Enough: the phony leaders, Dead-End Movements, and culture of failure that are undermining black America--and what we can do about it.

• Author: Fischer, Raymond L.
• Position: What's New?

ENOUGH: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America--and What We Can Do About It

BY JUAN WILLIAMS CROWN PUBLISHERS 235 PAGES, $25.00

On May 17, 2004, 3,000 of black America's elite gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka--the crowning moment of the mid-century African-American struggle for racial equality. The entertainment for the anniversary gala was comedian Bill Cosby. However, instead of making his audience laugh, Cosby delivered a stinging criticism of black leaders who refuse to acknowledge the cause of problems within their communities. Poor parenting and the present black culture have prevented too many black children from "throwing off the veil of ignorance" rooted in problems of poverty, disproportionate fatherlessness, bad schools, high rates of unemployment, and lives wasted in jail. Cosby accused black leaders of forgetting the history of black activists who understood hope for progress depended on self-help, education, and decisive action. Cosby's speech set the 21st-century civil rights agenda: the black elite must deal with the crises of children without two parents, kids failing in school, and absurdly high rates of crime in black communities.

Although Cosby's speech drew an immediate standing ovation, it did not take long for black critics to call Cosby an amateur social critic who maligned poor black people without understanding their problems. One of the very few influential blacks publicly to defend Cosby, Juan Williams--senior correspondent for National Public Radio, political analyst for Fox News Channel, panelist on "Fox News Sunday," White House correspondent for The Washington Post, and author of several books--believes Cosby's speech correctly challenges black leaders.

Cosby and Williams believe poor black people have suffered most from a lack of solid leaders to articulate what it takes to get ahead: strong families, education, and hard work. Not only have black leaders forgotten the common goal of black self-reliance and power, but they have substituted a "tired rant" about what white people have not done, and this rant puts black people in the role of hapless victims. Many black leaders have "created an industry" by charging racism. The culture of accepting corruption and excusing wrongdoing as "the way we survive" has undermined the message of black ability and self-reliance. Too...