According to The New York Times, Bill Cosby's "inflammatory" comments last Monday in Constitution Hall continue to roil the waters of conventional thought.
Bill Cosby, known mostly as a genial father figure who contributes to a wide range of black philanthropic causes, found himself immersed in controversy this week. After making inflammatory remarks on Monday about the behavior and values of some poor black people, Mr. Cosby said yesterday that he had made the comments out of concern and because of his belief that fighting racial injustice must also include accepting personal responsibility.Mr. Cosby spoke yesterday after a week of discussion on the Internet, on talk shows, on radio programs and in newspaper columns about his comments Monday night at a gala at Constitution Hall in Washington commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education desegregation decision. He has been attacked and applauded for saying that "the lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal."
Michael Bowen is bemused by the public reaction, especially what he's hearing from the Right.
Lots of conservative commentators show how few blackfolks they know by being dead flat shocked by such talk. Over here in the Old School it was our bread and butter.
Actually, Cosby seems to be drawing more shock from the other side of the cultural divide. Again, via The New York Times:
... cultural critic Michael Eric Dyson said that Mr. Cosby's comments "betray classist, elitist viewpoints that are rooted in generational warfare." Mr. Dyson, a professor of religious studies and African studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said Mr. Cosby was "ill-informed on the critical and complex issues that shape people's lives."Mr. Cosby's comments, he added, "only reinforce suspicions about black humanity."
On this topic, and many others, misunderstandings and public posturing abound, but Bowen offers a useful reminder from the real world.
Cosby is not engage[d] in [class] warfare, it's simply the kind of thing you hear from blackfolks with strong families and values... I may or may not get into a detailed analysis of the statements and the reactions, but all I'm saying right now is this. This is not new.Posted by Alan at May 23, 2004 01:14 PM