Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?

by Michael Eric Dyson

Book Overview

Nothing exposed the class and generational divide in black America more starkly than Bill Cosby's now-infamous assault on the black poor when he received an NAACP award in the spring of 2004. The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465017193
• ISBN13: 9780465017195
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Basic Civitas Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A REVIEW FROM ONE WHO ADMIRES BILL COSBY

First of all let me say that I admire Dr. Cosby for his very positive depiction of blacks in his work as a comedian and actor. When I first heard excerpts of his speech last year, I was one who was beating his drums saying, "say it Mr. Cosby, it's about time some of these knuckleheads are told the truth". So when I first got this book, I read it with a slight degree of trepidation, because I was scared I was going to read another dissertation on how "everything wrong with black people is due to some form of institutional racism". If it were not for the fact that I admire and respect Dr. Dyson's work, I would not have picked it up in the first place (although, I must say the title did amuse me). But slowly, however, as I read the book, I realized that the problem with my cries of self-righteousness upon first hearing excerpts of Dr. Cosby's speech was that I had not heard the whole speech and had not put his words in the right context of reality. Unless you read the book in its entirety, you will not get the point that Dyson is trying to make. It is somewhat hypocritical for Cosby to heap all this blame on working and poor black families in light of his own struggles growing up, and considering many of the social constraints that make it challenging to raise a black child in today's America. At first glance, you would think that Dyson is trying to give an excuse for all irrational behavior by black youth and their parents, but this is not the case at all. He goes through a lot of research to present facts that make you think and at least have more empathy before giving the "I-made-it-from-nothing-to-something-so-why-can't-you" speech. I find it very troubling that in America today, there seem to be two broad schools of thought in the political arena, without room for compromise: first, there is the "let-the-government-solve-all-you-problems-for-you-because-you-are-a-victim-of-racism-or-cirscumstance" school of thought, and then there is the "pull-yourself-up-by-the-boostraps-because-I-did-with-only-a-fraction-of-the-resources-you-have" school of thought. We often label these philosophies liberal and conservative respectively. But the truth of the matter (as Dr. Dyson suggests in his book) is that the solutions to the problem of bridging the socio-economic gap between poor blacks and the black middle class are not always as simple as getting your child "hooked on phonics". Yes, education is an essential part of the growing process, but there are several constraints within the education system within urban communities that must be addressed. Whether our kids are buying $500 tennis shoes (as Cosby suggests), or wearing their pants backwards, or have names like Shaneka, Lakwanda (etc) is a secondary issue and does not address the issues that contribute to the hopelessness plaguing many of our poor communities. Do we ever examine the fact that an aggressive capitalistic business empire would rather your kids buy those expensive tennis shoes as they

Individual Volition Only Goes So Far...

The strength of Dyson's core argument is that while yes, individual drive and determination certainly can't hurt, it is NOT enough when it comes to poverty and racism, which are BUILT INTO the structure of society, not "moral failings", etc. Racism is commonly viewed as being a matter of "hate" or "personal prejudice" versus being a part of how things function. The solution to turn around racism is often peddled as "changing awareness" or building "tolerance" one person at a time, etc. rather than social activism. I don't know about you, but much like Dyson expresses, we can't afford to wait around while people decide, one at a time, to conform to some set of morals (most often white and Judeo-Christian) or economic "bootstrap-ism." We'd be waiting forever for social change, which is what certain segments of our population (read: the ruling elite) want. Also, the bootstrappers never have a solution to this kind of problem: what if you have a community of hard workers, who behave "morally," (by the typical definition- don't challenge authority, obey the law, etc. and so forth) but the factories in their community (the only source of dependable and livable-wage employment) decide to pack up and head to China (because factories are now leaving once-cheap Mexico for even cheaper i.e. prison-wages). This type of situation illustrates the larger forces than individual will alone and the need for workers to agitate and form solidarity with each other versus trying to cozy up to the boss and pretend that they share the boss' interests. I'm sorry, but this superficial cult of individuality (including the classic chestnut "poverty is a spiritual problem, not an economic one") has led to the reduced rights of workers while giving a "hand-up" to major corporations and wealthy folks, who face an endless amount of subsidies at the expense of the working and middle classes. The economy is basically a friend to the top 20% of income-earners. Whenever the other 80% (who aren't under some sort of delusion they share the same interests as the affluent) point this out, they are seen as "whiners" or "ungrateful," etc. Do the United Airlines employees who are taking a deep cut in pensions not have a right to point this out?! Oh wait, I guess they should read Horatio Alger versus Dyson!

