Stop blaming white people

National Public Radio invited me to its show "News and Notes" to discuss Bill Cosby's new book. One of the book's prevailing themes is that blacks need to stop blaming whites for all of the social pathologies found in low-income black communities. Come on People: On the Path from Victims to Victors, co-authored with Cosby's longtime collaborator Dr. Alvin Poussaint of Harvard Medical School, casts a wonderful vision for blacks to take care of their own communities and no longer rely on government as a crutch.

White people cannot be blamed for the fact that nearly 70 percent of black children are born outside of marriage. White people cannot be blamed for the fact that 94 percent of all black people who are murdered are murdered by other black people. White people cannot be blamed for the fact that in many major cities black males have a high school drop-out rate of more than 50 percent.

The book points out that back in 1950, there were twice as many white people in prison than black. Today, there are far more blacks in prison than whites. Was there less racial profiling in 1950?

"Blaming white people," the authors note, "can be a way for some black people to feel better about themselves, but it doesn't pay the electric bills. ... For all the talk of systemic racism and government screw-ups, we must look to ourselves and understand our own responsibility. ... We need to steel ourselves with the will to get better, the will to win, the will to move, the will to act."

Cosby and Poussaint will incur the wrath of the black liberal elite, but this common sense approach to saving the black underclass, and all poor people for that matter, is needed.