Bill Cosby on ebonics

Pablo Sanchez · Post by **Pablo Sanchez** » 2004-05-22 04:49pm

Kamakazie Sith wrote:I look at it more as poor culture, not black culture. Because white, hispanic, black, asian, ect if they come from a poor neighboorhood they all speak the same way.

I would disagree to a point. There is some overlap due to educational failure (contraction confusion of "don't" for "doesn't", use of "ain't," improper use of "seen") but ghetto-speak varies significantly from culture to culture. Hispanic ghetto-dwellers, for example, often speak Spanglish, and a redneck's speech patterns are instantly distinguishable from a gangsta's.

Perinquus · Post by **Perinquus** » 2004-05-22 07:12pm

When Cosby finally concluded, Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert, NAACP President Kweisi Mfume and NAACP legal defense fund head Theodore Shaw came to the podium looking stone-faced. Shaw told the crowd that most people on welfare are not African-American, and many of the problems his organization has addressed in the black community were not self-inflicted.

I love this. No surprise that Swygert, Mfume, and Shaw were stone faced. Bill Cosby - famous, wealthy, respected Bill Cosby - was telling people exactly the opposite of what these three and other race hustlers have been telling them for decades - that many poor blacks are engaging in self destructive, or at least self defeating behavior, and therefore must shoulder some of the blame for their continuing poverty. Race hustlers keep hold of their power and influence by convincing many blacks that the deck is stacked against them, and the only way they can succeed is to have these black leaders and their groups to work and lobby and agitate for them. If men like Cosby ever manage to convince blacks that their best course is to take personal responsibility for their own success or failure, it will undercut the influence of these black leaders.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2004-05-22 07:59pm

Hamel wrote:
WTF are you talking about?

Jackasses who roll around with Confederate Battle Flag decals on their cars. Something I hate. I've always seen CBFs wearers/displayers as people who are celebrating high treason.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-05-22 10:25pm

I've seen cars bearing bumper stickers that have an X'ed out Confederate flag bearing the caption, "YOU LOST. GET OVER IT."

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2004-05-22 10:29pm

I used to have one of those.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2004-05-22 10:36pm

I used to exchange letters on tape with a girl from Kent who told me my accent was "quite cultured" for an American. I grew up in a Latino majority city, and when I graduated, my high school was 96% Latino.

Being here all these years, I've noticed SINCE high school, that my diction has become atrocious. A lot of it has to do with learning to speak broken English to converse with spanish, middle eastern, and asian customers on a daily basis.

The other factor is actually being harassed when speaking English properly! Surrounded by people who call you "professor" for saying "may I" instead of "can I", or using words with more than on syllable can do that to you!

Yes, even my spelling has suffered!

Saurencaerthai · Post by **Saurencaerthai** » 2004-05-22 11:09pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:Good for Bill Cosby. It's about time famous people started complaining about shit like Ebonics.

If I recall, Spike Lee had a rant on this.

Raptor 597 · Post by **Raptor 597** » 2004-05-23 12:26am

Thinkmarble wrote:
Galvatron wrote: White people do it too though. They embrace their redneck bullshit like it's part of their cultural heritage.
Case in point: George W. Bush

Sometimes I wonder where this antiintellectualism in american culture comes from.

It's really simple man. Southern rural people and Southerns in general have three options: run like shit away from their getting as many degrees as you can along the way, the watered down choice of this is still get an degree but return to become suburban shitheads with alittle cash and fucked up kids, or stay and be a hick like your daddy. At option one you're an evil intellectual city boy now. Option two you flaunt your money infront of hicks but are still jealous of the first road. in option three you vote Republican and are extremely jealous of the intellectuals thus causing the baacklash and Bush II's beloved culture.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-05-23 12:57am

Saurencaerthai wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:Good for Bill Cosby. It's about time famous people started complaining about shit like Ebonics.
If I recall, Spike Lee had a rant on this.

Like to hear that too.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2004-05-23 11:16am

Lord Poe wrote:Being here all these years, I've noticed SINCE high school, that my diction has become atrocious. A lot of it has to do with learning to speak broken English to converse with spanish, middle eastern, and asian customers on a daily basis.

"That gibberish he talked was city speak, gutter talk. A mishmash of Japanese, Spanish, German, what have you. I didn't really need a translator. I knew the lingo; every good cop did."

Wayne's a Blade Runner!