit, it's a variation on the theme I'm most familiar with. My reaction to Asim--I haven't read or heard the full text of the Cosby remarks--is to wonder about the correlation between poverty and some of the the characteristics apparently related in Cosby's speech. As many minorities who have achieved a socially-acknowledged success will tell the rest of us, it's rather hard to pull yourself out of the environment of poverty. While liberalism does tend to portray the poor as victims, the poor are, indeed, victims unto themselves to no small degree. But Asim's pointing to the problems of other social strata is certainly an interesting variation on the theme of defending the poor against such direct criticism. I don't know how much more effective it will be than the victimization cry. It seems to me that poverty and certain behaviors that contribute to poverty are, indeed, locked in a symbiotic cycle. And breaking that cycle can be difficult when operating in a society that depends on maintaining a certain poverty-class. I don't know. There just seems to be an unnecessary judgment in specifically singling out those least-empowered to respond. That's not to say that we should not account in some way for the contributions of the behavior of the poor to poverty, but people respond to the environment in which they develop, and the poverty class continues to thrive insofar as the raw numbers of, for instance, poor families is concerned. I'm looking at Census Bureau statistics right now, and it's rather fascinating. The lowest poverty rate for families occurred in 1973-74, though the table only reports 1959 - 2002. Fascinating stuff. (Yawn.) So what's fair in this political poverty game?
there are plenty of very very rich black people getting into some of the same troubles that the "Cos" is talking about(Bobby Brown, various Basketball, football..um everything else)...of course, white people do the same things yet Jerry Senfield never feels the need to get on a soapbox to set 'em straight. Money doesnt change the man or women and dammit you cant tell me that Cosby hasnt snorted at least one line of cocaine, smoke a joint or mabye (long shot) stolen a hubcap. It's a bit unfair...and (Yawn) pointless. At least he isnt out to get Ozzy anymore.
