A Puerto Rican Bill Cosby
In his new book, One Nation, One Standard, Herman Badillo claims that Hispanics don't put the same emphasis on education as other American immigrants.
Do you remember the dustup about three years ago when Bill Cosby spoke at a dinner commemorating the anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education case? That was the case that ended legal segregation of the schools, and Bill Cosby was, shall we say, disappointed with the way some members of the black community had risen to the opportunity in the years since the decision. He was a lot more blunt that I am being; let's just say there's been a lively discussion of the merits of his argument in the three years since -- which is ongoing, by the way.
Mr. Cosby has traveled all over the country, meeting in community forums with people who want to talk about his view that too many black folks have become so fixated on racism they aren't doing what they can to improve their communities, educate their children and live up to the promise of America. These sessions --I covered one for ABC's Nightline -- are heartrending, exhausting and uplifting at the same time. Heartrending because these people are in so much pain; they are terrified and furious about what they see happening in their communities with kids who seem out of control and parents who won't take control. They're exhausting because they go on for hours and sometimes the anger is very raw. There's a lot of finger pointing.
But then there's an uplifting side because, while Cosby does speak, he also goes out of his way to showcase people from each community who have done something remarkable -- overcome great odds to get an education, started a mentoring program, etc. At the session I attended, most people came because they agreed with Cosby and wanted to tell him and wanted some inspiration. Some came because they found his message offensive. One scholar calls Cosby's meetings the "blame the poor tour" and wrote an entire book just to rebut him. The debate continues.
Now comes a book by a public figure who may not be a household name all over the country but who is a giant in New York politics. His name is Herman Badillo and the book is called One Nation, One Standard. Badillo was the first Puerto Rican-born U.S. congressman. His own story is nothing short of remarkable. He was orphaned as a small boy, came to the mainland to live with relatives at the age of 11 (speaking not a word of English), and went on to become a lawyer, a congressman, a mayoral candidate and the chairman of the board of one of the largest public university systems in the country.
Badillo was one of the main architects of bilingual education law; the principal sponsor of the Bilingual Education Act of 1974.
But now he says he was wrong -- a rare admission for most of us! When I read the book, I knew I wanted to talk to Badillo, in part because the book reminded me so much of the debate Bill Cosby set off. Only this time, the subject is the Hispanic community.
In today's segment (audio), we take a traditional NPR-ish approach to a topic like this: A famous person writes a book and we talk with him about it. But we thought Badillo's argument was such that he needed the floor to himself to discuss it. Our question to you is: Is this approach, with one subject, satisfying? Or did you find yourself hungering for more of a debate? Let us know.
4:04 PM ET | 01-18-2007 | permalink
