Cosby, not Wright, the real prophet

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack and Michelle Obama's pastor of 20 years, claims to be the prophet for the black church in America. As syndicated columnist Froma Harrop says "Wright only mimics the prophet in his fiery condemnations of America." The prophet is one who tells people what they should hear, but don't want to. Jeremiah Wright strictly tiptoes around those who employ him, as exemplified by the $1.6 million house on a golf course they are building him as a retirement present.

A genuine prophet, comedian Bill Cosby, spoke last week in Newark, New Jersey while Wright was fluffing his feathers in front of the national media, defending his most extreme positions--such as AIDS being a white plot to kill African-Americans. Cosby, on the other hand, delivered a tough look-in-the-mirror message to fellow African-Americans. His theme was encapsulated in a book he co-wrote with Harvard psychiatry professor Alvin Poussaint "Come on, People! On the Path from Victims to Victors."

For his candor, Cosby has been blasted by black and white intellectuals as "blaming the victim." He said "Fify percent dropout rate, and people in jail, and women having children by five, six different men. Under what excuse? He went on "You can't keep asking that God find a way. God is tired of you."

Cosby has come under attack by black and white intellectuals who prefer the script that places all the fault for the plight of black America on white America. His points, are, however being seriously discussed within the African-American community.

That's what a real prophet does.