A Great Read

I truly advise anyone reviewing the latest literay work by Dr. Dyson to actually read the book. This book is an intellectual criticism of Bill Cosby's comments made a year ago at the celebration of the Brown vs. Board of Education case. This book takes an indepth look at the causes of the black poors' inablity to achieve upward mobility; the causes including lack of personal responsibility and systemic oppression. I advise that you read this book with an unbiased, objective frame of mind.

Great Book; Angry Responses.

I suppose reading the comments on this book is even more fun than reading the book itself. However, I suggest that all read the book. The comments on this thread must be a horror scene straight out of "Attack Of Lying Racist People" or something; but I digress... The Book: This work is a response to the statements of Bill Cosby which revolve around the idea of "lowe economic black people" not holding up their own end of "the deal". The Good Points: Dyson calls Cosby out on the carpet in several ways: 1. He points out that Cosby's statistic of a 50% drop out rate amongst black students is flat out wrong. He shows that the black drop out rate has been decreasing since the 60s while the white drop out rate has slightly increased in the same period. He notes that the dropout rates in highschool for both groups are now about 14% and 9% respectively. 2. He dismisses Cosby's irrelevant jibe at the names African Americans give to their children. In a Free society, shouldnt people be at liberty to name their children what they please? He dismisses the ignorance about "made up" names. Is there any name that isnt made up? He shows up Cosby's huge ignorance when he points out that Cosby thinks that "Mohammed" is a made up African name! Dyson even bothers to provide a link through antiquity for the practice of African Americans; showing that there is cultural narrative that informs these practices. 3. He critiques Cosby's ill informed attack supposed Black anti Intellectualism. He opines that desire is a product of environment. He raises Hofstadter's brilliant work as proof that antiIntellectualism is rife, not just in black communities; but in every sphere of American life. 4. He dismisses the irrelevant charge leveled by Cosby against Ebonics. He again shows, that while it might be insufficient for success in a society not under the control of Blacks; there is not inherently illegitimate about Ebonics. He points out James Baldwin's opinion on the same issue; which leads us to ask Cosby; is James Baldwin also one of those not holding up his own part of the deal? Dyson reaffirms Ebonics. Besides, I might add - In a country where the President (Bush)is about as Illiterate about the English language as any other Redneck; isnt it a tad distasteful to attack poor Black children who never had any opportunities for "not holding up their own end of the deal"? With all the money and education that Dubya has had; why cant he speak proper English? Nucular, my foot! Dyson again points out that the aim is to make Blacks appreciate both Ebonics and Standard English. However; the cultural fascists will have none of this in their quest to homogenize and hegemonize. 5. He touches upon the widely publicized Fordham and Ogbu study which accuses Blacks of not pursuing education because that is equivalent to "acting white". He dismisses this charge by referecing Tyson and Darity as well as other researchers who studied more schools than Fordham and Ogbu ever did (the d

Simply Amazing

I want to commend Dyson for another excellent book. Not only does he dissect the extreme and ignorant things that were said by Cosby a year ago, his book helps us to understand the larger problems that exist in the institutional framework. This great piece of work lets us know that we cannot bully the "irresponsible poor" without first looking at the larger society. It is extremely ignorant to make the assumption that it is purely the responsibility of Black households to do everything. That is only a piece of the pie, the other sixty percent is outside work that needs to be done. Dyson argues, for those that will read, that of course mothers need to take care of their children, of course fathers need to get the heck up and raise their kids, of course parents need to be at the pta meeting and the ballot booth, but it is the responsibility of the school to make sure that they are being taught Science instead of paper football, it is the responsibility of public policy makers to address the problems of inner city schools getting half the funding that suburban schools get. Yeah, I can raise a darn good child, but if the larger framework isn't taken care of then it will continue to be the same ol song as it has. Finally, my personal opinion, I am tired of this skewed notion of the underclass. There is now something called the working poor (a great majority of Black people), those that spend 40-50 hours a week even at this rate won't get over the poverty line. Theses issues are something that take more than hard work and diligence on Blacks part(even though it takes hard-work and diligence). I am merely sick and tired of the assumption that to challenge the larger framework of society (i.e. blaming the man) one must let the "lower economic people off the hook" this is not the case. We are fighting a double fight, one to uplift our own people by forcing them to become responsible, while simultaneously challenging the very dirt that they, I, we as Black people stand on! Ivan ~20 yrs old, Black Male