Inspired by Bill Cosby
Son,
Bill Cosby is a funny guy. Funny humorous, not funny wacko. He has taken up the mantle of leadership for his ‘brothers.’ Mr. Cosby is on a crusade to help raise the African-American community to a higher standard of living – higher standards of family values, of education, of responsibility, and of economic prosperity. I admire him for that effort.
I have a couple of fundamental beliefs. I believe that Black people and White people are the same thing. We respond to the world around us. We are products of our family of origin – which is the basis of this blog. I believe that dysfunctional families exist in both the black and white communities. The American prison population and other social statistics might suggest that something is out of balance. Perhaps Black men are less responsible, or perhaps the white justice system is prejudiced against black citizens – we can argue that all day – or we can take action in our own life to make our life better.
Mr. Cosby talks about the ‘victimization attitude’ of Black people. That is a characteristic that is not unique to Black people – White people invented the idea of being irresponsible and blaming others. If there is more dysfunction in black families it is not because of some inherent personality disorder – it is the result of about three hundred years of acculturation in slavery. This is not an excuse – just reality. Bill Cosby correctly says, “So what? Our ancestors were slaves.” Are we going to invest our lives crying over spilled milk?
Only a few are born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Many people, black and white, are born into despair, into poverty, into trauma. Every person, black and white, can rise above their life situation. In order to do this people must become aware of thinking errors that keep them in their box of desperation. Mr. Cosby is trying to educate people about how to change attitudes. People often want to change but do not know how.
It is imperative that we become aware of our thought processes and how those thought processes affect our attitude and our resulting consequences. I went through my file cabinet and found some tidbits of information that I will share in subsequent posts.
The first is titled “Rules Projected in the Dysfunctional Family.” Stay posted and I’ll keep writing.
Dad
Rules of Dysfunctional Families
Barack Obama – The Soul of Black Folk – Incarnated
Cabela’s Deer Camp – No Assault Rifles
