The Pound Cake speech (or Ghettoesburg Address)[1][2] was given by Bill Cosby on May 17, 2004, during an NAACP Legal Defense Fund awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.

[3][4] In the speech, which was subsequently widely disseminated and analyzed, Cosby was highly critical of the black community in the United States.

He criticized the use of African-American Vernacular English, the prevalence of single-parent families and illegitimacy, perceived emphasis on frivolous and conspicuous consumption at the expense of necessities, lack of responsibility, and other behaviors.

Bill Cosby also covers the issues of dropout rates and young people going to jail.

In the same speech, he had praise for the efforts of the Nation of Islam in dealing with crime in the cities, saying: When you want to clear your neighborhood out, first thing you do is go get the black Muslims, bean pies and all.

With names like Shaniqua, Shaligua, Mohammed and all that crap and all of them are in jail.Cosby again came under sharp criticism, and was largely unapologetic for his stance on the issue, when he made similar remarks during a speech at a July 1 meeting of the Rainbow-Push Coalition that commemorated the anniversary of Brown v. Board, where he said "... you've got to stop beating up your women because you can't find a job, because you didn't want to get an education and now you're [earning] minimum wage.

"[7][8] During that speech, he admonished apathetic blacks for not assisting or concerning themselves with the individuals who are involved with crime or have counterproductive aspirations.

Dyson stated that Cosby built up years of mainstream credibility by ignoring race in his comedy routines and in his television programs, but then chose, with the Pound Cake speech, to address the issues of race by chastising poor blacks rather than by defending them.

[11] In 2015, eleven years later, in circumstances described as "ironic",[12][3] the speech was cited by Judge Eduardo C. Robreno as an example of Cosby's role as a "public moralist", when he unsealed court records to reveal Cosby's admissions of infidelity and giving Quaaludes to women prior to sexually assaulting them.

[3][13] Robreno wrote that, by volunteering to the public "his views on, among other things, childrearing, family life, education, and crime",[3][14] Cosby had "narrowed the zone of privacy that he is entitled to claim".

[12] The motion was brought by the Associated Press and the admissions gave rise to further allegations that Cosby had committed numerous sexual assaults.