Bill Cosby’s challenge to black people
When Bill Cosby spoke at his induction into the Apollo Theater’s Legends Hall of Fame, he sounded the familiar horn of education and high achievement. Cosby reveled in being alive to witness the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president and first African American commander in chief. Cosby repeatedly evoked the name of Shirley Chisolm, the 70s-era activist who ran for the presidency long before anyone knew that black people could.
“It is my pleasure to stand here today after listening to a dream come true — this president of the United States of America [Barack Obama]. Embrace everything, so that people will no longer have a sad excuse to ask dumb questions about what we can do,” he said forcefully, defiantly and without a trace of humor. “I think never again [should you] doubt any of us just because we keep measuring our people by other people’s standards,” Cosby added during an ovation.
Cosby, of course first caused controversy after making a speech at a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision that struck down segregation in schools. – terry shropshire
