Michael Eric Dyson by Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind? Read Free Book Online Page A

community.”
    — Jet
     
    “The primary value that [Dyson’s] book serves is to hold the mirror of historical, sociological, political and moral reflection so that one can engage in the debate in a more judicious and less emotional manner.”
    —Byron Williams, Oakland Tribune
     
    “Dyson is at least aware that class conflict in the black community goes back to the very beginning. The most striking thing about the discussion that has followed the Cosby comments is the extent to which even well-educated Americans have been surprised to learn that class antagonism exists in the black community at all. This entrenched ignorance about black life was a long time in the making, and is only now being dislodged.”
    —Brent Staples, New York Times

Also by Michael Eric Dyson
    MERCY MERCY ME:
THE ART, LOVES AND DEMONS OF MARVIN GAYE
     
    THE MICHAEL ERIC DYSON READER
     
    OPEN MIKE:
REFLECTIONS ON PHILOSOPHY, RACE, SEX,
CULTURE AND RELIGION
     
    WHY I LOVE BLACK WOMEN
     
    HOLLER IF YOU HEAR ME:
SEARCHING FOR TUPAC SHAKUR
     
    I MAY NOT GET THERE WITH YOU:
THE TRUE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
     
    RACE RULES: NAVIGATING THE COLOR LINE
     
    BETWEEN GOD AND GANGSTA RAP:
BEARING WITNESS TO BLACK CULTURE
     
    MAKING MALCOLM:
THE MYTH AND MEANING OF MALCOLM X
     
    REFLECTING BLACK:
AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL CRITICISM



To
    The Rev. Dr. Frederick George Sampson, III
The Rev. Orlando Arnold
Ms. Delores Sampson
Ms. Tommye Arnold
Dear friends who allowed a young, poor father
to live with them in Detroit
     
    To
    The Rev. Dr. William Douglas Booth and
Mrs. Ruth Booth
Beloved Second Father in the Ministry
and Motherly Conscience
Who fed me and taught me the true meaning
of ministry and manhood
and
The Rev. Dr. Riggins R. Earl, Jr., and
the late Mrs. Lovelene Earl
Marvelous Mentor and Soul Encourager
Who fed me and first inspired a young pastor
to pursue a Ph.D.
     
    And to
    Mwata Omotiyo Dyson, M.D.
Beloved son of the heart, who, despite being
told no three times
Pursued his dream and went from anonymous
to Anesthesiologist
Your Mother and I are so proud

Preface
    The Afristocracy Versus the Ghettocracy
    On May 17, 2004, Bill Cosby stepped to the podium in Washington, D.C.’s Constitution Hall. The famed entertainer was to receive an award for his philanthropic endeavors during a gala event commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, sponsored by the NAACP, the NAACP Legal Fund, and Howard University. When Cosby opened his mouth, instead of lauding the efforts of civil rights pioneers, he bitterly scorned poor blacks for “ not holding up their end in this deal.” The Washington Post , which broke the story, reports that Cosby lamented that activists “marched and were hit in the face with rocks . . . to get an education, and now we’ve got these knuckleheads walking around,” referring to the “lower economic people” of the race. Cosby accused them of “not parenting,” and said that they
“cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit”—meaning those in jail and prison—while failing to prevent their children’s criminal behavior. “Where were you when he was two? Where were you when he was twelve? Where were you when he was eighteen, and how come you didn’t know that he had a pistol? And where is his father?”
    Cosby also attacked black youth who “put their clothes on backward: Isn’t that a sign of something gone wrong?” He assailed the young black girl who “got all type of needles [piercing] and things going through her body. What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a damned thing about Africa.” The venerable father figure also lambasted black parents who give their children “names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Muhammad and all that crap,” adding that “all of ’em are in jail.” Cosby repeatedly accosted the black poor—with a few black millionaire ball players thrown in for good