Michael Eric Dyson (32 page)

(or, Do White People Matter?)

1
Thomas B. Morgan, “I Am Two People, Man,”
Life
, April 11, 1969, p. 74.

2
Sut Jhally and Justin Lewis,
Enlightened Racism:
The Cosby Show
, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream
(Boulder: Westview Press, 1992), pp. 71-72.

3
Ibid.

4
Lawrence Linderman, “Playboy Interview: Bill Cosby—a Candid Conversation with the Kinetic Comedian-Actor-Singer-Entrepreneur,”
Playboy
, May 1969.

5
As for his dissertation, there was little doubt that most folk weren’t going to read it; thus, his impassioned indictments of racist educational institutions could be safely made without fear of reprisal from this color-blind comedian. As for his television special, it might be
“excused” by those who disagreed with its viewpoint as an understandable exercise in ethnic cheerleading that, after all, all other groups, and their leading lights, might be accused of doing in one form or another.

6
After saying that Cosby didn’t speak out on racial matters, a reporter noted that even “casual acquaintances know him simply as a good-humored cigar smoker who plays pick-up basketball, wears khakis and sweaters, takes vocal pride in his beautiful wife, Camille, and two daughters, and contends with a 25-year-old Spanish-style house in Beverly Hills which leaks a little when it rains.” “Color-Blind Comic,”
Newsweek
, May 20, 1968, p. 92.

7
Ibid., p. 84.

8
Morgan, p. 74.

9
For King’s sermon comparing blacks and Japanese Americans forced into concentration camps, see Michael Eric Dyson,
I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.
(New York: The Free Press, 2000), p. 39.

10
Linderman, p. 86.

11
Ibid.

12
Ibid., p. 86.

13
Ibid., p. 170.

14
Ibid., p. 175.

15
“Call to Action,”
Detroit Free Press
, January 17, 2005.

16
Kevin Gaines,
Uplifting the Race: Black Leadership, Politics, and Culture in the Twentieth Century
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997), pp. 1-2.

17
Ibid, p. 2.

18
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham,
Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1993), pp. 14-15.

19
Ibid., p. 14.

20
See Megan Taylor Shockley,
“We, Too, Are Americans”: African American Women in Detroit and Richmond, 1940-54
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004), pp. 5-6.

21
Shane White and Graham White,
Stylin’: African American
Expressive Culture from Its Beginnings to the Zoot Suit
(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1998), p. 230.

22
Ibid.

23
Cited in Ibid.

24
William Ryan,
Blaming the Victim
[Revised, Updated Edition] (New York: Vintage, 1976).

25
Joe R. Feagin
, Subordinating the Poor: Welfare and American Beliefs
(Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1975), p. 95.

26
Ibid.; Matthew O. Hunt, “The Individual, Society or Both? A Comparison of Black, Latino, and White Beliefs About the Causes of Poverty.”
Social Forces,
September 1996, p. 293.

27
Hunt.

28
Ibid.

29
Ibid., p. 8.

30
Cited in Archie Epps, ed.,
The Speeches of Malcolm X at Harvard
[New York: Morrow, 1968], p. 171.

31
Robert V. Robinson and Wendell Bell, “Equality, Success, and Social Justice in England and the United States.”
American Sociological Review
43:125-143. Cited in Hunt.

32
Herbert H. Hyman and Charles R. Wright,
Education’s Lasting Influence on Values
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979). Cited in Hunt.

33
Hunt, p. 7.

34
Ibid., p. 11.

35
Ibid.

36
Ibid., p. 12.

37
Ibid.

38
Ibid.

39
Bishop T. D. Jakes, part of forum, “Bill Cosby Can’t Say That, Can He?”
Dallas Morning News
, June 3, 2004.

40
Robin D. G. Kelley,
Yo’ Mama’s Disfunktional: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1997), p. 96.

41
Dorothy Day wanted a world where it was easier for all of us to behave decently. The quote was cited by Studs Terkel. See “An Hour with Legendary Broadcaster and Author Studs Terkel,” an interview
on Pacifica Radio’s
Democracy Now
, hosted by Amy Goodman, November 4, 2003.

42
Cited in Walter Higgins, “The State of Black America, Part Five: Our Empathy Deficit,”
BlackAmericaWeb.com
, January 19, 2005.
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/stateof/empathy118

43
Jonah Goldberg, “The Cos Takes on Benign Neglect,”
National Review Online
, July 12, 2004,
www.nationalreview.com
.

44
Cited in “Ranting and Raving; Personal Responsibility Talk Shouldn’t End with Cosby,” in
The Houston Chronicle
, May 26, 2004, p. 28.

45
The O’Reilly Factor
, Fox News Network, January 14, 2005;
Hannity & Colmes
, Fox News Network, January 14, 2005.

46
Leonard Pitts, “Perfection Fatigue: Cosby’s tired and frustrated to boot,”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
, July 10, 2004, p. 15A.

47
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “Breaking the Silence,”
New York Times
, August 1, 2004, Section 4, p. 11.

