Cosby Airs Out Black Men at Spelman Graduation

Bill Cosby held nothing back during his speech Sunday to the graduating class of Spelman College, an historically black college for women nestled in Atlanta, GA. "You have to know that it is time for you all to take charge," Cosby said. "You have to seriously see yourselves not as the old women where the men stood in front and you all stood behind, because the men, most of them are in prison." Added Cosby: "It is time for you to pick up the pace and lead because the men are not there. They're not there and every one of you young women know it."

When one of the 500 members of the graduating class accepted her diploma, Cosby said, "there's no time for you to fool around anymore. ...You've got to [get serious] because our race depends upon you and your sisters graduating all across the United States to realize that what's left is you."

Cosby, 68, said he realized that part of his speech would not go over well among many in the audience. "I'm going to speak to these young women about taking charge and I know it's going to be fearful and it's going to tweak a lot of things," he told The Associated Press in an interview before the ceremony. "They have to because it's in their lives and it's real. It is there. They are going to be needed to protect the legacy that is good."

Cosby told the graduates that the same male students who are dropping out of high school "have memorized the lyrics of very difficult rap songs. ...And they know how to send their sperm cells out and then walk away from the responsibility of something called fatherhood."

Cosby said his comments were not directed to all black males, but noted that 70 percent of black graduates this year are female. "Who's running the show?" Cosby asked. "It appears that the male is, but I have news for you. It's your turn. We want you to lead in business. We want you to lead in medicine. We want you to lead in everything."

In 1987 Cosby and his wife, Camille, gave a $20 million gift to Spelman, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. The Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center on the campus opened in 1996.