Ok. I hear that Cosby put a couple of hardknock old school kids through school. If you hadn't heard, here's the story in editorial form. He's also donated at least a million to Spelman, and several hundred grand to Central State in Ohio.
Here's my question. While Central State is a working class black school, Spelman most definitely ISN'T. Cosby has done a great deal to improve the educational experience of middle-to-upper income African Americans...but not much (that I am aware of, granted) to improve the lives of poor African Americans. Except give a tongue lashing.
If we had heard that Bill Gates (who is worth 100 times what Cosby is) had given 200 kids tuition I wonder what we would think? On the one hand I would applaud him. That's 195 more kids than I figure I'll be providing tuition for.
But on the other hand isn't that getting off cheap? If Gates made it clear that it was his role as a software magnate to help educate those who wanted to work hard, wouldn't we think he was shirking his duty if he only provided for 200 kids? Wouldn't we think something more was required?
If as Cosby notes, our standards should be high, and we should be demanding more of those who aren't pulling their weight...then shouldn't we ask Cosby to do more than give lip service and give a couple of kids a free ride, and a seat on his jet plane?