Saturday night was a time for laughing, so no one expected funnyman-turned-social-critic Bill Cosby to continue his crusade to compel young black people to -- I know this sounds antiquated -- be a credit to their race.

The hundreds of people at UNC's Memorial Hall were there to honor retired UNC journalism prof Chuck Stone and to hear The Cos talk about marriage, his childhood and his brother Russell. The only pain anyone felt was in their sides from laughing so hard, especially when he told about the "whuppings" he and his brothers received from their mother.

Cosby's refusal to blame racism for every problem confronting blacks has, not surprisingly, subjected him to whuppings of another sort -- verbal attacks from blacks who think it's treasonous to admit publicly that sometimes we're our own worst enemy.

Only a fool -- or Armstrong Williams and Clarence Thomas -- would suggest that racism doesn't still exist, but only another kind of fool would suggest that it is our biggest problem.

Michael Eric Dyson, a former UNC prof whom I know and like, has turned criticizing Cosby into a cottage industry. He wrote a book -- or, more accurately, a 288-page diatribe -- titled "Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?" He accuses Cosby of being a member of the elite "Afristocracy" dissing poor blacks, whom he refers to as the struggling "ghettocracy."

Oy. The dude even suggested that Cosby was hypocritical for espousing education to young blacks because Cosby himself dropped out of high school.

Yeah, but he went back.

Actor Hill Harper recently attacked Cosby's intraracial criticism, citing the buffoonishness of a character in "Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids" as a reason Cosby should not throw stones at real-life buffoonery.

Even Greg Anthony, a pro basketball commentator whose expertise begins and ends with his ability to explain how Kobe slipped the double-team, suggested that perhaps Cosby was suffering age-related dementia.

"The Boondocks" comic strip creator Aaron McGruder did a series of strips on Cosby, finishing up his commentary on what he considered Cosby's erratic behavior with the conclusion that "black people drove Bill Cosby crazy."

Funny line, but Cosby isn't crazy. He's just angry. So am I. So should every black person who has respect for the sacrifices others made for us to have the options we have today.

Cosby flew in Saturday from Atlanta, where earlier that day his message of personal and parental responsibility received standing ovations from the thousands attending the 20th anniversary of the 100 Black Men of America convention.

I didn't get a chance to talk to Cosby after Saturday's performance. He was out the door and possibly in the air back to Philadelphia before the applause and laughter subsided.

Professor Stone, a 40-year Cosby friend, told me Cosby is undeterred by the criticism.

Stone said he had called Cosby "just to talk" back when the chorus against him was loudest. "I said 'Hang in there, Bill; you're absolutely right.' I heard him call out to his wife 'Hey Camille, Chuck Stone agrees with me.' "

Hey Camille, so do a lot of us.

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