During the 2004 NAACP awards ceremony at Washington, D.C., in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the landmark case Brown vs. Board of Education , Bill Cosby delivers a speech, which would be subsequently referred to as “The Pound Cake Speech, criticizing the lifestyle and lack of parenting in the African–American community. The speech has been severely criticized for it is delivery and topics expressed within it. Author Jerome Corsi notes, "Cosby was attacked both for his flippant tone and because his argument appeared to 'blame the victim' for the racial inequality and racial injustice suffered." The purpose of this essay is to examine why the use of comedy, partitioning of listeners, and scapegoating of African-American parents, as the sole cause of African-American social problems, lead to the poor reception of Cosby's speech. Although Cosby has had a university education and received many honorary degrees, which few achieve, nonetheless, he is associated more as a successful entertainer than a scholarly educator. Interestingly, Cosby has self-described himself more of a class clown than an academician during schooling. Cosby started his entertainment career as a stand-up comedian doing performances across America during his younger years. Comedians have a notorious talent for stirring up crowds and encouraging clamor from the audience. They compose jokes that anyone can relate to and, thus, reach broad demographics during their performances. The talent has remained with Cosby to present and is manifested within the tone of his speeches as well. Throughout Cosby’s speech there is a comedy element hidden in a tragedy element. When Cosby discusses the blame on Caucasians in African American communities, he jokes, “... ... ... middle of paper ... ...livered his same points in a more formal manner with less humor. If Cosby had addressed his listeners as a collective union instead of fragmented denominations, listeners would have been coherent in relating to the problems presented by Cosby. Cosby uses the rhetorical device of pathos by placing guilt on African-American parents. Furthermore, Cosby repetitively informs his listeners that absence in parenting is the telltale root of all problems faced in the African-American community and its presence, alternatively, as the key solution to eradicating those problems; however, he does not thoroughly delve into describing the solutions or present methods on how to accomplish better parenting via examples. The combination of these aforementioned shortcomings contributed to the poor reception, criticism, and disparagement Cosby received in the aftermath of his speech.
Panel Members. (2014). Retrieved February 26, 2014, from The Brown & Black Presidential Forum: http://www.bbpresforum.org/panel.html
It is theorized that the phrase “angry Black man” is a social construct created during America’s Colonial period. It was supposedly used to negatively describe African-American men who spoke out against what they considered to be an incongruous and xenophobic society and more specifically the institution of slavery. The phrase’s essence has been intentionally misconstrued. The three words together were said to have been used by whites as a dismissive tool; a method of sabotaging the validity of an outspoken Black man’s claims of an unjust and oppressive system. This was done in an effort to detract from the legitimacy of the outraged Black man’s cries of injustice.
Throughout his preface of the book titled Why We Can’t Wait, which entails the unfair social conditions of faultless African Americans, Martin Luther King employs a sympathetic allegory, knowledge of the kids, and a change in tone to prevail the imposed injustice that is deeply rooted in the society—one founded on an “all men are created equal” basis—and to evoke America to take action.
As MLK begins his article, he uses pathos to bring attention to his dispute. He starts by announcing, “Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait”... But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your brothers and sisters at whim;... when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park....when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?” (4) MLK utilizes the topic of family to allure empathy; using this topic ensures that any reader may relate to his current situation. He discusses family falling to death, the idea of a child, at a very young age, having to endure blunt and hurtful racism. MLK presents examples of devastating situations in order to connect with the reader. As both articles, “Letters from Birmingham Jail” and “Consider the Lobster” discuss various situations, they are also using
America have a long history of black’s relationship with their fellow white citizens, there’s two authors that dedicated their whole life, fighting for equality for blacks in America. – Audre Lorde and Brent Staples. They both devoted their professional careers outlying their opinions, on how to reduce the hatred towards blacks and other colored. From their contributions they left a huge impression on many academic studies and Americans about the lack of awareness, on race issues that are towards African-American. There’s been countless, of critical evidence that these two prolific writers will always be synonymous to writing great academic papers, after reading and learning about their life experience, from their memoirs.
Although an effort is made in connecting with the blacks, the idea behind it is not in understanding the blacks and their culture but rather is an exploitative one. It had an adverse impact on the black community by degrading their esteem and status in the community. For many years, the political process also had been influenced by the same ideas and had ignored the black population in the political process (Belk, 1990). America loves appropriating black culture — even when black people themselves, at times, don’t receive much love from America.
