There is a lot of mixed reviews regarding Bill Cosby's and Alvin F. Poussaint's Come On, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors. Some negative reviews include the over-simplistic tone of the book that everything can be solved with good family values. Some positive reviews include raves about the message behind the book that everything can be solved with good family values.



Confused?



After reading this book, I am somewhat torn. I do agree that not everything is going to be simple, but I also d

There is a lot of mixed reviews regarding Bill Cosby's and Alvin F. Poussaint's Come On, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors. Some negative reviews include the over-simplistic tone of the book that everything can be solved with good family values. Some positive reviews include raves about the message behind the book that everything can be solved with good family values.



Confused?



After reading this book, I am somewhat torn. I do agree that not everything is going to be simple, but I also do not not think that was the entire message of the book either. Cosby- whose voice appears to be stronger than Poussaint -does acknowledge that society has created a cyclic system that can keep the status quo among the races. However, Cosby also states that as a group of people, each individual can choose not to participate in this cycle and actively fight against the system. Maybe this does sound overly simplified, but it's also the truth and it's called "personal responsibility."



Based on what I read in this book, I would recommend Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America by Eugene Robinson and The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. Although Robinson and Alexander may not agree with what Cosby and Poussaint has written, Robinson also argues that the "black community" has disintegrated and members of the community should find their way back to each other; and Alexander discusses the impact of low high school graduation rates and high incarceration rates affect the "black community" and well as the individual. I would also recommend At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance--A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power by Danielle L. McGuire because Cosby's and Poussaint's version of the civil rights movement is heavily focused on the male efforts and hardly acknowledges the struggle women went through.



Which leads me to my final thought:



One aspect of this book that I found to be highly frustrating is the way women are discussed in this book. I understand this book was focusing on male youth and making sure to raise good boys into responsible citizens as men, but Cosby and Poussaint had a semi-subtle sexist point of view when it came to girls and women. They thought more attention should be focused on the boys because girls are "naturally" good and well-behaved, instead of understanding little girls are expected by society to behave like little adults and not have a rambunctious or adventurous childhood. Cosby and Poussaint thought women did not fully understand what it meant to have to be "cool" with their emotion like men do, not even bothering to acknowledge that black women are more likely to feel twice as discriminated against for being both "black" and "female," and to lose their "cool" would be twice as detrimental than a black man who is, at least, still a male in a patriarchal society. Finally, Cosby and Possaint believe that black women should start their own businesses because there are not enough men in the community to start families with. Not bothering to acknowledge that women do not have to have children to become productive members of society or even bothering to state women can become entrepreneurs because they are skilled and smart and should share their talents with the world without having to feel pressured that they are only good for a biological function. I will give Cosby and Poussaint credit for acknowledging that society needs to not focus solely on "unwed mothers" anymore, but also on "unwed fathers." Yet, this extra credit is not enough.