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Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?
Michael Eric Dyson took America by storm with this provocative expose of the class and generational divide that is tearing black America apart. 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 comedian-cum-social critic lamented the lack of parenting, poor academic performance, sexual promiscuity, and criminal behavior among what he called the “knuckleheads” of the African-American community. Even more surprising than his comments, however, was the fact that his audience laughed and applauded. Best-selling writer, preacher, and scholar Michael Eric Dyson uses the Cosby brouhaha as a window on a growing cultural divide within the African-American community. According to Dyson, the “Afristocracy”—lawyers, physicians, intellectuals, bankers, civil rights leaders, entertainers, and other professionals—looks with disdain upon the black poor who make up the “Ghettocracy”—single mothers on welfare, the married, single, and working poor, the incarcerated, and a battalion of impoverished children. Dyson explains why the black middle class has joined mainstream America to blame the poor for their troubles, rather than tackling the systemic injustices that shape their lives. He exposes the flawed logic of Cosby’s diatribe and offers a principled defense of the wrongly maligned black citizens at the bottom of the social totem pole. Displaying the critical prowess that has made him the nation’s preeminent spokesman for the hip-hop generation, Dyson challenges us all—black and white—to confront the social problems that the civil rights movement failed to solve.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
20 people are currently reading
449 people want to read
About the author
Michael Eric Dyson
82 books1,147 followersMichael Eric Dyson is an American academic, author, and radio host. He is a professor of sociology at Georgetown University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
October 23, 2007
Dyson's argument, while well written, essentially adds up to 200ish pages of "Nuh-uh!" Seldom are the facts backed up by anything other than Dyson's own opinion, and it was actually hard to read this book because of the author's strictly one-sided view. For instance, despite the fact that there are different classes of black Americans, Dyson believes that black entertainers are obligated (that's right, obligated!) to only portray the struggle of the poor or discriminated, because to portray successful blacks would lull whites into believing that there are no problems in the black community. It is arguments like this that made it so I could only read this book 10 pages at a time before I would get too fed up to continue. If Dyson wanted to dispel Cosby's remarks as ignorant, he certainly has not made his case here.
October 30, 2013
While I do agree with the author that Bill Cosby should not have used such a public platform to shame and demean poor African Americans, I think Bill Cosby's comments proved why he should not be speaking publicly about race and class at all. Dyson seems to believe that Black entertainers have a moral obligation to Black youth to be activists and openly discuss issues that many Black Americans face. He was highly critical of Cosby's colorblind comedy because he did not seek to be a voice for Blacks, just merely make people laugh about issues that all people Black or White face.
He was critical of the Cosby Show because it gave White America a distorted view of what the Black family is, giving the false belief that racism no longer exists. While most Black families do not resemble the Cosbys, most White families do not either. Should we no longer portray the rich or well to do on TV because it gives people a false belief that this is how all people live? In fact, I think having a married, home-owning, highly educated family can show those that have not been exposed to that type of family dynamic that there are people of color that live that way and they can too. Of course there are barriers to success that need to be addressed, but Bill Cosby is not an activist, a sociologist, professor or politician. He is a comedian. Why the pressure to have him speak if he's not going to represent the issues that poor, Black Americans face factually?
He was critical of the Cosby Show because it gave White America a distorted view of what the Black family is, giving the false belief that racism no longer exists. While most Black families do not resemble the Cosbys, most White families do not either. Should we no longer portray the rich or well to do on TV because it gives people a false belief that this is how all people live? In fact, I think having a married, home-owning, highly educated family can show those that have not been exposed to that type of family dynamic that there are people of color that live that way and they can too. Of course there are barriers to success that need to be addressed, but Bill Cosby is not an activist, a sociologist, professor or politician. He is a comedian. Why the pressure to have him speak if he's not going to represent the issues that poor, Black Americans face factually?
February 17, 2009
After skimming over the many reviews on this book it's clear that Dyson elicits a strong reaction from readers, whether it be positive or negative. I had both. Reading Cosby's toxic statements about poor African-Americans is painful, but so is reading Dyson's 242 page picking apart of Cliff Huxtable.
Bill Cosby is a lightening rod for opinions from folks my age, as we were literally raised on him and view him as a father figure. While I disagree with Cosby's current opinions and am fascinated by his 180 turn from statements he made about social justice and systemic racism in his youth, I was incredibly uncomfortable with Dyson digging into Cosby's private life as means to explain why he's such a hypocrite.
