What's unfortunate is that there are many black people who hear what Bill cosby has to say but don't understand or know what he's talking about. It seems like many black people are clueless as to what the thug/hip-hop/ghetto mentality is doing to our community. Hell, maybe they just choose not to see it. I don't know but I agree with Bill.

I agree with Bill. If you want something bad enough, you will get it. That includes success in life physically, mentally and spiritually. The thug/ghetto mentality is an excuse for most people to be lazy. Some youth are ignorant to the oppurtinities laid out before them, a few will educate themselves but most will need mentors to educate them and thats what we as a community lack deeply. There isnt enough mentors within the individual communities. They can get the message out on radio and tv but if there is not someone there to point the youth personally in the right direction they will ignore the positive messages on tv and gravitate to BET.

I wish people would stop saying HIP-HOP. HIP-HOP as music, as culture is something that we do not see on MTV, in the mainstream at all.

The Roots are Hip-Hop. Klashnekoff is Hip-Hop. Jean Grae is Hip-Hop.

What we see today mostly are just a bunch of rapping coons, too stupid or too complacent to care about how much damage their representations are doing the black community. The thug/ghetto mentality was never and is not now what Hip-Hop stands for. Hip-Hop is the direct opposite, it was formed for and by the black community as a means of asserting itself.

I co-sign yappay, thats why i did not include "Hip Hop" in my rant.

I agree yappay. It is so easy to blame hip hop because the bigger issue of lack of education, drug use, violence, and the degredation of women is too broad of a topic to tackle. Plus, it doesn't help the fact that many involved in hip hop are so defensive, which makes people believe hip hop is really that bad.

I understand where Cosby is coming from but to make it seem that these complicated issues will go away so quickly if people just spoke properly and wore clothes that fit makes us appear like simple, invalid children who can't think for ourselves.

Bill Cosby is absolutely right.
Most intellegent people can see that. What he says is just hard to take because he's talking about personal responsibility. He doesn't have to understand music to say that black people are not taking enough responsibilty for our station in life.

It really has little to do with music…music is just another venue black people have used to degrade ourselves. Artists glorifying project life, as if its cool the lack of progress we've made.

Other cultures hear this thug music and see the videos and think that's who we are.

It's embarrassing.

I just don't know why more of the good music doesn't get the air time. There is music out there that intellegently addresses issues without glorifying poverty and pimping.

Popular hip hop only comprises maybe 30% of the total releases in a given year from the entire community of hip hop artists on major and underground labels. When cats roll up to the spot to get at a new drop this year, they'll be lookin' for Lil Wayne, not that new Jaylib cut. Our youth places the vapid hip hop on the forefront, and it is taken to represent an entire genre that has far more depth.

What I find irksome though, is when leaders and elders devote all of their time to blaming hip hop music for the woes of young African descendents in America today. It is an easily assailed issue that has gone from a scapegoat to a dead beaten horse. Our community has so many severe problems. We need to ask why it took something like the Jena 6, to mobilize the African descendent youth of today. We need to ask why society is expeditiously back pedaling to its racist ways (nooses galore) without a second thought.

Our problems go beyond "I don't like that he says bitch and nigga in a song." I respect Cosby and most of these leaders, but they all done fell off. Get off it already. Yes hip hop has a personal responsibility to present itself better, because it isn't just a form of music, it is a culture, that commercially represents our community. For that reason alone, we should be doing our best to present the art as being productive and not destructive. But we gots bigga fish to fry.

As for the use of the N Word, folks done got shit twisted. It's a power struggle. The word is never positive. Never. It just can't be. But it is a word of socialization that is idiosyncratic to our people. So it may not be positive, but amongst ourselves, it isn't necessarily disparaging. What people don't realize, is that it is the only racist term being targeted for all of these bans. Nobody is saying "lets just ban racist/hate speech." They only want to ban the word nigga/nigger.

We are the only oppressed group, to alter the definition of a word, used on us by our oppressers. You don't hear Mexicans saying "whats good my beaner." I've never seen a Jewish guy say "Yo Brian, my kike!" But we do say "Kwame, my nigga! What it is, brother?" And that is where the double standard comes in. We allow ourselves to say it in a socializing fashion, but we still exclude whites from being able to say it.

Personally, I believe that we have angered the white community because of that. It has never happened that way before. All of the oppressor words were taboo for everybody (the oppressed and the oppressor). We some how changed that by saying "okay, the oppressor still can't say it, but for us, it isn't such a taboo." Don't let 'em fool ya. That's why I still use the word to this day. Don't let them rob us again, just because we found some way to get a little power.

But is the definition truly altered if you can still be offended by the word. If it can still be used against you. The idea that white people are angry because they can't use it doesn't fit for me. It can still be used to harm you if somebody who isn't 'your nigger' uses it.

I don't understand picking up the tools of an oppressor with which to define yourself. Don't you think if black people walked around calling themselves 'king', that would be more offensive to people who looked down on us.

I cannot on any level stand by the 'N' word and don't understand why anyone would use it.

Obviously our community has bigger fish to fry and its not all on hip hop. But Bill Cosby and Oprah don't put it all on hip hop either.

Hip hop is the scapegoat because its visible. Kids see it and hear it everyday. And a lot of people don't know anything about black people besides what they see on TV, in videos and on the news — not that that's good…but its the reality.

I don't want T.I. representing me.

Its so crazy because you never see poor W.T. on TV…but you watching poor blacks is entertainment.

