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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- There’s more to the plight of black America than “fatherlessness” and rap music can account for. To be sure, their effects are especially potent and pervasive.
The book is often redundant and, at times, preachy, but when too few black leaders and even less in the media are speaking out, too much medicine is better than none at all.In the case of the former – the absence of the black male in American households and its significance has been ignored in large part until the recent release of “Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors” ($25.99, Amazon.com)
Co-authored by renowned activist and entertainer Bill Cosby and Harvard professor and psychiatrist Alvin F. Poussaint, “Come on People” reads like an instruction manual for the black community to uplift, inspire and reform its neighborhoods, families and, ultimately, its country.
While rightfully taking to task absent fathers and so-called gangsta rap, “Come On People” does not stop there. In Cosby and Poussaint’s talk-show circuit tour promoting their book, however, the Larry Kings and Tim Russerts were all too focused on the easy targets, the accepted faults and the uncontroversial plights in black communities.
Here are a few other topics “Come On People” confronts that the media does not:
- Spare the Rod, Save the Child
The whupping has been a badge of honor among the black community for years. It’s glorified and reminisced in countless comedic sets as a shared black experience. Many blacks recall corporal punishment as a child for bad behavior. Equally common is the contempt they have shared at one point or another at non-black parents who do not respond in kind to their temperamental child in a supermarket or mall. Despite the whuppings, the rate of crime, arrests and convictions in this country by blacks continue to surpass that of every other race. Yes, institutional racism, poverty and a lack of access to the legal system play a part but do not entirely explain the anomaly, else the statistics for black crime would more closely mirror those for Hispanics or other minority groups who are equally poor and face racial barriers as well. “Come On People” presents a reasonable argument to reexamine the whupping practice. For one, beatings send the message to children that violence is a correct way to resolve conflicts, especially in situations where the aggressor is both bigger and stronger than his or her assailant, the authors argue. Plus, beatings neither teach children “why” what they did was wrong, nor do they instruct them in self discipline, since the reason not to commit bad acts is to avoid the switch. So, in environments where corporal punishment is not an option, like the public schools, that restraint on bad behavior is absent. Later in life, whuppings can cause some children to act out, emotionally withdraw or cause a whole host of mental problems, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, Cosby and Poussaint write.
- A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
With more than 46 million Americans without health insurance, numerous cancers and sicknesses go undiagnosed, as do an untold number of mental disorders. In the black community, where large segments of the population are poor, this is especially a problem, and a primary reason why has nothing to do with money or the lack thereof. To this day, there remains a stigma in the black community about mental health services, meaning that even those who have access through private or government programs may refrain from seeking help for themselves or their children because it is perceived as a sign of weakness. After all, Kunta Kinte or Nat Turner never had to see psychiatrists about a depression or schizophrenia after years of torture and abuse by their slave masters. Why should black Americans today? Other issues persist. Some blacks have a historically based mistrust of the medical community and the public school system on over-diagnoses of mental disorders in black youth, which automatically removes temperamental children from traditional classroom settings. In addition to calling out these dilemmas, “Come On People” calls on America to resolve them. Not diagnosing and treating mental disorders, the book points out, can lead to homelessness, homicide and suicide.
“In the past several decades, the suicide rate among young black men has increased more than 100 percent,” according to “Come On People.” Here is another statistic it cites: the suicide rate among the same demographic in the last three decades is approaching the rate for all young males combined. Not until the recent shooting and suicide by 14-year-old Asa Coon in a Cleveland high school had black suicide been an issue in the media. Black homicide certainly has.This last point, though, brings up a major criticism of Cosby and Poussaint’s book, and that is a lack of professional citation. The book is heavy on statistics and figures but with little documentation of what or who those sources are, with the exception of a suggested book list appendix.
It’s almost as if Cosby and Poussaint are telling the reader: Trust us. Sure, that’s fine, to a point. But their misinterpretation of a final scene from rapper Eminem’s film “8 Mile” brings in doubt their authority on other matters like pop culture.
Regardless, one’s past misdeeds should never be an automatic disqualifier or negation of one’s well-intentioned and reasonable arguments.There’s something else that calls into question Cosby’s authority in his book: allegations of him fathering a daughter out of wedlock in the 1970s. Unfortunately, Cosby never addresses this in the book nor in the promotional TV interviews, mainly because none of the journalists asked him about it.
It’s unfortunate that some blacks will by reflex disregard “Come On People” and Cosby’s comments on parenting in light of legitimate questions about the fathering allegations and his alleged illegitimate daughter (who later went to prison for trying to extort him).
Regardless, one’s past misdeeds should never be an automatic disqualifier or negation of one’s well-intentioned and reasonable arguments.
“Come On People” is a brave and honorable effort to constructively criticize, challenge and change the black community. The book is often redundant and, at times, preachy, but when too few black leaders and even less in the media are speaking out, too much medicine is better than none at all.
Dwayne Robinson, a TheSequitur.com assistant managing editor, is a journalist in south Florida.
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