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In his Pound Cake Speech Bill Cosby argues that the black families should take responsibility to

improve their own living. Cosby claims that the black family is falling apart and this has caused

severe consequences to the black community. He points out that the white people are not staying in

the way of the advancement of blacks but it is the blacks own misdeads that have left them linger.In the beginning of his speech Cosby tells his audience that he is talking about these people who

cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Cosby is talking about Black people that are

in prison. But it is important to note that Cosby is talking to an audience that, probably, does not

have sons or daugthers wearing orange suits.

Cosby's speech was pronounced on May 17, 2004, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the

U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which ended the segregation

between blacks and whites in public schools. The event was organized by the National Association

for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and was celebrated at Constitution Hall in

Washington, D.C. The place and the occasion of the speech supply enough evidence to suppose thatfew or even none of the kind of people that Cosby was speaking about were in the audience.

Because as Cosby said himself, they do not even know and also are not interested in learning to

speak and write English properly.

Cosby was probably speaking to an elite well educated group of people, which by a recordings of

the speech at least part of them seem to aggry with Cosby's ideas, because there are clearly a lot of

applauses. To make his points Cosby appeals mostly to emotions, with some well timed ironic

comments that produces laughter and but most of the time it seems as if he appeals to his personal

authority. There aren't many examples of logical arguments.

First of all let's start with some examples of emotional appeal. Cosby says that: We cannot blame

white people. White people -- white people dont live over there. They close up the shop early. The

Korean ones still dont know us as well -- they stay open 24 hours. Cosby is great comedian and

uses some of his magic in the speech, like in this short joke. But even though it is a joke Cosby is

trying to make the point that it is time for the blacks to stop blaming the white people for their

situation. Another moment when Cosby appeals to emotion to lighten up the harsh message he was

when he talks about the pound cake, which ultimately gives name to his speech. Cosby shamelessly

says: People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out

and are outraged: The cops shouldnt have shot him. What the hell was he doing with the pound

cake in his hand? I wanted a piece of pound cake just as bad as anybody else. A normal person

could say that and seem extremely offensive but the tone that Cosby uses does not make it offensivebut funny. Cosby also uses some lighter humour when he talks about the how parents are not well

conneceted with their kids today. In the neighborhood that most of us grew up in, parenting is not

going on. In the old days, you couldnt hooky school because every drawn shade was an eye. Just

reading the passage may not seem comic but again when Cosby speaks this there is a clear a

difference.

Even though there are comic moments in the speech Cosby speaks in a serious tone most of the

time. He seems to be outraged and says astonished that 50% of blacks drop out of school, but he

does not point a source for that number. Cosby laments that no longer is a person embarrassed

because theyre pregnant without a husband. No longer is a boy considered an embarrassment if hetries to run away from being the father of the unmarried child. Cosby assumes the voice of

authority for good customs. The comedian also records that things were not like this when he was

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growing up. Im talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange

suit. Where were you when he was two? Where were you when he was twelve? Nobody laughs

after Cosby makes harsh questions like this one, but it is important to recall that the mother and

father of those who are in prison are probably not in the audience.

One of the few moments that Cosby tries to argue with reason is when he sets the example of Black

Muslims.

in the Cosby says astonished that. On the other hand he recalls that he

Critics often charge Bill Cosby, in his Brown anniversary speech, with beating up on an easy mark:

poor black people. Wrong. The critics are the ones who veer off target. Cosby repeatedly aimed his

fire at the leaders of today's popular black culture, which is often not just created by black artists,

but marketed and managed by black executives. (25)

Cosby's point is that lost, poor black people have suffered most from not having strong leaders. His

charge is that these leaders - cultural and political misinform, mismanage, and miseducate byrefusing to articulate established truths about what it takes to get ahead: strong families, education,

and hard work. (25)

One of Cosby's sharpest darts thrown at the current civil rights leaders hit home a few months after

his Constitution Hall speech. He was at a town-hall meeting in Detroit to speak directly to black

Americans in one of the nation's blackest cities. He wanted ordinary black people to hear from him

directly about his comments at the Brown anniversary gala. When he reflected on today's black civil

rights leaders, Cosby essentialy asked, Why are black leaders making the case for black crack

addicts to get softer sentences? (29)

Juan Williams Enough New York: Three Rivers Press 2006 Print