During the 2004 NAACP awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, Bill Cosby gives a speech that would have been later called "The Pound Cake Speech", in which he criticized the lifestyle and lack of parenting in the African-American community. The speech was severely criticized for its interpretation and the arguments expressed within it. Author Jerome Corsi notes, "Cosby was attacked both for his irreverent tone and because his argument seemed to 'blame the victim' for racial inequality and racial injustice suffered." The purpose of this essay is to examine why the use of comedy, the subdivision of listeners, and the choice to scapegoat African American parents as the sole cause of African American social problems lead to the poor reception of Cosby's speech. Although Cosby had a college education and received many honorary degrees, which few obtain, he is, however, associated more as a successful entertainer than as an academic educator. Interestingly, Cosby branded himself more of a class clown than an academic during school. Cosby began his entertainment career as a stand-up comedian performing across America during his youth. Comedians have a well-known talent for stirring up crowds and encouraging audience hype. They compose jokes that anyone can relate to and, therefore, reach a wide demographic during their performances. The talent remained in Cosby to present it and also manifests itself in the tone of his speeches. Throughout Cosby's speech there is a comic element hidden in a tragic element. When Cosby discusses the guilt of Caucasians in African American communities, he quips, “… …middle of paper…he made his own points more formally with less humor. If Cosby had addressed his listeners as a collective union instead of fragmented denominations, listeners would have been consistent in relating to the problems presented by Cosby. Cosby uses the rhetorical device of pathos by placing the blame on African American parents. Furthermore, Cosby repeatedly informs his listeners that absence in parenting is the revealing root of all problems faced in the African-American community and its presence, alternatively, as the key solution to eradicating such problems; however, it does not delve into describing the solutions or present methods on how to achieve better parenting through examples. The combination of these aforementioned shortcomings contributed to the poor reception, criticism, and vilification that Cosby received in the aftermath of his speech..