Bill Cosby at NAACP on 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

Address at the NAACP' on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. 17 May 2004

Summary:
Landmark Supreme Court case Brown v Board of Education (1954) overturned previous ruling, Plessy v Ferguson (1896), and declared that state laws establishing segregated public schools for Black and White children were unconstitutional. Cosby is referencing Brown v Board of Education in his discussion of the socio-political status of Black Americans today. Cosby claims factors including a degrading culture, lack of good parenting, and lost focus on education, are causing a lack of self efficacy in current and future generations Black Americans

Move 1:
"Ladies and gentlemen, these people set -- they opened the doors, they gave us the right, and today, ladies and gentlemen, in our cities and public schools we have 50% drop out. In our own neighborhood, we have men in prison."

"We cannot blame white people. White people -- White people don’t live over there."

"Brown versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem. We’ve got to take the neighborhood back. We’ve got to go in there."

Cosby is addressing a primarily Black audience and in his speech suspends judgment over White Americans, he points out that Brown v Board of Education (1954) effectively ended school segregation and gave Black Americans equal access to education in America. Cosby puts the burden of proof on Black Americans to improve their own status in society.

Move 2:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic and lower middle economic people are not holding their end in this deal. In the neighborhood that most of us grew up in, parenting is not going on."

"I’m talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was two? Where were you when he was twelve? Where were you when he was eighteen, and how come you don’t know he had a pistol? And where is his father, and why don’t you know where he is? And why doesn’t the father show up to talk to this boy?"

Cosby references a hypothetical case of crime among a Black American youth. Cosby is implicating that a lack of good parenting and also an absence of a good father figure may lead to crime amongst the Black community.

"You can’t land a plane with, “Why you ain’t…” You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. There is no Bible that has that kind of language. Where did these people get the idea that they’re moving ahead on this. Well, they know they’re not; they’re just hanging out in the same place, five or six generations sitting in the projects when you’re just supposed to stay there long enough to get a job and move out."

Cosby is referring to the slang and vernacular speech that is increasingly common within the Black community. Cosby points to this kind of speech as a reason why uneducated Black people are not improving their socio-economic status.

"Brown V. Board of Education -- these people who marched and were hit in the face with rocks and punched in the face to get an education and we got these knuckleheads walking around who don’t want to learn English. I know that you all know it. I just want to get you as angry that you ought to be."

Cosby refers to the generations of Black Americans who rallied and protested for equal opportunities during the Civil Rights Movement. Cosby is implying that contemporary generations of Black Americans, living in a post-Civil Rights Movement society, are largely ignorant of the hardships and struggle the previous generation faced and by not getting an education and furthering the Black Community they are taking their struggle of their fore-fathers for granted.

Move 3:
This speech is a good example of "in-group" discourse, meaning Cosby is a black man speaking to a mostly black audience about issues effecting black people. Under different circumstances, the tone and frankness of his message would most likely be considered racist, say for instance if the same speech was delivered by a white person to a mostly white audience.

Move 4:
Throughout this speech Cosby seems quite emotional and the goal of his speech is also to elicit an emotional response from his audience. Cosby also frequently uses a repetitious pattern. He repeatedly offers examples of common problematic issues and themes and then offers his suggestions to counter these problems.

Move 5:
Did Brown v Board of Education (1954) really give Black Americans equal opportunity for education? or are there still disadvantages?

What would life be like in contemporary Americans society if the ruling on Brown v Board of Education (1954) had gone the other way?