Come On Bill

Bill Cosby has just released a new book. I know this not just because I watched Mr. Cosby and his long time collaborator Alvin Poussaint talk about their new book on Meet the Press with Tim Russert, I know this not just because I watched Misters Cosby and Poussaint on Larry King Live promoting their new book and trying to explain some of the social ills that prompted its authorship. I know that Come On People is one of the latest new books for sale on Amazon.com because Christina Stewart’s letter to a couple of people named Chris and Shaver appeared on my list of comments awaiting approval earlier this week. I have no earthly idea who Ms. Stewart is.  But her letter says this book “combines messages of personal responsibility with practical solutions.” She goes on to say “Come On People is for all those who are tired of being used, neglected and undefended folks who wish to see changes in their governments, their neighborhoods, on their streets and within the walls of their living spaces.”

It would’ve been nice if Ms. Stewart or whoever left her message on my blog’s electronic doorstep would have made a relevant comment about my blog. But it seems she or whoever was in a bit of a rush to promote Come On People. The comment came with three links to some excerpts from the book as a sample of the prolific and profound writing that would inspire changes in governments, neighborhoods, streets, and inside the living spaces. I took a bite and read what was made available. To see the excerpts for yourself click the following links: Excerpt 1, Excerpt 2, and Excerpt 3.

If these excerpts are indication the writing for this book is very simplistic and unimaginative. The book could’ve been titled How To Raise Black Kids for Black Dummies. This book makes such propositions as black parents need to serve good food to their children. Black parents need to engage their children in conversation. Black parents need to reward the good behavior of their children. Black parents need to make sure that the children’s punishment fits the crime. If the samples are any indication black parents are demonized, criticized, slandered, and vilified in this book. What evidence do the authors offer to support the supposition that black parents are not talking to their children or that black parents aren’t doing their best to provide good food? And for the black parents that aren’t feeding and raising their children properly how exactly does this book provide the tools necessary for these parents to learn these habits?

Bill Cosby is somewhat hypocritical in his implications and insinuations. Mr. Cosby has made a fortune pushing some of the white corporate icons that now permeate the black community. For years Mr. Cosby has told us to have a Coke and a smile. For years Mr. Cosby has pushed Jell-O pudding pops down our children’s throats. I know I spent a number of Saturdays sitting in front of the television watching Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids and I know for a fact that not all the characters on the program spoke the standard English dialect that his new book now emphasizes. Not only did Mr. Cosby help market the sugar laden and/or chemically enhanced brew of Coca Cola. Mr. Cosby became one of the major owners of the Coca Cola Bottling Company of New York back in 1993. He’s not just the spokesperson, he’s the owner.

There’s little doubt that Mr. Cosby made, and is making, a ton of money with his endorsements and business investments. And now that he has his, Mr. Cosby, along with his partner Mr. Poussaint, want to reverse his position on nutrition with an excerpt telling the black community to make better choices for their children’s sake. The book itself is allegedly targeting the lower class of black people. Yet, Come On People isn’t likely to become part of the library of the lower class household with its nearly twenty dollar retail price tag. More likely than not this book is intended reading for the type of people who believe that people in the black community already have more than what they need to pull themselves out of their predicament by their own means.

Come On People offers an overly simplistic solution to the black community’s problem. The message that black parents simply need to do better fails to address the societal forces that have been created and that have evolved to make conditions in the black community what they are today. Black unemployment and black low employment are real factors that cannot be dismissed with a black parent asking their child how was their day. Black people who have worked hard to obtain their degrees in their chosen field of study have to settle for unskilled jobs because the opportunity to put their knowledge to work simply doesn’t come their way. For black people who do manage to improve their economic conditions, abandoning the traditional black community is standard operating procedure. Too many of our black celebrities and wildly successfully business people leave the traditionally black community for more ethically diverse pastures. Black people like Tiger Woods and Venus and Serena Williams got plenty of attention from their parents. But now that they have theirs these black celebrities are so removed from their racial peers that they are now racial eunuchs. Why would this happen if these black people’s parents did everything by the book.

It would be nice if all black parents had to do is feed their children better, talk to their children better, and do other basic things better. But the reality is that the black community’s problems are much more complex. If anything, Come On People could help some black people improve their relationship with their children. But this book will fall extremely short in any other measure of the black community. The overwhelming and overriding message in this book is that black parents need to focus on their relationship with their children. I think a black parent can always do more to improve their relationship with their child. However, that is nowhere close to being the end all and be all to correcting the social issues that effect the black community. As far as offering practical solutions to those of us who are tired of being used, neglected and undefended who wish to see changes in our governments and neighborhoods, this book isn’t even close to addressing any of the real socially charged racial issues.