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

~ (Author) "For most of his career Bill Cosby has avoided race with religious zeal..." (more)
Key Phrases: poor black parents, black aristocrats, poor black folk, Bill Cosby, New York, The Cosby Show (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Last May, iconic comedian Cosby raised a storm with a dyspeptic rant about the self-destructive failures of the black underclass: "knuckleheads" without parents who "put their clothes on backward," speak bad English and go to jail. To pop culture intellectual Dyson—author of books on Marvin Gaye, Tupac Shakur and Martin Luther King Jr.—this was the most blatant manifestation of an attitude shared by the "Afristocracy." With empathy and energy, Dyson takes Cosby at his word and dissects his arguments—as well as the comedian's own conduct—in order to combat Afristocratic dogma. While Dyson is merciless in assessing both, he takes the opportunity to explore a host of hot-button issues in black culture, from illegitimacy to faux African names, citing data and making his own case for black culture as adapted to a dominant white society that systematically puts up barriers to opportunity. The prolific Dyson has already generated controversy with what finally amounts to an evisceration of a major black figure, but that seems to be precisely the point. Despite the specificity and ferocity of Dyson's critique (which draws on allegations that Cosby sexually abused a woman and fathered an illegitimate child, and understates the race politics of The Cosby Show), Cosby ends up more of a straw man than take-down victim, as Dyson celebrates the "persistent freedom of black folk." 12-city author tour; 40-city radio satellite tour. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

When Bill Cosby, iconic figure of American fatherhood, began criticizing the child-raising attributes of the black urban poor, he provoked a storm of discussion within the black community. Dyson places the comedian in the tradition of black elites, referred to as "Afristocrats," who were highly critical of poor blacks for making the race look bad in front of white folks. Dyson's real strength is in explaining some of the social factors that contribute to the actions of the poor. Dyson critiques the changes within Cosby himself, a man whose great insights on the social causes of black poverty made him comforting to whites and comfortable with whites. Dyson critiques Cosby's own failures at parenting: one daughter who fell victim to drug abuse, and another daughter, born of an extramarital affair, whom he supported but later charged with extortion. Dyson is thorough and places Cosby in check, but his book still begs for discussion of the consequences of social dysfunctionality beyond historical repetition and the imperfections of America's most popular race-neutral dad. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Basic Civitas Books (January 23, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465017207
• ISBN-13: 978-0465017201
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #314,490 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shooting the Messenger, January 10, 2006

By	southsiderosie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind (Hardcover)

As an African-American woman, I am deeply disturbed by the state of my community today, and some of the more destructive tendencies that help perpetuate the situation. However, as an African-American woman who also works for a labor union comprised of mostly poor, minority janitors, I am keenly aware of the structural deficiencies across American society that make it very difficult for the poor to even get along, much less get ahead. Therefore, it was with great interest that I picked up this book at the local library; Cosby's comments spawned debate at home, in the press, and in my workplace, and I was eager to read what Michael Eric Dyson - an often engaging writer and speaker - had to say on the issue. Unfortunately, this is a deeply flawed - and ultimately unfulfilling - book.

The main problem with "Is Bill Cosby Right" is the apparent answer to this question, based on the author's response, is: "Probably not, but more importantly, he's a race traitor and a jerk". Over half of the book is dedicated to knocking Bill Cosby personally, not directly addressing his comments. When you spend a chapter of a book rehashing allegations that played out on the National Enquirer, you're in trouble. I had to question Professor Dyson's reasoning even more when he chose to contrast Mr. Cosby with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who he held up as apparent models of black activism (personally I am no great fan of either).

The energy the author spent attacking Cosby would have been much better spent outlining why Cosby was so wrong in the first place. Dyson's arguments may be rooted in hard facts, but he sure doesn't make them abundantly clear for the reader - an irony considering his criticism of what he felt were wild, baseless accusations from Cosby. The bulk of Dyson's response is based on his theories about what contingent of the black race a person is coming from - the "Afristocracy", etc. Clearly his sympathies lie with those "jubilant performers on the street", but creating your own theory to counter someone else's theory is not the most cogent or effective weapon to shred their argument - a missed opportunity for the author.