48
Camille Cosby, “America Taught My Son’s Killer to Hate Blacks,”
USA Today
, July 9, 1998, p. 15A.

49
“Camille Cosby Responds Back . . . ,”
afrikan.net
, August 26, 1998.

50
Cameron Jackson, “Cosby Encourages Black Youths,”
New University Newspaper
, January 10, 2005.

51
Star Parker, “Cosby Must Not Back Off,”
The Cincinnati Post
, July 12, 2004, p. A10.

52
“Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World: Preamble,” in Manning Marable and Leith Mullings, Editors,
Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal: An African American Anthology
(Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2000), p. 261.

53
“An Appeal to the Conscience of the Black Race to See Itself,” Ibid., p. 265.

54
W.E.B. Du Bois, “Separation and Self-Respect,”
W.E.B. Du Bois: A Reader
, edited by David Levering Lewis (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995), p. 560.

55
Martin Luther King, Jr., “The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness,” in James Melvin Washington, Editor,
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
(San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986), p. 148.

56
Ibid., p. 149.

57
Ibid., p. 150.

58
Ibid., p. 149.

59
Cited in Robert McClory, “Rev. Jesse Jackson’s ‘Push’ to ‘Excel’”
Illinois Issues
, May 1978.

60
Jesse Jackson, Speech before National Press Club Luncheon, February 17, 1994.

61
“Jesse Jackson: The Mother Jones Interview,” by Douglas Foster,
Mother Jones
, March/April 2000.

62
Cited in Walter Higgins, “The State of Black America, Part Five: Our Empathy Deficit,”
BlackAmericaWeb.com
, January 19, 2005.
http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/stateof/empathy118
.

63
Luke 12:48.

64
W.E.B. Du Bois,
The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, [1896] 1996), pp. 392-393.

1
“The Congressional Black Caucus—Ossie Davis & Bill Cosby.” B455L
Black Forum.
A sound recording, 1972

Accidental blackness strategy

of Cosby

description/examples

“Acting white,”

Adams, Charles

Adams, Yolanda

African Grove

Afristocracy.
See
Black elite

AIDS and black males

Aldridge, Ira

Anderson, Elijah

Anti-intellectualism

“acting white” and

blacks vs. whites

overview

studies on

through history

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life
(Hofstadter)

Antitype stage of black identity

benefits of

black views of

Cosby and

description/examples

hip-hop culture and

Archetype stage of black identity

Cosby and

description/examples

hip-hop culture and

as positive

Baggy pants

Baker, Ella

Baldwin, James

on Black English

Gayz and

as Ghettocentrist

Barnes, Leroy “Nicky,”

Barro, Robert J.

Baum, Robert M.

Bell Curve, The
(Smith and Murray)

Beloved
(Morrison)

Berry, Faith

criticism of Cosby

on
I Spy

on
The Bill Cosby Show

Bertrand, Marianne

Bethune, Mary McCleod

Black English and

critics on

description

race and

Black authenticity

authenticity anxiety

black youth fashion

complexity of

Cosby’s comments on

styles of black identity and

The Cosby Show
and

tribalism and

what is real

Black consumerism

Chin’s study/findings on

Cosby and materialism

Cosby’s criticism of

defense of

Black elite

Du Bois on

irresponsibility and

“policing” of poor blacks

responsibility to help the poor

Black English

Cosby’s use of

description

function of

James Baldwin on

origins of
See also
Ebonics

Black fashion

baggy pants

black elite/black poor

blacks showing deference and

of black youth

Cosby’s criticism of

early black musicians and

early white criticism of

“ghetto chic”/“ghetto couture,”

Great Migration and

hip-hop and

history of

identity and

as performance art

of poor

rap music and

sympathy dress and

war against urban black poor and

whites and (in 1800s)

Black female religious circles

Black identity

complexity of

Du Bois on

genres of

as positive or negative

stages of

status of

strategies of

styles of
See also
Black authenticity

Black inferiority myth

Black names/naming

African names/nicknames

“African survivals,”

after slavery

behavior problems and

black pride and

brand names and

Cosby’s criticism of

criticism of

discrimination and

by Gullahs

popular personalities with unique names

Sambo

slave naming

slavery and

socioeconomic status and

unique names

unique names/gender

unique names studies

Black parenting

comments on (early 1900s)

Cosby’s criticism of

Body modifications

Africa and

of blacks

body painting

Cosby’s criticism of

criticism of

early cultures and

piercings

scarification

tattooing

Body painting

Bonds of Atlanta

Bonvicini, Joan

Boykin, Keith

Brokaw, David

Brown, Sterling

goal of
See also
Cosby’s speech at
Brown v. Board of Education
celebration

Bruce, Lenny

Butts, Calvin

Cosby on

critics on

description

Calloway, Cab

Cambridge, Godfrey

Camden, New Jersey schools

Canady, Michael

Carmichael, Stokely (Kwame Toure)

“Cellblocks or Classrooms? The Funding of Higher Education and Corrections and Its Impact on African American Men” (JPI)

Charles, Ray

Chicago public schools

Chin, Elizabeth

Christon, Lawrence