That said, Dyson makes many a compelling, common-sense argument about why individual responsibility is not enough in current American society to help poor folks overcome their circumstances and rise up. I guess I'm just not sure that he needed to write a 200+ page book about it, when a shorter essay with fewer personal digs at Cosby would have sufficed. Still, this is fairly essential reading in the Dyson canon considering how often it is cited in social justice conversations - you may just want to hold your nose through much of it.
Bill Cosby is a lightening rod for opinions from folks my age, as we were literally raised on him and view him as a father figure. While I disagree with Cosby's current opinions and am fascinated by his 180 turn from statements he made about social justice and systemic racism in his youth, I was incredibly uncomfortable with Dyson digging into Cosby's private life as means to explain why he's such a hypocrite.
That said, Dyson makes many a compelling, common-sense argument about why individual responsibility is not enough in current American society to help poor folks overcome their circumstances and rise up. I guess I'm just not sure that he needed to write a 200+ page book about it, when a shorter essay with fewer personal digs at Cosby would have sufficed. Still, this is fairly essential reading in the Dyson canon considering how often it is cited in social justice conversations - you may just want to hold your nose through much of it.
January 13, 2009
I liked it but I was disappointed. Instead of using Cosby's "pound cake" speach as a microcosm representative of a certain segment of black society, he largely limits his arguments to every part and parcell of Cosby's rant. This does us much of a disservice because Cosby's words that night were obviously off the cuff and not thought out; and, more importantly, this method of examination give much too much credance to one indiviudual (influential though he may be). It was interesting, however, to learn more of the details (or at least a version of them) on Cosby's "other" life, that has been mostly publicised in tabloids. The comparisons to relations between the classes among black people around the turn of the 19h-20th century was also very interesting but it often felt very much out of place as it was juxtaposed to Cosby comments as rebuttal. All in all some very interesting and new arguments were put forth but i really did not like the presentation and placement of much of it.
December 27, 2007
In light of Mr. Cosby's crusade/tirade against black america this book was born it does a great job of showing cosby the mediocre student with an honourary doctorate that he didn't earn and a civil rights fight that he didn't want to be involved in in his time.That said I do believe many of cosby's points but this book will show the other side of the agument
March 8, 2022
Some boys are just stupid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2024
A CRITIQUE OF COSBY’S 2004 COMMENTS ABOUT BLACK PARENTS, YOUTH
[NOTE: This book was written in 2005, long before Cosby’s conviction and imprisonment in 2018. Somewhat presciently, perhaps, Dyson noted, “Bill Cosby had to cancel a couple of legs of his national tour to lecture poor black folk about their moral failures because news broke of allegations that Cosby had drugged and … assaulted a woman who considered him ‘a great friend and mentor.’” (Pg. 142-143)]
Michael Eric Dyson (born 1958) is Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. He begins this book by quoting Cosby’s May 17, 2004 comments at an awards presentation, where he “assailed black mothers and fathers for their horrible parenting skills, saying they buy their kids ‘$500 sneakers’ but refuse to ‘spend $250 on Hooked on Phonics’”; “Cosby pounded the black poor for their abysmal educational track record, citing their ‘50 percent drop out [rate]’ from high school… On and on Cosby went, berating black parents and youth for their numerous faults, his ramblings united by one theme: the miserable condition of the black poor brought on by their own self-destructive behavior…. Cosby’s remarks are … simply the most recent, and the most visible, shot taken at poor blacks in a more-than-century-old class war in black America… Cosby’s beliefs are most notably espoused by the AFRISTOCRACY: upper-middle-class blacks and the black elite who rain down fire and brimstone upon poor blacks for their deviance and pathology, for their lack of couth and culture…
