“government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

So, two and a half years later people are still mad about what Bill Cosby said during the Brown v. Board of Education 50^th anniversary gala in D.C.

What I can’t understand is why people try to act like they haven’t had some of the same thoughts. Seriously, who can say that they haven’t ever wondered why several generations of a family have lived in the projects? Who among us can say that you’ve not been outraged at the gumption of the absentee mother who is begging for mercy on behalf of her orange-suited son who has been convicted of some idiotic crime? I mean, yes, she could have neglected to be an effective parent because she was working so hard at her three jobs trying to save enough money so that she could get her family out of the projects. Riiiigggghhhttt! I’m guessing that a parent with that level of dedication and determination to pull herself up would also have their child in every before-school, afterschool and summer program available.

So what’s the problem? We give people excuses. And crutches. And more excuses.

Here is the conversation you can have with any black child in America:

Ask them why they come to school, and they’ll say, “to learn.”

Ask them why they need to learn, and they’ll say, “to get an education.”

Ask them why they need an education, and they’ll say, “so I can get a good job.”

So, the bleeding hearts among us (and I’m one of them, by the way) say, “well some kids don’t have enough to eat and that’s why they have trouble learning.” So the feds give us the National School Lunch Program, which ensures that kids, regardless of their ability to pay, can receive breakfast, lunch and perhaps an afterschool snack, at public school everyday (and by the way there are summertime feeding programs that include dinner).

Then the bleeding hearts say, “Well the resources are unequal and the black kids don’t have computers, new textbooks, experienced teachers and school supplies.” So the feds give us Title I, Title II, Title VI programs (and many more) that pump millions of dollars into even the smallest schools and school systems.

Then the bleeding hearts say, “Well the parents didn’t get a good education themselves, so they don’t know how to parent, get a job, keep a job and budget their money.” Enter the feds and their Welfare to Work programs, accompanied by Head Start early childhood education so mama doesn’t have to worry about what to do with Little Ray Ray all day.

You get the picture. For every roadblock, Uncle Sam has provided an answer. What I’m seeing, however, is that it’s not helping: the poor are poorer and the ignorant are reaching epic proportions.

To quote Ronald Reagan, “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”