I actually saw these comments last night and I couldn't help but think of how STUPID this thread is. I'll just post a part of the transcript so that anyone who cares can see my point.
And here's the Cosby quote in actual context.
quote:
PHILIP BENNETT:
Thank you, Drew. Good morning, everyone. A few months back, my colleague Kevin Merida, who is here and who supervised this project, came to me with an idea to illustrate the first story in this series. "Call up Colin Powell," he said, "Gilda Durenis
[ph], the rapper Inkwell and other local luminaries, an executive, a pastor, a NASA engineer. Call them up out of the blue and ask them to show up for a group portrait at a D.C. elementary school for a project that was going to be called, ˜Being a Black Man.'" I think my response was something like, "Uh huh." Well, here is the picture that resulted from that gathering. The people in the picture got what this was about and readers have gotten it, too. Today, I think that gathering in May was in a sense a prelude to the gathering we have here today. It goes to the heart of this project – to bring together diverse views and experiences, to look in a new way at a common set of difficult issues. What does it mean to be a Black man? This was the question that inspired the early discussions at The Post that resulted in this project. Journalists love great questions, and I think there was an urgency and an exciting sense of possibility attached to answering this one. Part of the urgency came from an awareness that the news media, especially a great newspaper with outstanding journalists in a capital city with a large African American population, faced the challenge to do justice to the variety and depth of experience of people of color, to take on the hardest issues facing our communities in a series and systematic way. Almost 40 years have passed since the Kerner Commission concluded on matters of race the communications media ironically have failed to communicate. A lot has changed since then, but it's still a challenge that resonates. What does it mean to be a Black man? Our reporting, including the result of the survey conducted with the Kaiser Foundation and Harvard University, shows that many Black men live with contradictions of opportunity and limitations, of hopefulness and despair, in a place where things generally seem good, but can and do get bad in a heartbeat. We've tried to move from the data to the actual experience of Black men living in the Washington area, through a series of narratives about individual lives. For Mark Yarborough, a 45-year-old contracting specialist for the Army, being a Black man means, in part, trying to prepare his 9-year-old son, Marcus, for the day when he will walk in the world as a Black man. "I call this his day of reckoning," Mark said. "I don't know when it's coming, but it's coming. I want him to be ready." For Eric Motley, a 33-year-old Bush administration official, being a Black man meant, in part, charting his own course from his high-achieving Black community in Montgomery, Alabama, a stronghold for Democrats, to the largely White world of Republican politics. "I'm tired of that word ˜sellout,'" he told Will Haygood. For Jachin Leatherman and Wayne Nesbit, the valedictorian and salutatorian at Ballou High School, who are here with us today, being Black men meant making a path to make a difference, in their own lives and in others'. Pherlius Fishern IV
[ph], a hairdresser who spent weeks in jail because no officials in the criminal justice system would perform the simple check to verify that, as he was trying to tell them, they had arrested the wrong man, being a Black man meant, in part, that losing your identity could mean losing your life. These are the stories that we've told so far and the outpouring and response from readers and thousands of messages has been like few things I've seen in my career. We have more stories to come, and we're discovering new insights. This is a work in progress. We, as journalists, are looking to this morning's session to advance that work. Thanks.
[Applause]
DREW E. ALTMAN, PhD:
Phil, thank you very much. I think The Post deserves a lot of credit for this project. My job is to say a few things about the survey in just a couple of minutes, so let me start with, why did we do this? Well, we did this survey, all of us together – Post, Kaiser, Harvard – we did it for three reasons. First of all, there was, of course, a research purpose to bring new data to the national discussion about this issue. I think we've done that. You have a summary of all the findings – I'm not going to go through them before this forum – in your chart pack. I think it punctures a lot of myths, a lot of stereotypes, and I think that's a contribution. Secondly, there was definitely a journalistic purpose behind this survey, to use the survey results as a springboard, if you will, for the remarkable stories you see in the series in The Post to provide facts and context for the storytelling in The Post and then, for me, there was the most important purpose of all, to give voice, through the survey, to Black men themselves and especially to young Black men in the national discussion and debate about them, just as we will do today through the makeup of this panel. So, what did they say in this survey? This is not a research conference and I just today want to very quickly highlight a few things. And the first one is this: public stereotypes notwithstanding, young Black men do not equal troubled young Black men. Those are not the same things, and I will spare you the data completely. But what they show is that, while young Black men do face challenges, and they definitely have to worry about things that their White counterparts don't worry about, because of the history of our country and deep underlying issues like racism in our country, most young Black men are doing pretty well, they're feeling pretty good about their lives, they're optimistic about their futures. I'm not sure that that's the general picture that most Americans have in their heads about young Black men in America. So, that's the first point. The second point, the smaller – but I would add, emphatically, by no means small; it's not small at all – group of troubled young Black men. They have all the problems that you know about, from drugs to crime to children out of wedlock, to violence in their lives, but their stories are not simple, they don't all move in one direction, just "bad," as many people think, they're not without hope, so let me just show you one chart about that, if this will come up – which it won't. There we – let's try again. Um-hum. Great. Let's go back. I do want to show you
