Preview

Pound Cake Speech

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1303 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Pound Cake Speech
Pound Cake Speech
In 2004 the coined “Pound Cake” speech by Bill Cosby at the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education Supreme Court Decision shocked all of America, mainly the black community. In the speech, Bill Cosby States that the state of the black community is deteriorating, comparing his upbringing to the upbringing of children now implying that crime is running rampant in black America. According to him, parents now do not keep a watchful eye on their children comparing to his days as a youth when parents knew where, what, why, when, and how their children were doing whatever they were doing. While the speech was eye opening, it offered no feasible solution to correct the problems facing today’s black society, Bill Cosby was merely pointing out the obvious. Bill Cosby delivered the speech with only a style that he could have, with a few laughs but not taking away from the seriousness of the dire state of a lot of black communities. Bill Cosby states during his Pound Cake Speech are that parents need to be held accountable in African American communities. This is true, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (http://www.ojjdp.gov) has alarming numbers for black juveniles when compared to white juveniles ages 10-17. From 1980 to 2009, Asians, American Indians, and whites have all seen a averaged crime decline of 30 percent while African American juveniles had a 7 percent increase during this time frame. Cnn.com reported that nearly 72 percent of black women compared to 22 percent of white women have children out of wedlock. This is something that has to change. Both parents are essential to a child’s upbringing. There are two distinct methods of parenting that a mother and father together can offer. Education.com reports that children without a father in the home are five times likely to be poor and 7.8 percent of children in married couple families were living in poverty which often leads to crime.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Trayvon Martin Article

    • 1161 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dr. Brown’s article “Requiem for Trayvon Martin: When Will America Stop Destroying the Lives of Black Boys” moved me as I was thoroughly reading it. I felt a sense of anger and disbelief running through my mind without realizing till I finished. The anger came from the verdict of Trayvon Martin’s case against George Zimmerman. And the disbelief came from the fact that white people tried to justify George Zimmerman’s actions by stating that historically black men are violent creatures so you can never be “too careful”. The main argument of the article is that blacks are arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced more harshly than whites, for similar criminal offenses. It still amazes me how the skin color you are born with can ultimately define your life, lifestyle, or whether you deserve to die or not.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Brown Bag Speech

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” I chose to put this quote on my paper bag because it is a quote that I believe everyone should live by, and it is also my life’s motto. I also chose to decorate this bag with fall leafs for two reasons. One, because fall begins on September 22nd, and two, fall is one of my favorite seasons. Now I will show you a few things that both describe me and are most important to me.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Fathers' records proposed that numerous fathers felt tested by the beliefs connected to parenting roles, a test that was aggravated by their own particular reserved formal proficiency limits and, their yearning to encourage their children's early educational development. Fathers' opinions about their children's instructive achievement and future possible outcomes were undecided, frequently suggesting their practices, and some of the time were unpredictable with their self-impression of encouraging children's education accomplishment. The researches Gadsden, Vivian and Aisha remind us that low-salary African American fathers are a diverse crowd, not just in their education abilities, proficiency involvements, education planning, and standards…

    • 131 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ab Psychology Assignment

    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages

    It is characterized by dedication and loyalty. In the African American community, family is a fundamental part of our culture. All mothers want to self-identify as a “good mother,” no matter what the reality may be. Identifying oneself as a “good mother” may be especially important among low-income women with low educational attainment who have limited long-term economic prospects (Edin & Kefalas, 2005). Mothers who undergo child protective service (CPS) investigations have this identity called into question and may wrestle with the profound stigma as a result (Scholte et al., 1999). Goffman (1963) describes such stigma as “a process by which the reaction of others spoils normal identity.” When neglectful mothers' children are removed from their care, the rebuff of their “good mother” status becomes public, resulting in what Goffman calls a “spoiled identity.” CPS caseworkers label mothers neglectful (Sykes,…

    • 1619 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Life has many determining factors and Beverly Daniel Tatum’s perspective in Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria reveals the realization about an individual’s identity, which formulates where we are positioned in society. Tatum shares her experiences based upon specific studies and what she observed in her son’s life. The basis for this paper is to express to those I grew up around that I became the person I am because of my past. The topics discussed in this paper will be both Tatum’s and my cultural background, the roles and responsibilities in our family’s social structure, the typical stereotypes that directed our educational path, and the gender role that stationed us where we…

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Boston's Busing Crisis

    • 4025 Words
    • 17 Pages

    It is difficult to chart the stages of this urban earthquake or distinguish its aftershocks. But the initial tremors began when the U.S. Supreme Court released its ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education (1954). In Brown, Chief Justice Earl Warren claimed that segregation is psychologically harmful to black children and implied that all-black classrooms are inherently inferior. Warren’s ambiguous opinion allowed lower courts and lawmakers to infer that stopping segregation was not enough, but that social justice depended upon integrating the races in school, at whatever cost to neighborhoods and to children, black and white.…

    • 4025 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Race, Ethnicity, and Parenting Styles." Points & Counterpoints: Controversial Relationship and Family Issues in the 21st Century. Los Angeles: Roxbury Company, 2003.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Big Fat Year Speech

    • 66 Words
    • 1 Page

    Look back and laugh with a year in review of hilarious proportions at the 24th annual Big Fat Year-End Kiss Off Comedy Show. 2016 will be mercilessly roasted, mocked and taunted in this night of stand-up, sketches and improvisation. Political satirists Will and Debi Durst, Johnny Steele, Michael Bossier, Mari Magaloni and Arthur Gaus will deliver an evening you’ll definitely want to mark on your…