The bottom line is, like the old saying goes, "Just because he's crazy don't mean he's not right". However one feels about Bill Cosby's handling of racial issues in the past, his relationship with his children, or his television shows, the real issue here is the validity of his comments when it comes to the state of the black community today. Unfortunately, instead of engaging the content of the message, Dyson seems content to simply attack the messenger, making for a sadly unfulfilling and disengaging read.

65 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I'd give it negative stars if I could, August 10, 2006

By	M. Henderson "Snigglewedgit" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind (Hardcover)

I am a professional black woman from humble roots. I'm about to read a book that counters this one, and I wanted to at least get the author's point of view.

I got to page eight. At page eight, I couldn't take the socialist rantings and the "Black people are victims," whining.

I am of what Mr. Dyson considers the "Afrostocary": I am a black woman with a college degree and a professional job. I worked my tail off to get where I am, and I refuse to be anyone's victim. I will not apologize for that.

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Trench Mentality, January 7, 2007

By	The Mad Reviewer (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews

Dyson seems to take glee in chronicling Bill Cosby's dysfunctional family, but how does this discredit Cosby? Multitudes of upper class white families have problem children, too, but fewer than in impoverished white families. Why would it be different for African-Americans? If children with the financial advantages Bill Cosby can provide do not ALL turn out well, then doesn't it stand to reason that those without those advantages need to confront the hard truth or resign themselves to failure?

But the more critical point missed by this book, and many reviews of it, is that both sides of this debate are so entrenched in their positions (the battle of "quit being a victim" versus "quit being a hypocritical apologist") that nobody seems to see that both sides can co-exist. For example, the fact someone with a "made up" black name gets passed over for a job interview establishes not only that racism is still prevalent, but also that parents who give these names to their children foolishly handicap them.

Likewise, the fact that African-Americans have to sacrifice more of their "cultural identity" to succeed in a currently majority-white America does not conflict with the fact that the "cultural identity" Cosby asks them to give up (broken speech, bling bling, sagging pants, etc.) has no basis in African society. In other words, it's "preservation value" as a true cultural artifact is essentially non-existent. (As an aside, Africa has 54 countries and hundreds of languages within its boundaries. Those who believe there is a monolithic culture that can be called "African" should be called "nostalgically ignorant," as they cling to something that never existed). While recognizing it is understandable that a people who do not know from which culture they come because of savage brutality would adopt all national possibilities and act as if they are complementary, it also is true the "African" in "African-American" is, for most American youth, a political label devoid of any true connection to the motherland.

The fact that many "urban schools" (code for "predominantly black schools") do not have dollar-for-dollar equality with some "suburban schools" (code for "mostly white, and sometimes with high-achieving Asians or other minorities") does not contradict the fact that in many states, some urban schools with MORE dollars per capita than suburban schools still do worse in every measure of educational achievement. Dyson, to his credit, is methodical, but it seems only in the direction of reaching his preordained conclusion. He doesn't answer the question posed by another comedian, Chris Rock, "What's the point of buying new books when nobody was reading the old ones?" (How Rock has escaped Cosby's critics while saying the exact same thing in a "blacker" and comedic way is a whole book of its own). Rock, like Cosby, recognizes that education is about attitude, and because black people have to achieve more to end up in the same place, if they would rather play ball or hang out then read, they're going to fail.

Ultimately, instead of widening a schism between one of America's most successful black men and himself, Dyson might have written a book about how two sides can co-exist. After all, the attitudes of many inner-city and lower class African-Americans were ingrained by a dependency-breeding, paternalistic, condescending welfare state, so yes, African-Americans are victims. This does not conflict with the fact that these attitudes are absolutely self-defeating, or put in a way Dyson may defend more, "f***ed up, dawg."

As for the book Dyson wrote, he gets points for contributing to the debate. But whether you "like it" depends on your trench. If you're in Dyson's, you'll enjoy his slingshot to the head of the hypocritical, personally scandalous, elitist, whitewashed giant Cosby has become. If you're in Cosby's, you'll see a pop cultural fanatic playing academic while pulverizing a straw man with one arm tied behind its back.