[inaudible] violence. I'm good now? You promise? Okay. Thank you. These are young Black men with problems, the kinds of problems a big chunk of young Black men, but not the majority, with the kinds of problems you're familiar with – been in prison, problem with alcohol, drugs and other problems. But, look, 86 percent say being successful and a career is very important to them; 83 percent are mostly optimistic about their future. A big percentage prays at least once a day. Only 10 percent feel hopeless a lot of the time. Since this forum is entitled, "Paths to Success," I thought I'd emphasis the results in this survey that show there's something to build on, even for troubled young men. And, finally, just in these brief, selective highlights from this survey, what does this survey say about where solutions may lie? When I was Human Services Commissioner – this was some time ago – in the state of New Jersey, I was in Cumberland County, New Jersey, which I'm sure most of you have never heard of. It's in the far southwestern corner of New Jersey. It's actually below the Mason-Dixon line, and it's actually the most troubled part of New Jersey, by the statistics about problems, worse than Camden and even worse than Newark, and I was implementing my biggest initiative, which was a school-based services initiative – 90 school-based services sites across the state – and I was meeting with young people, and I was being the technocrat. So, I was asking them, "What's the most important service to put in these school-based services sites? Do you need medical care? Do you need mental health services? Do you need counseling? Do you want a pool table? Do you want midnight basketball? What is it?" And I'll never forget this young man looked up at me, and he said, rightly, "Commissioner, you just don't get it at all. It's not this or that service; what we need is somebody we can talk to whom we trust." And what it really said to me is there's no single magic answer, there's no single intervention that will unlock the hearts and minds of every troubled young man or woman, and there isn't one in this survey, either. But there were two things that jumped out as important when we asked the question, "What variables, or what factors, in this survey are the strongest predictors of avoiding problems and doing better in life?" And that's the last thing I want to show you here, avoiding problems. What were the strongest predictors? And the winners in this survey were "staying in school," and the longer the better so, graduating from high school was more powerful than some high school or college more powerful than high school, and having hope for the future. Hopelessness was a big enemy and, obviously, no single way to defeat hopelessness. With those highlights we're ready to turn the program over to Professor Ogletree. I know he needs littleintroduction to this audience. I'm just going to say that he's, as you know, a distinguished professor of law at Harvard University, he is a distinguished scholar and author. He also, by the way, has strong roots in this community, having served in the D.C. public defender's office where, by the way, his daughter works today as chair of the board of U.D.C., he's a vital member of our board of trustees, whom our chair of our board, Sheila Burke, who's sitting right here, and I rely on tremendously, and he has a special status I didn't think could be achieved: he's at least as fervent a Boston Red Sox fan as I am. We begin with a short video produced by The Post as part of their multimedia series and then, with no further intervention from me, Professor Ogletree, and a man who needs absolutely no introduction to this group, our expert guest of honor, Dr. Cosby. Thank you very much.
PROFESSOR CHARLES J. OGLETREE, JR, JD:
Black men of D.C. What does it mean to be a Black man?
MALE SPEAKER:
What does it mean to be a Black man? What it means to be a Black man...
MALE SPEAKER:
What does it mean to be a Black man?
PROFESSOR CHARLES J. OGLETREE, JR, JD:
Is there racism in the world? Sure. But it doesn't have to begin your stumbling block.
MALE SPEAKER:
Difficult to be a Black man in America now.
PROFESSOR CHARLES J. OGLETREE, JR, JD:
To be a Black man is to know that your history has been totally transformed. At one time you could be sold for less than $50. Now, you can do anything that anyone else can do.
MALE SPEAKER:
With good training, perseverance, and, certainly, in my view as a reverend, depending on Jesus Christ, you can accomplish whatever you'd like.
MALE SPEAKER:
The struggle. You know, you're out here on the streets like I am, you know, you need somebody to try to help you, so you can be able to survive.
MALE SPEAKER:
It is an unfortunate aspect of my job and many of the people I take care of are Black.
MALE SPEAKER:
We're playing basketball and the police come over and
[inaudible] some arrests. It's hard being a Black man in D.C.; a whole lot of discrimination is going on.
