Editorial

The blame game

A common practice among young children is to blame someone else for their own misbehavior. When that practice survives into adulthood, the consequences are unappealing. Mature adults are expected to be responsible to a great extent for their own destiny.

This was not possible during slavery and the Jim Crow era. Oppression was so severe that blacks lacked the freedom to achieve educational, financial or professional success. However, the efforts of black elders and fair-minded whites ended rank racial discrimination.

Unfortunately, there still exists some form of religious, racial or ethnic discrimination in almost every society. That seems to be part of human nature. It is the responsibility of every group to develop the ability to overcome those barriers. That can happen only with discipline and a commitment to success.

There seems to be no general strategy for success among African Americans. Sole reliance on the strategies of the civil rights movement is not working. It is time for African Americans to assume responsibility for their own personal success, and to develop a group ethos that encourages achievement. There is no one else to blame for failure.

"Come On People"

In their book “Come On People,” Bill Cosby and Dr. Alvin Poussaint have set a new agenda for black leadership. African Americans can expect that this new approach will be challenged by spokesmen under the age of 50 and those who thrive on their ability to strike a responsive chord among the black masses by harping on the racial abuses so common during the civil rights era.

Nonetheless, opponents will have to explain why homicide is “the number one cause of death for black men between 15 and 29 years of age,” and why 94 percent of all black murder victims are killed by other black people.

The authors also ask why there are more black people than white in prison today, when in 1950, there were twice as many whites as blacks? Why do fewer than two out of every six black children now live in two-parents homes, when in 1950, the number was five out of six?

No one can reasonably assert that race relations now are worse than they were before Brown v. Board of Education, or before passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Cosby and Poussaint boldly assert that something is amiss in black society. Their thesis is that the culture of victimhood has destroyed the desire of blacks to achieve.

Cosby has a Ph.D. in education and Poussaint, M.D., is a celebrated child psychologist. As expected, therefore, the focus of their solution to the problem is for blacks to become more attentive parents, as they were in the 1940s and 1950s. The book then becomes “Parenting 101,” focusing on teaching parents how to raise children to become victors rather than victims.

Suggestions for parents include: Avoid corporal punishment for discipline; provide a healthy diet; inspire children for success; reinforce Standard English; avoid gangster rap; teach self respect and respect for elders; limit TV viewing; and protect and love the young ones.

To many of the older generation, these topics seem obvious. But to the young parent who has not seen a good example of effective child rearing, “Come On People” will be a revelation. The successful future of African Americans depends upon young parents heeding the call of Cosby and Poussaint to raise their children to be victors.