Simpson 1

Brandi Simpson
Professor Bevill
ENGL 1302
26 January 2017
The Effect of Parental Neglect
The Address at the NAACP' on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education

was delivered on the seventeenth of May in 2004, by Bill Cosby who addressed his fellow peers.

Bill Cosby expressed his concerns within the African American communities in his speech. His

topics of choice was parenting, the diminishing respect the youth have for culture and

fundamental life values. Cosby depicted the long term effects that many misguided youth endure

in low class and lower middle class communities without the proper parental support in their

lives. In the address Cosby focuses his attention on comparison and contrast situations among

different cultures, the changes in parenting from the past to the present, and he strongly

emphasizes on the importance of protecting the movement that many people fought long and

hard for. Cosby was successful in delivering his message to his audience and the African

Americans who live in those effected neighborhoods, He did this by using statistics and his

personal life journey, while using an authoritative tone throughout his speech.
Cosby captured the audiences attention by utilizing an array of compare and contrast

situations as a method to get his overall message across. Cosby uses the method of compare and

contrast throughout his speech, this contributed with the outline and the direction he was taking

with his address. Cosby used this technique to shed light on the downfall of minority

communities across the United States. By using this method of compare and contrast, he was

able to persuade his audience to take notice of the epidemic plaguing these neighborhoods he

once called home. While using this tool, Cosby allowed his audience to receive an over view of

the bigger picture, describing the changes he has witnessed firsthand. Cosby used this method to

compare the differences between different cultures, race and education, in which allowed the
 Simpson 2

audience to view his argument from an outside aspect. During his argument Cosby also

capitalized on the generational differences explaining how it has affected the method of

parenting in the new millennium, and how parental neglect has shaped the African America

youth today.
While presenting his argument Cosby uses an authoritative tone, using this tone of dialect

during his speech, allows the audience to see his passion and logic behind his statements. This

tool helped him covey his message to the audience. During his speech he uses examples of

broken homes and the increasing parental absence within the African American household and

throughout a childs lifespan, highlighting exactly how this absence affects a childs overall state

of mind and mental development. Utilizing an authoritative while presenting his concerns helped

capture the audiences attention. These are major issues that many single parent homes in

America and lower class communities endure.

Cosby presented statistics on the high school dropout rate within African American

communities in his argument. Cosby stresses the fact that there has been an increase in the

percentage of the current dropout rate, which is currently stands at a whopping fifty percent; he

delivered this information by using statistics. Using statistic allowed his audience to see the

effects parental neglect plays, helping him prove his key points. Cosby touches on points such as

how the youth of today are not receiving the proper tools for life, such as respect and morals, due

to the lack of parental influences in many African American homes and communities.

Nevertheless; he educates his audience on how far African Americans have come, from the past

to the present.
Throughout Crosbys address he uses his personal life experience along with history to

express the change that he has witnessed first hand, over the past few decades and how these

changes have molded society and the way people view opportunity in the free world today. By

sharing his personal memories he is engaging with the audience on a personal level allowing him
 Simpson 3

to have a deeper connection with the audience. Cosby reminds his audience at the start and

ending of his speech that African Americans have earned the rights they have today, and that

many dedicated members of society helped fight for these rights that they have been granted.

Meanwhile stressing how important it is to utilize their intended purpose in life versus digressing

back in history, implying that African American should be moving forward instead of backwards.

Cosby uses this method of Rhetoric to help his audience understand and become more informed

of the challenges many before him have faced. Although Cosbys address was unorganized and

most likely ruffled a few feathers, his overall message was powerful, logical and insightful.
Cosbys powerful and logical address utilized examples of disparity, disappointment,

compare and contrast method to create an effective argument, and firmly capitalized on how far

African American have came, in hopes to create a better future for the African American youth.

Cosbys subjective demeanor toward the matter had the audience very intrigued. His overall goal

was to hold parents accountable for their actions and neglect within these household. His

authoritative tone throughout the speech encourages parent to take responsibility for their

actions, because not only are they doing their children a disservice, but this is also affecting the

overall communities and neighborhoods as well. The intended message delivery was to inform

African Americans, that as a community they cannot expect better, if they are not willing to do

better and put in the work required and unite as a team.

 Simpson 4

Work Cited

Cosby, Bill. Address at the NAACP on the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.

17 May 2004.Web. AmericanRhetoric.com. Date accessed 24 February 2017.