Would be the Cos. A man after my own heart who could care less if he pisses off his peer group and is instead focused on the real core problems and unpopular yet efficatious solutions. Like the brutha says, screw what whitey thinks.

Sample...

He blasted blacks who hurl the same racial slurs at each other that are used by racist whites, and who don't take advantage of the opportunities that were so hard won by the heroes and heroines of the civil rights movement. And he offered no soothing words for black men who passed up the chance to get a high school education, but now vent their anger at not being able to earn a good living on the women in their lives.

Good advice, but it continues to grate on black sensibilities. At a conference of black newspaper columnists I attended in Cambridge, Mass., last week, some of my colleagues said they thought Cosby's criticisms unfairly blamed the black victims of racism for their situation. Mostly, however, they worried that his comments would fan white people's negative feelings about blacks, without forcing them to acknowledge the role that racism and unequal opportunity plays in causing this kind of behavior.

But I don't think Cosby needs any lectures from us on the hard times blacks have had in this country. And as Elmer Smith, a Philadelphia Daily News columnist, pointed out, we black columnists had spent a lot of time discussing Cosby, without discussing any of the issues he's raised.

We blacks tend to point the finger first and engage in self-examination later. In discussing our problems, white racism is often our default position, even though the real issue for many of us these days isn't lack of opportunity, but the failure to take advantage of the opportunities available.

We also need to get over our obsession with what white people think of us. Last week Cosby said he doesn't care what they think. "I'm addressing my people, period."

It's appropriate that the man who in many ways has become a father figure to both black and white Americans is now speaking to his immediate "family" in the way a tough, but loving father does. Which is to say, "Shape up and get yourselves together, or else stop complaining." I, for one, appreciate his counsel. And a father who tells his family the truth shouldn't worry about whether the neighbors like it or not.