    • 66 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Staples has the ability to alter public space by his physical behavior, his dress and his verbal reaction. Black men have a reputation of being rapist, murders and gang members, therefore many people get worried when a young black man is around. So Staples has learned how to change his perception or level of threat to others. He accomplishes this by his physical behavior. The way he walks or acts around others can change there mood. Now Staples notices if people are frightened by him. Brent Staples attempts to introduce people to something most all are guilty of, but pay little attention to. Using accounts from his own and others’ experiences, Staples essay portrays the racist tendency of people to assume black men are potentially violent and dangerous.…

    • 395 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    For Example, “But for a hated and haunted people, whose prize possessions have been subversive memory, personal integrity, and self respect to become captive to historical amnesia, materialistic obsessions, and personal accommodation for acceptance at any costs yields black nihilism and collective suicide.” The African American people as a whole have become so caught up in making quick money they have forgotten about their past and their own self-respect. African Americans have slowly lost a hold of the important things in life. In addition, “The impact of the black market culture on black life has been devastating. As Stanley Crouch rightly has noted, fifty years ago black communities were the most civilized and humane in America- highly nurturing, caring, loving, and self-respecting behind the walls of apartheid. The market invasion, including the ugly drug invasion, has transformed too many black neighborhoods into hoods, black civic communities into black uncivil combat zones.” The black market has depleted African American morals. The black market culture has taken over the minds of African Americans; they have let drugs for example help demolish black neighborhoods and black civil communities. Furthermore, “We have too many black leaders who give in too quickly and sell out too easily.” Black leaders are quick to become victim to market culture. Black leaders become indulged in the spotlight, and they forget about where they have come from and their…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Acting White

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Bill Cosby puts all African Americans in the category of ignorant and ghetto, living in the lower class. In the text he often attacks single mothers with no father in the household. Also, he attacks innocent children with bad parenting. I believe Cosby makes such statements because most of them are true. Even though I am a part of the minority or lower class I strongly agree and disagree with Cosby’s remarks. That’s because it is a high percentage of black households that are ignorant like Cosby is saying, but all are not financially able.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jesse Washington author of the associated press, published an article on the struggle of black mothers who are unwed. She interviews Doctor Natalie Carroll. Carroll speaks of what she sees in her office. She talks to the women that struggle with their children. Most of them don’t have a husband or partner. According to government studies the black race is the highest in women who have children without being married. Some blame society and resources. Government officials and some churches have tried to get involved. This has been a public issue for some time now. Some blame a drug epidemic sending black men to prison. Leaving women to raise children alone. Dr. Carroll tries to teach and talk to the women who visit her office. She tells the stories of several women. Some have had issues with domestic violence, another sees marriage as an obligation more than a relationship. Dr. Carroll will continue to talk to the women who take their babies for their routine schedule because she believes that a child should have a mother and a father involved in order to break the dysfunctional pattern black men have.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Is Racism a Permanent feature of American Society? Derrick Bell argues in this issue that the prospects for achieving racial equality in the United States are “illusory for Blacks. Bell reminds us despite the fact of the progress of blacks in United States; the legacy of slavery has left a portion of the race “with life-long poverty and soul devastating despair”. Bell believes that race consciousness is so imbedded in whites that it is virtually impossible to rise above it. He also argues that “few whites are able to identify with blacks as a group” and tend to view blacks through “comforting racial stereotypes”. Bell feels strongly that critical and proper examination of the history of black-white relations supports his conclusion that racism is a permanent feature of American Society. Bell makes some good point about racism in the American society today. The fact that the psychical part of racism is gone does not mean that racism as permanently left American Society. The fact that racism still “exist” is does not reflect on blacks’ success any longer. Majority of whites had a head start because their generation of success goes so many years back, were as for blacks success was not allowed at a point in time. Blacks have come a long ways over the years but there is still racial discrimination that “affects” the black population.…

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The issue of child abuse relates significantly to race and class because it brings up the following question: “Is it culturally diverse or is it actually abusive?” One of the reasons for such huge number of child abuse cases is because most of those cases are from non white children. America is known for its diversity and even though it is a “free country” America has its own culture which is different from the hispanics, asians, blacks and many others. But, not only race relates to this issues so does class because children who come from low income families seem to be more likely to suffer from abuse. A reason for this is due to the fact that people with a low SES are uneducated and are not aware on how parenting styles can affect a child.…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Welfare Reform

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Despite the multimillion-dollar campaign to educate adolescents on the risks of pre-marital sexual relationships the earlier portion of this decade has seen a dramatic increase in teen pregnancies, there for causing a missive economic backlash that can be felt in everyone's back pocket. Only now in the past few years has the number of teen pregnancies gone down, in fact in 1997 the number of teen-pregnancies reached an all time low, that quickly started to raise yet again. According to a study in the late 1980's black adolescents are more likely to become early parents than whites and other ethnic groups. According to that study 14% of adolescents are African-American female; and out all adolescents that have given birth 30% are African-American. It also show that half of all unmarried adolescent mothers are African-American. The study also yields that 40% of all first births of blacks are to teen-age parents; in comparison to the 20% of white teenage parents. "Teenage pregnancy can have significant negative social and economic consequences. Notably, about…

    • 1496 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays