Was Bill Cosby Right?

Larva Pham

Bill Cosby has been inducted into the NAACP Image Hall of Fame, in which he
delivered a speech during an NAACP awards ceremony in Washington, DC on May 17, 2004.
This speech was an address on the NAACP on the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of
Education, which was called The Pound Cake. The purpose for this speech was to persuade
how in the black community, parenting was not done right, and education did not play a major
role in the childrens lives. The Brown v. Board of Education was meant to integrate black
children into white schools; if these black children werent going to school, then what was the
point of the case? In his speech, Cosby effectively used all three rhetorical appeals to convey his
ideas about the black community, and how parenting needs to be stricter on children.
Bill Cosby has many examples of ethos, such as being inducted into the NAACP Image
Hall of Fame; therefore, hes an example of a credible person. Hes also an actor, comedian, and
producer. People might remember him from The Cosby Show or I Spy. Hes known as one
of the top names in comedy. Throughout his years, he has won many awards. During the NAACP
ceremony, he had received an award for Outstanding Performance in a Youth or Children's
Series/Special for "Little Bill. Towards the end of his speech, he said, So, ladies and
gentlemen, I want to thank you for the award... This shows that he is well respected, and people
will listen to what he has to say, which is talking about the flaws of the black community.
Cosby used numerous examples of pathos to stir up the emotions of the black community
stating facts about how their children are not taking advantage of going to school. He elaborated
on how children speak by saying, You cant land a plane with why you aint You cant be a

doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. Kids pick up slangs from their parents,
and Cosby blamed their parents for the way they talk now-a-days. He described these kids as
knuckleheads because they dont know the importance of speaking English. Since his audience
was majority of African Americans, these examples grasp their attention. He basically called
them out for not caring enough for their children to get an education. And for any parent that
had lived through the struggle of going to school, most of them would want their children to
live the life they never had.
In addition to bashing the black community, Cosby used pathos to talk about how parents
cry when their sons are in jail, Where were you when he was two Where were you when he
was eighteen, and how come you dont know he had a pistol? He successfully got his point
across of parenting not done right. He was questioning the parents about their presence in their
childrens lives and how they shouldnt be crying when they see their son in an orange suit for
some crime they had committed. This affected many parents because they dont ever want to see
their kids in jail. But when their kids arent parented right and they end up going to jail,
everybody wants to cry and make a scene yelling, He doesnt deserve this punishment!
To enhance his purpose of telling parents how to raise their children, Cosby used logos to
constantly remind them that there are 50% dropouts in cities populated with African
Americans. He revealed that teens are going to jail, and girls are getting pregnant by multiple
men. Again, Cosby is blaming parents for not teaching their children love and respect. Thats the
reason why the percentage rate of dropouts is 50%. Cosby also recognized the people during the
Brown v. Board of Education case -- these people who marched and were hit in the face with
rocks and punched in the face to get an education, and we got these knuckleheads walking
around who dont want to learn English. They fought for school segregation, but the kids are

not using that opportunity to even go to school. At one point, African Americans werent allowed
to learn English, and now in the 21st century, they dont want to learn English.
Though Cosby used many pathos, he couldve used more logos. The way he talks about
teens dropping out and getting pregnant, he shouldve added statistics to intensify his purpose.
This would then infuriate the audience by having them more concerned of their childrens life
and education. They would start realizing that they need to make a change for the future
generations. This would then justify that the past generations who fought against the school
board, did it for nothing if no one was going to school.
With his intentions, Cosby evoked the audience by making them angry. John Stokes told
CBN News, "And once he made the statement, individuals showed quite a bit of discomfort. I
got up and clapped." Many people began to criticize instead of applauding for him. According to
Los Angeles Times, As the Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote in a 2008 piece on Cosby's "black
conservatism," the speech sparked a heated debate within the black community This shows
that Cosbys speech affected the black communitys emotions by speaking the truth of what is
now happening in this generation. And till this day, people are still using his speech as a
reference of todays community.
Overall, this speech had impacted many African Americans view on their communities.
Along with Cobys rhetorical appeals to stir up the audiences emotions, he conveyed to them
that people are failing to be good parents, and they are also failing in investing their time in their
childrens education.