MALE SPEAKER:
A man is a male who is honest, reliable, as well as self-reliable. And he assumes responsibility, not only for his own actions, but for the actions of those persons he is responsible for.
MALE SPEAKER:
Blacks in America should never forget, we've got nothing out of this country that we didn't fight for.
MALE SPEAKER:
[inaudible] still smoking .45 and begins to cry
[inaudible] looks in some eye, brown lifeless eyes, dialing 911 but it's too late, I'm already drifting towards Heaven and that's when I view my funeral
[inaudible] my mom screams through the top of her lungs, "Don't you see? You're killing each other! Over what?"
MALE SPEAKER:
You know, I think I've done a tremendous amount and I think I've been an incredible role model as an African American leader.
MALE SPEAKER:
We have our advantages, you know? The women love us – all races. They love us, because we're beautiful.
MALE SPEAKER:
Well, I actually think I'm a better role model than some quarterback having sex on a lake in front of some kids, quite frankly.
MALE SPEAKER:
Well, you have to be extra strong.
MALE SPEAKER:
I think the obligation that I have, particularly as a Black man, but also as a Black physician, is to help the system recognize that these young Black men that we're referring to who are victims of violence are people, and they live life just like everyone else does.
MALE SPEAKER:
I can show people that I can make it in the world and that we are all part of the people and that we shouldn't hold grudges against nobody.
MALE SPEAKER:
Self-empowerment.
MALE SPEAKER:
Actually, I define myself as being a person who – well, there's no question about it; I am colored, or Black, or Negro, something that I'll be the rest of my life.
MALE SPEAKER:
Unless you've been baptized by fire, I mean, you're not going to get the fire. You can't lead where you won't go. You can't teach what you don't know.
MALE SPEAKER:
But, at the same time, to be a Black man is a wonderful thing. It's a wonderful thing; it's not always a struggle. Sometimes it's a good thing, too. You know what I'm saying? The women, the people you meet, the history that we have and the future that we got. You know what I'm saying?
MALE SPEAKER:
All you see is Black men provoking crime in my area, especially. So, I feel like I'm a role model for the young kids, show that there's positive leaders out here, you know.
MALE SPEAKER:
Anyone who has the potential of being treated as a second-class or sub-citizen, we should be their ally, based on our history.
MALE SPEAKER:
I do believe that there are some who are, in defining themselves, like to think of themselves as not being Black.
MALE SPEAKER:
When it's asked to me, "What does it mean to be a Black man? What does it mean to be a Black gay man?" It means for me to embrace fully who I am.
MALE SPEAKER:
And that's something that you can't afford wherever you go, whatever you do, how high you go, you are that.
MALE SPEAKER:
Most of the time, when I find people angry with me, what they're really saying is, "How dare you to live so boldly?"
MALE SPEAKER:
And you know, growing up, well, now, when being Black wasn't positive; that wasn't much of a compliment, maybe I cringe a little bit still when I'm referred to as a "Black," but I'm learning to live with it.
MALE SPEAKER:
Dr. Cosby, thank you for joining us today. I wanted to first say thank you to you and Camille Cosby for what you have done.
WILLIAM H. COSBY, JR., Ed.D.:
Now you've saved the day.
MALE SPEAKER:
Absolutely. Well, because what we do know is that for decades the two of you have publicly and privately given millions and millions of dollars to address these issues. You haven't run for political office yet. You haven't announced that you're trying to be a national spokesperson but, two years ago, at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Brown, you stood up to say there is a problem in our community, and we need to address it. And here we are at this forum today talking about Black men, and it's hard even to find a Black man, but your sense about what do we have to do, what's your sense about what we have to do as a large community, to address the problems of Black men, plural?
WILLIAM H. COSBY, JR., Ed.D:
This is going to be very quick. It's the way I like it. The Washington Post ran a clip and then they edited it, and then they showed us – somebody did – of what they wanted us to see these men saying, defining what is a Black man? Unless I missed it, I heard not one Black man say anything about being a father. I heard not one Black man say, "My responsibility..." – not, not – they just didn't say – I heard one fellow say, "I am this and I feel that I am an example of ...," but the family and the structure of it, not one edited version of these people with a camera on a drive-by. I'm looking to media – and I don't like media. I don't like people who see and can't tell the truth. I don't like people who talk about Jesus and misunderstand the contract between the human being and God. If we are Christian we believe in it – I'm not saying one's better than the other – but our contract was – and is – to look after the garden. This is God's garden. It doesn't say – just because it says, "The Lord will find a way," it doesn't mean for you to sit there and wait for Jesus to come and cut your grass. The Lord gave me strength to continue to stay afloat until help came for survival, etcetera, etcetera. I'm talking about that film. I'm talking about the newspaper. I'm talking about things called "statistics," where a man tells me, "Actually, it's not as bad as it is." I don't want to hear that shit. I want to hear that one death caused by somebody with an AK-somethingdy-something, "How did he get it? He's got no place to practice. He aims at you and shoots and hits homes." You understand me?
