Excerpt from the book “Come On People” by Bill Cosby & Alvin Poussaint
In 1950 we still feared our parents and respected them. We know that for a fact because we were both in our early teens that year and were both testing our limits.
We and the others in our generation weren’t saints. We’ll be the first to admit that. We were filled with piss and vinegar like many teenage boys-white, black, and otherwise. If we saw something we wanted and didn’t have the money-and trust us, few of us ever had money-we thought about taking it, sure. But something called “parenting,” something that had wormed it’s way into our heads from the time we were still in the womb, said to us, if you get caught stealing it, you’re going to embarrass your mother.
The voice didn’t say, you’re going to get your but kicked. We knew that and expected that from experience. No, that inner voice said, you’re going to embarrass your mother. You’re going to embarrass your family….
Parenting works best when both a mother and a father participate. Some mothers can do it on their own, but they need help. A house without a father is a challenge. A neighborhood without fathers is a catastrophe, and that’s just about what we have today.
Can we fix this? Can we change it? We don’t have a choice. We have to take our neighborhoods back. We have to go in there and do it ourselves. We saw what happened in New Orleans when people waited for the government to help. “Governments” are things. Governments don’t care. People care, and no people care like parents do-well, except maybe grandparents and other caregivers, and thank God for them.
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"I used to be indecisive.......... Now I'm not sure."
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Subject: Children These Days (and their Parents) 
Sat Nov 17, 2007 1:18 pm
