Bill Cosby Talks Tough Again

There's renewed praise and furor over Dr. Cosby's most recent words which are seen as tough love for the black community by some and foul by others.

As a white person who has no idea what it's like to raise her children in the arduous enclave of Chicago or New York apartment projects where the jail rate may be higher than the graduation rate, I feel pretty uncomfortable with the topic.

Yet I have been a poor young person raising a younger brother in rural America while working three part-time jobs and trying to finish college, and I know my values weren't always on straight. Sometimes, you find yourself trying to buy salve for the kid's wounds and feel like you're trying to fight the system - even when the system happens to be right - just because you're so used to the system being wrong that the fight becomes as natural as breathing.