MILWAUKEE -- Comedian Bill Cosby won cheers as he carried a serious message
to the city's black community Wednesday night, urging parents to take up the responsibility
of educating and raising their children.
"It is not all right for your 15-year-old daughter to have a child," Cosby
said. "... I'm 67 years old. I'm not talking to you any different from a grandfather
who would say, `I wouldn't do that if I were you."'
Cosby was warmly received by a crowd of about 2,400 people at North Division High
School in Milwaukee's inner city.
He said he decided to come after speaking with Eugene Kane, columnist for the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, and learning about the city's high rate of high school dropouts,
its high teen pregnancy rate and its murder rate.
Cosby has become known for talking tough about problems of blacks and challenging
parents to be more accountable for their children. He made headlines in May when,
during a commemoration of the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board
of Education desegregation decision, he criticized some blacks of squandering opportunities
the civil rights movement gave them.
Kane was critical of Cosby's comments before he attended a community rally Cosby
held in Newark, N.J., praised the event.
Cosby then told Kane he would come to Milwaukee after reading stories on the impact
of welfare reform, poverty in the city and how a group of youths attacked and killed
a man.
Wednesday night, he asked parents to talk with their children, spend time with them
and encourage them to study hard and prevent teen pregnancy. He said parents shouldn't
leave the responsibility of raising their children to television and CDs.
"These are your children. You're supposed to raise them," he said.
Cosby said children raised without love or knowing their parents often have anger
in them, which leads to more crimes in the streets. He mentioned beating incidents
in Milwaukee that have drawn extensive news coverage.
In the most recent mob beating, a group of teens beat up a 48-year-old man and pushed
him in front of a bus, leaving him severely injured.
"These things need to be addressed," he said. "The school system
needs to change."
He asked women to respect themselves and take measures to prevent AIDS, the No.
1 killer of black women.
"I want you women to be stronger than that. I want you women to demand a health
report," he said.
He told the crowd that previous generations fought for their civil rights, and the
current generation should carry on by respecting themselves and working to improve
their lives.
"How can you just allow yourself to slip inside and say 'The Lord will find
a way'? I talked to Jesus the other day. Jesus said he's tired of you."
Cosby encouraged people to vote, saying it's a right people cannot be stripped of
even if they are poor.
He criticized news media for doing a poor job covering the black community.
"We are a beautiful race of people with potential," he said. "We
have number one position in everything. Media leaves us out.
"I'm not saying that's the reason 75 percent of people drop out of school.
I'm just saying they did leave us out."
He spoke for about an hour and also answered some questions.
Tiffany Jenkins, 15, an honor roll student at Vincent High School, asked Cosby for
advice of choosing a college and becoming a successful professional.
Cosby told her about the advantages of going to historically black colleges.
"Let me tell you something about these colleges, young lady.
The president will know you by name," he said. He also encouraged Jenkins to
work hard for good grades so that she could get scholarships to help pay for her
education.
"You are worth an awful lot of money when you study," he said.
Jenkins said she was inspired by Cosby.
"I was looking for what advice he had to make me successful, and he answered
my question," she said. "I learned to stay on track."
Liioness Gwendolyn Barnett of Milwaukee said she was glad she took her two children
to the event. But she said the issues Cosby addressed exist across the borders of
races.
"The same stuff that's happening to black youth is happening to all youth,"
she said.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett worked with the Metropolitan Milwaukee Alliance of Black
School Educators and the Wisconsin Black Media Association to arrange Cosby's appearance.
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