“The black poor---the GHETTOCRACY---consists of the desperately unemployed and underemployed, those trapped in underground economies, and those working poor folk who slave in menial jobs at the edge of the economy… the conflict between the Afristocracy and the Ghettocracy takes on generational overtones, since the values and behaviors that are detested by Afristocrats are largely … located among the young… I will dissect Cosby’s flawed logic, reveal the thin descriptive web he weaves to characterize the poor, and address the complex dimensions of the problems he bitterly broaches… I don’t mind suggesting, with only half my tongue in cheek, that the black middle class, of which I am a member, has, in its views of the poor and its support of Cosby’s sentiments, lost its mind.” (Pg. xiii-xv)
He states, “intriguing is the leap of faith one must make in granting Cosby revered status as a racial spokesman and critic… While Cosby took full advantage of the civil rights struggle, he resolutely denied it a seat at his artistic table… It is ironic that Cosby has finally answered the call to racial leadership forty years after it might have made a constructive difference. But it is downright tragic that he should use his perch to lob rhetorical bombs at the poor.” (Pg. 3)
He points out, “Cosby’s own problems---particularly the affair he had that led to the very public charge that not only poor people do desperate things. in fact, as we reflect on his family troubles over the years, we get a glimpse of the unavoidable pain and contradictions that plague all families, rich and poor.” (Pg. 7)
He notes, “structural barriers, much more than personal desire, shape the educational experiences of poor blacks. In fact, ‘Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,’ Cosby’s lauded ‘70s television cartoon series, won greater acceptance for a new cast of black identities and vernacular language styles. Cosby has made money and gained further influence from using forms of Black English he now violently detests.” (Pg. 8)
He argues, “This is Cosby’s dilemma: having been accidentally black for forty years, he has suddenly and violently switched strategies of self-presentation to an intentional blackness that can be supported by neither his politics nor his past.” (Pg. 51-52) He continues, “the unguarded words… hurt poor black people much more than anything Cosby has done to help them in the past. His relentless attack is symptomatic of the huge generational and class divide in black America.” (Pg. 55-56)
He asserts, “Cosby’s insistence… that black youth are anti-intellectual because they chide high achievement as ‘acting white’… is pretending somehow that AMERICA is not consumed with anti-intellectualism… It is not that black anti-intellectualism doesn’t exist… or doesn’t reveal itself in ways that need to be vigorously opposed. But it is highly misleading to tag black communities as any more anti-intellectual than the mainstream.” (Pg. 84)
He suggests, “Until we fight the educational, political and social fronts---and change the way resources are drained from black schools, homes and neighborhoods, and redistribute them without our own black spaces---all of the raving and ranting in the world will only embolden the vicious enemies of black children to do even less, while it will dishearten those who want to see a better world for some of the most beautiful but buffeted children on the globe.” (Pg. 101)
He says, “the bitter attacks Cosby has launched dishonor the incredible strength of character of millions of poor blacks who have never cheated on their wives and never had babies and not taken care of them… if the black folk who support Cosby’s contentions about the poor were honest… they would have to admit that much of the moral miasma plaguing black America comes from the top, not the bottom.” (Pg. 167)
He notes, “While most of us are disturbed by self-destructive behavior among poor folk, we must also have a clearer grasp of the social and economic landscape for the poor, and what extreme poverty does to individuals trapped in situations of acute depression.” (Pg. 212) He adds, “Assuming personal responsibility cannot remove vicious structural barriers to economic mobility. Exercising personal responsibility cannot prevent the postindustrial decline in major northeastern cities, nor can it fix the crumbling infrastructure that continues to keep the poor, well, poor. Being personally responsible can’t stop job flight, structural shifts in the political economy, the increasing technological monopoly of work, downsizing, or outsourcing, problems that middle-class folk …face in abundance these days.” (Pg. 216-217)
He summarizes, “Perhaps the most damaging consequence of Cosby’s wear on the poor is that they are left less defended and much more vulnerable to rebuff, even by folk---policy analysts, public policy makers, politicians---who might be sitting on the fence wondering what to do about the poor, and who now get a huge cue from Cosby that it’s must fine to leave them to sink or swim by themselves. In that sense, Cosby, much more than the poor he castigates, is supremely irresponsible.” (Pg. 234)
Dyson’s book is a fine response to Cosby’s defenders in 2004, and later.