The Impact of African-American Sitcoms on America's Culture Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded.
Throughout his literature, James Baldwin discusses the issues of racial inequality within America and discusses reasons for the conflicts between races, proposing his solutions to the problems. One of the most important and recurring motifs between his works is the idea of history; the history of whites in western society and its origin in European thinking and the history of the American Negro, whose history is just as American as his white counterpart’s. The importance of these histories as being one combined “American history” is integral to the healing process between the two races. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is a landmark event for blacks and whites alike, and the events following three years later in Little Rock, Arkansas mark the beginning of a long journey to fulfill the promise of equal education made by the Supreme Court. The 1957 events in Little Rock quickly became the nationally covered story of the Little Rock Nine, a legacy that still lives on today despite a James Baldwin prediction made in his essay “Take Me to the Water.” Specifically, nine African-American students were given permission by the Little Rock school board to attend Central High School, one of the nation’s top 40 high schools, integrating a formally all-white campus. During the initial weeks, these students were prevented from entering the school by US military summoned by the Arkansas governor. The Little Rock case drew immediate media attention and became a nationwide symbol of the civil rights movement. The story of the Little Rock Nine embodies James Baldwin’s arguments and observations regarding necessity of education as a crucial step to achievin...
In his work, “A Talk to Teachers,” James Baldwin poured out his point of view on how he believed American children should be taught. Throughout the essay, Baldwin focused on a specific race of school children: Negros. Perhaps this was because he himself was an African American, or even for the mere idea that Negros were the most vulnerable for never amounting to anything — according to what the American society thought during the twentieth century, specifically the 1960s when this piece was published. With the focus determined, the reader is able to begin analyzing Baldwin’s main appeal through the essay. At first glance one could argue that the essay has no credibility with Baldwin’s lack of not being a school teacher himself; however, when further evaluated one could state that whether or not he was a school teacher has nothing to do with the fact that he establishes his credibility, he appeals to morals, emotions with authority, and values, which thus outweighs the possible negativities associated with his argument.
In addressing and confronting the problem of injustices among the black Americans in the American society, particularly the violence that had happened in Birmingham, and generally, the inequality and racial prejudice happening in his American society, King argues his position by using both moral, social, and political references and logic for his arguments to be considered valid and agreeable.
Boston’s local public television station WGBH, under the leadership of Hartford Gunn, presented an array of educational and cultural programming. Similar to an earlier interview, in a 1963 taping of “The Negro and the American Promise,” Baldwin is interviewed by Dr. Kenneth Clark. This happened just months after Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, expressed his support of “segregation forever” (qtd. in PBS Online). To inflect the possibility that blacks were not as equal or fairly treated as whites in the mid-twentieth century, two very different African Americans were brought on air. Malcolm X based his interview on historical and present references, but James Baldwin took a more personal approach.
In an expressive voice, Ms. Angelou paints a memorable picture of a small black community anticipating graduation day fifty-five years ago. She describes the children as trembling "visibly with anticipation" and the teachers being "respectful of the now quiet and aging seniors." Although it is autobiographical, an omniscient voice in the first six paragraphs describes how "they" - the black children in Stamps - felt and acted before the omniscient voice changes to a limited omniscient narration in the seventh paragraph. Her eloquent voice skillfully builds the tension as she demonstrates bigotry destroying innocence.
"The Final Call." Black America's Painful Epidemic: Children without Fathers. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
“You are a nothing little nigger” is one of the demeaning phrases African American human beings have heard over the years in an effort to keep them in a state of persecution. This paper will discuss the persecution of the African American. The following documents the struggles, gut wrenching pain, and heart ache of African American people have endured and are still suffering with today.
In Ta-Nehasi Coates’s “Letter to my Son”, Coates addresses the overwhelming inequalities between African American culture and Caucasian culture in America. The state of diversity and equity in society is grim for a period of time. Every race constitutes individuals. The more close-mindedness is perpetuated, the more likely the majority of society will fall back into racist tendencies and acceptance of ethnic presumptions. Coates knows the hardship black population endured that white population will never understand. Coates subvert conventional discourse about the idea of supremacy by indicating intellectual delegitimacy; white people are smarter and degeneralizing bodies; to unlock the painful truths of America. Giving it a deeper connotation to depict those who is