MALE SPEAKER:
Indeed.
WILLIAM H. COSBY, JR., Ed.D:
I'm not interested in his statistics telling me things are not as bad as they seem; they're horrible. They're horrible. You're going to hear from this panel – and these people are not drive-by people trying to define something. These are people who are helping. And they have their own numbers. They have their own jobs and they have their own wants. All I know is, Doctor, when I was in Newark, and a woman stood up to speak to somebody from the school council of
[inaudible] – and these are people of my color – this still is a problem. People like this. We used to be able to vote this way, and know that that was protection against this color. No, no. They're in cahoots and they dislike us as much. And these school people who keep coming back and saying, "Well, we just had a meeting. We just went out on a summit. We went someplace and we're going to put this out." It should have been out. Things should have been out. I don't know when it was that Jesse Jackson said to me, "Babies having babies." When he said it, it should have been out and action should have started – immediately. Us. It's on us. Congresswoman Holmes Norton said, "People give money, but that has to do with the money giving. We still have to behave with it." How true. There was a meeting – and I'm finishing up now – a gentleman who
[inaudible] Arthur Ashe
[inaudible] was at Harvard. We flew in. He wanted to start a school, a private school, for African American kids, brilliant people, and he was talking about this school. So, one of the people he had invited was a gentleman who had run the Harlem School of something-something. I remember doing two benefits for them because they had run out of money and they needed money. We do the benefit, put some money in, and then they came back again. "We've run out of money again." This is Black people. "We've run out of money again." We did another benefit and then the thing closed. So, I said to the gentleman, "Well, here's a gentleman who's had experience running this kind of thing. What happened?" And this Black man said the following – and he felt very comfortable because he's sitting around the table with Black people. He said, "They gave us a million dollars and didn't tell us what to do with it." And I said to him, "Why did you take the money? Did you think you were really stealing and taking something from them? You can't do this. This is not a time to play." I hear, and I have met people crying about what's happening. And no solution yet. They were just crying because people like the ones on this panel were actually moving to do something about it, were saying things. You see what I'm saying? I'm not interested in some jagumbooms who want to write in their newspaper that I said they're a bunch of knuckleheads and I said that they're cursing, and I said – and then the next thing you know there's a whole fire going out, when the newspaper never did print that I said our children are trying to tell us something and we're not listening. See, that newspaper – The Washington Post – didn't print that, because it would have been too much information. It would have taken away the crap that they were trying to start. Well, good. Because you can stay as angry as you want with me. I am saying what I feel, what elders are saying. People who can't speak, who are too old and too scared, too diabetic, too high blood-pressured, young babies born – I don't care what the statistics say; a Black child in the hospital – there's two words: disadvantaged and the other one? What? No. Disadvantaged and? Poor. Yes. Black. That's what they see. People see that. And if you dress differently, I don't care what these statistics say. You put on a suit and a tie and you're 18 years old and you get on a bus and if you're over six feet tall, some White person is gonna say, "You play basketball?" I don't care about these damn statistics, man. I'm tired of this "drive-by" crap. We need to talk to the human beings here – and I know about five or six of them. When you hear them talk, they have a passion, and they're for real, Doctor. And they will tell you that a junkie and her 8-year-old son are not statistics. It's a real happening. They will tell you that anyplace in this audience some of these people have cousins, nephews, shooting up. You understand? It's not a statistic to them. That's Arthur. And we can't let Arthur in our house, because Arthur will steal our money. Doesn't have anything to do with who's Black. Yeah, there are White people doing the same thing. But this is kinda shammy. Harvard does a study – beautiful. But I'm talking about who's on there? What? Get something done. We need bodies on these young men, bodies on them. Bodies are on every successful – and they even put bodies on themselves, when you hear the young men from S.O.S. speak.
So you can easily see that Cosby was not referring to the series of stories in the Post, but the videos which he was watching at the event itself.
What's the matter? The WP isn't reporting things THE WAY YOU AND COSBY want them to? 
Huh? 
Go Blake! It's your birthday! and beat that pinatta full of STRAW!! Get that birthday candy, man! 
Mike Dyson = Black Man
"I don't want to hear that shit."
