New scorn for ignorant black families

Bill Cosby has again blasted black families who waste their lives and celebrate their lack of education.

His new comments are a defiant gesture to critics, who accused him of airing the black community’s dirty laundry when he made similar comments in May.

But the veteran comic said yesterday: "Let me tell you something, your dirty laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day, it's cursing and calling each other nigger as they're walking up and down the street.

"They think they're hip," the entertainer said. "They can't read; they can't write. They're laughing and giggling, and they're going nowhere."

And he also criticised black men who squandered earlier chances of education, telling them: “Stop beating up your women because you can't find a job, because you didn't want to get an education and now you're on minimum wage."

His comments at an education conference led by the Rev Jesse Jackson are sure to spark fresh controversy.

They echo remarks he made two months ago, which caused a storm of debate, after  he compared the civil rights pioneers who had stones thrown at them for the right to go to school with modern youths who revel in their ignorance.

And he blamed the parents for engendering a culture of poor grammar that acts as a barrier to getting the best jobs.

At the time, he was castigated for providing ammunition for those who would knock the black community.

Published: 2 Jul 2004