Spendi, that may just be 30% of releases but it's probably 95% or more of sales.

I don't agree that bad hip-hop is the problem. The willingness to listen to anyone disrespect you and spew hatred shows a general lack of self-respect. "I like the beat" doesn't nullify the violence, homophobia, sexism and general foolishness. Black people may just watch these things as entertainment but it lowers your standards for what's acceptable. Young white people who are probably the biggest consumers of bad hip-hop listen to this and watch these videos as if they were getting insight into a culture. It's basically The black's Discovery Chanel for them.

Spendi, I feel you about the hip hop state. Thats all up to MTV-Black though, if they would spend more time showing the positive side of hip hop on 106 and park and other shows then maybe we wont see all the degrading forms of hip hop being made anymore. The youth might have a problem at first but the child mind is gullible. If BET would step up and say The Roots, Little Brother, Dead Prez, Mos Def, ect. were the flavor of the year. Kids would follow like lemmings. The mind set would change. BET would take a ratings hit for 6 months if not a year and thats why it will never change.

That is why I never said it is a positive term. And I never said the meaning changed. The meaning has been altered. At least among certain groups. To somebody who is devout in their faith and is a church mouse, it wouldn't be (for the sake of this discussion) offensive to be called a prude. To somebody who views themself as being liberal, being called a prude, would be an insult. Do you get that dichotomy? Or perhaps we can look at it another way. A gun can be used for defense, or for murder. It is a gun in the hands of either, but the intent, drastically alters the view point.

Yes, the definition of the word nigga has been altered enough, if you place yourself within that circle. It is all a very contextual matter. I really can't see it as any other circumstance. A pure power game. That's it. When they start saying "ban hate speech" then i'll be on board 100%. But to tell me, that a word I use, even with my own father, is the only evil word, while all of the others are left alone? That's a lil too suspect for my taste.

As for you, Daria and Houston. I whole heartedly agree with your points. Though, I would like to make note that I already shared that sentiment within my lengthy discourse/diatribe.

"Yes hip hop has a personal responsibility to present itself better, because it isn’t just a form of music, it is a culture, that commercially represents our community. For that reason alone, we should be doing our best to present the art as being productive and not destructive."

So I agree completely. Especially sine as you put it Daria, the culture we display commercially serves "The black's Discovery Channel."

@Dinero - The Roots and Dead Prez are the business! I co-sign!

I love how intelligent and well versed the comments are …except for my run on sentence. =(

I agree with Bill. But I have to admit I get antsy when I hear the word victim used. I've heard so many prejudice people make comments about Black people "playing the victim" that it automatically makes me uneasy.

Scholars emphasize victimhood which always makes me roll my eyes. It's not that it isn't true. It is in part, but calling a person a victim pretty much lowers expectations for them. Survivor implies that you're stronger and you've excelled in spite of your struggles.

A bit off topic but I went to a book reading last week for a new book The Slave Ship (Rediker). I was discussing it afterwards with an African student and she basically stated that African-American people shouldn't be expected to do well because of their history in this country. I didn't want to go into black immigrant mode so I didn't say anything. I regret it. If you don't excel, you're essentially disgracing the legacies of generations of civil rights activists who died for the opportunities that all non-white people in this country enjoy.

Unfortunately, it seems that everything gets labeled as hip-hop now. If you refer to it as hip-hop or rap, either way it's seen as a negative for our community.
The problem I have is when I cut on the radio and listen to the black stations (whom also refer to rap as hip-hop) and the top 40 stations. I often cringe at what is being said in these songs. Maybe I'm getting old or something b/c that raunchy/ghetto stuff just doesn't appeal to me anymore.

I can't stand the rationalization of the term "nigger/nigga", or whatever you wanna call it. People say don't use hip-hop/rap as a scapegoat, yet, rap music/videos was the very medium which POPULARIZED this negative term, and it STILL hasn't been constructive AT ALL. I can
almost document (blow by blow) when this occured. It wasn't during the era of KRS-ONE, PUBLIC ENEMY and SISTER SOULJAH. It started with Tupac, who was probably called a NIGGA while killed by other black men. It was also popularized by Sean Combs and "Biggie", during the era of 95-97, when every single station chucked the variety format and segregated totally into a dominant, watered-down, mindless, rap format. And anyone who decided to resist succumbing to the popular "dumb-down" of African people were referred to as "haters".

After this, began the era of corn-rows (right after Latrell Spreewell and other basketball players wore them). I am a black male in the Bronx (New York), and I find it interesting how the "mixed" Africans (racially and mentally) who are from Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Central America/ South America want to mimick the negative language of irresponsible black idiots—and copy our hairstyles—-yet, they look at you strange when you walk into a predominantely spanish-speaking restaurant/club/barbershop. So the black men who had the opportunity to teach the world about power and self respect, during the era of 94>>98, failed, miserably. They were (and are) too average-minded and concerned about the almighty dollar. Meanwhile, I have to go behind them and clean-up their sterotypes (hence, my trips to Brazil and EGYPT, when an Egyptian asked me "what does nigger" mean?) WHY ARE AFRICANS SO ADDICTED TO SELF-DEGRADATION TO THE POINT OF RATIONALIZATION!!!?? It's like an abused wife making excuses why her husband beats her—-instead of just leaving, altogether!
Abandon that "nigger" mentality. Create new words of power. Manifest a new reality.