CHICAGO, July 1 (UPI) -- Bill Cosby was unrepentant about remarks he made criticizing some low-income African-Americans for squandering the gains of the civil rights movement.
Cosby humorously said his off-the-cuff speech about the "dirty laundry" of blacks at an NAACP forum on the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's historic Brown vs. Board of Education in May was to "turn the mirror on ourselves" and honor the sacrifices of a generation.
"It was about our minds, the use of our brains. It was about education. Fifty percent of African-American males in the lower income group drop out of school," Cosby told the 33rd annual Rainbow/Push Coalition Conference in Chicago. "I had a speech but I kept seeing people in their 80s who had contributed to this decision. These people certainly didn't have this in mind. There is a time when we have to turn the mirror around."
Cosby, who earned a Ph.D in education from the University of Massachusetts, passionately blasted profanity in public schools, poor parenting and lack of intellectual rigor.
The mostly black audience gave him a standing ovation.
