On May 17, during an appearance at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Bill Cosby made some colorful remarks about race and responsibility. For a few days last month — alright, let’s get the Jell-O reference out of the way — he was in deep pudding with the P.C. police.

During a celebration for the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education decision, in our nation’s capital of equivocation and obfuscation, and in the presence of the presidents of Howard University and the NAACP, “Combustible” Huxtable had the bad taste to make frank, critical comments about the state of black society in America.

Thankfully, he has yet to back down.

Howard University hasn’t released a full transcript of the speech, but according to numerous media reports, here are some of the greatest hits:

Ladies and gentlemen, the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.

These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids — $500 sneakers for what? And won’t spend $200 on ‘Hooked on Phonics’ …

They’re standing on the corner and they can’t speak English. I can’t even talk the way these people talk: ‘Why you ain’t, Where you is’ … And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk.  Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads . . .

You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth!

As you might expect, there were mixed reactions about the propriety of his remarks. Is Bill Cosby giving ammunition to arch-conservatives who want to believe that blacks lack a sense of personal responsibility? Is a celebration of an historic milestone of equality the right occasion for airing such pointed criticisms?

Cosby was accused of being a classist and betraying his race. But ultimately, many people, black and white, applauded his frankness. He may not have been accurate or precise (generalizations never are), but in the antiseptic haze of national politics, where every word is calculated to offend the fewest people, it was refreshing to hear some uncensored honesty. For too long, the American obsession with political correctness — especially on issues of race — has crippled the national dialogue.

Americans are so thirsty for candor, we’ll take it any way we can get it.

“Nothing Cosby said hasn’t been uttered by other black people,” Renee Graham wrote in the Boston Globe, “but usually only among ourselves at dinner parties, on back porches, and in barbershops.”

“Had a white person made comments similar to those expressed by Cosby,” Graham wrote, “without fail he or she would be strong-armed into an apology.” She’s right. More accurately, if he or she were a politician, the P.C. police would be in full battle mode before you could say, “Confederate flag.” Remember Howard Dean?

On November 2, 2003, the Des Moines Register published an interview with Dean in which he said he wanted to be “the candidate for guys with Confederate flags on their pickup trucks.” Like Cosby’s remarks, Dean’s comment was broad and open to misunderstanding. It offended some people. But the sentiment behind it was sound.

“We can’t beat George Bush unless we appeal to a broad cross-section of Democrats,” Dean continued. Hardly a contestable suggestion. Even so, Dean’s fellow democratic candidates feigned indignation. John Kerry and Al Sharpton demanded an apology. For all of three days, Dean stood his ground.

“I started this discussion in a clumsy way,” Dean said on November 6. “I regret the pain that I may have caused either to African American or Southern white voters.”

These are grown men. Howard Dean meant what he said. But instead of applauding Dean for being forthright, Kerry offered this disingenuous plea: “Rather than politics as usual, Howard Dean should have taken responsibility for his rhetoric and simply said, ‘I was wrong.’”

Kerry was right in one sense: Howard Dean should have taken responsibility for what he said — and stuck to it.

Unfortunately, you have to meet some lofty criteria to get away with being blunt in Washington, D.C. Who but Bill Cosby could be so candid about such an explosive subject? Besides being one of the most beloved entertainers of all time, he is a doctor (he got his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Massachusetts in 1977). Before he became a comedian and a gajillionaire, he was one of those “lower economic people.” He’s black. And most notably, he isn’t a politician.

Three weeks after the fact, we’re still talking about Bill Cosby’s thoughts on race. And he’s not even an elected official. He’s an entertainer.

We’re still talking about Cosby’s comments, not because the ideas weren’t around before, but because somebody we respect had the temerity to address it in public, rather than behind the doors of a cozy dinner party or local barbershop.

Agree with Bill Cosby or don’t. Dissect his statements and parse the exceptions from the rules. But don’t ask him to apologize for the pain he may have caused. Presumably, he thought about what he was going to say. And whether or not anybody thought it was appropriate, the national dialogue is better off for him having said it.

If only Bush and Kerry would follow his lead.

henrypb