[NOTE: This book was written in 2005, long before Cosby’s conviction and imprisonment in 2018. Somewhat presciently, perhaps, Dyson noted, “Bill Cosby had to cancel a couple of legs of his national tour to lecture poor black folk about their moral failures because news broke of allegations that Cosby had drugged and … assaulted a woman who considered him ‘a great friend and mentor.’” (Pg. 142-143)]
Michael Eric Dyson (born 1958) is Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. He begins this book by quoting Cosby’s May 17, 2004 comments at an awards presentation, where he “assailed black mothers and fathers for their horrible parenting skills, saying they buy their kids ‘$500 sneakers’ but refuse to ‘spend $250 on Hooked on Phonics’”; “Cosby pounded the black poor for their abysmal educational track record, citing their ‘50 percent drop out [rate]’ from high school… On and on Cosby went, berating black parents and youth for their numerous faults, his ramblings united by one theme: the miserable condition of the black poor brought on by their own self-destructive behavior…. Cosby’s remarks are … simply the most recent, and the most visible, shot taken at poor blacks in a more-than-century-old class war in black America… Cosby’s beliefs are most notably espoused by the AFRISTOCRACY: upper-middle-class blacks and the black elite who rain down fire and brimstone upon poor blacks for their deviance and pathology, for their lack of couth and culture…
“The black poor---the GHETTOCRACY---consists of the desperately unemployed and underemployed, those trapped in underground economies, and those working poor folk who slave in menial jobs at the edge of the economy… the conflict between the Afristocracy and the Ghettocracy takes on generational overtones, since the values and behaviors that are detested by Afristocrats are largely … located among the young… I will dissect Cosby’s flawed logic, reveal the thin descriptive web he weaves to characterize the poor, and address the complex dimensions of the problems he bitterly broaches… I don’t mind suggesting, with only half my tongue in cheek, that the black middle class, of which I am a member, has, in its views of the poor and its support of Cosby’s sentiments, lost its mind.” (Pg. xiii-xv)
He states, “intriguing is the leap of faith one must make in granting Cosby revered status as a racial spokesman and critic… While Cosby took full advantage of the civil rights struggle, he resolutely denied it a seat at his artistic table… It is ironic that Cosby has finally answered the call to racial leadership forty years after it might have made a constructive difference. But it is downright tragic that he should use his perch to lob rhetorical bombs at the poor.” (Pg. 3)
He points out, “Cosby’s own problems---particularly the affair he had that led to the very public charge that not only poor people do desperate things. in fact, as we reflect on his family troubles over the years, we get a glimpse of the unavoidable pain and contradictions that plague all families, rich and poor.” (Pg. 7)
He notes, “structural barriers, much more than personal desire, shape the educational experiences of poor blacks. In fact, ‘Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,’ Cosby’s lauded ‘70s television cartoon series, won greater acceptance for a new cast of black identities and vernacular language styles. Cosby has made money and gained further influence from using forms of Black English he now violently detests.” (Pg. 8)
He argues, “This is Cosby’s dilemma: having been accidentally black for forty years, he has suddenly and violently switched strategies of self-presentation to an intentional blackness that can be supported by neither his politics nor his past.” (Pg. 51-52) He continues, “the unguarded words… hurt poor black people much more than anything Cosby has done to help them in the past. His relentless attack is symptomatic of the huge generational and class divide in black America.” (Pg. 55-56)
He asserts, “Cosby’s insistence… that black youth are anti-intellectual because they chide high achievement as ‘acting white’… is pretending somehow that AMERICA is not consumed with anti-intellectualism… It is not that black anti-intellectualism doesn’t exist… or doesn’t reveal itself in ways that need to be vigorously opposed. But it is highly misleading to tag black communities as any more anti-intellectual than the mainstream.” (Pg. 84)
He suggests, “Until we fight the educational, political and social fronts---and change the way resources are drained from black schools, homes and neighborhoods, and redistribute them without our own black spaces---all of the raving and ranting in the world will only embolden the vicious enemies of black children to do even less, while it will dishearten those who want to see a better world for some of the most beautiful but buffeted children on the globe.” (Pg. 101)
He says, “the bitter attacks Cosby has launched dishonor the incredible strength of character of millions of poor blacks who have never cheated on their wives and never had babies and not taken care of them… if the black folk who support Cosby’s contentions about the poor were honest… they would have to admit that much of the moral miasma plaguing black America comes from the top, not the bottom.” (Pg. 167)
He notes, “While most of us are disturbed by self-destructive behavior among poor folk, we must also have a clearer grasp of the social and economic landscape for the poor, and what extreme poverty does to individuals trapped in situations of acute depression.” (Pg. 212) He adds, “Assuming personal responsibility cannot remove vicious structural barriers to economic mobility. Exercising personal responsibility cannot prevent the postindustrial decline in major northeastern cities, nor can it fix the crumbling infrastructure that continues to keep the poor, well, poor. Being personally responsible can’t stop job flight, structural shifts in the political economy, the increasing technological monopoly of work, downsizing, or outsourcing, problems that middle-class folk …face in abundance these days.” (Pg. 216-217)
He summarizes, “Perhaps the most damaging consequence of Cosby’s wear on the poor is that they are left less defended and much more vulnerable to rebuff, even by folk---policy analysts, public policy makers, politicians---who might be sitting on the fence wondering what to do about the poor, and who now get a huge cue from Cosby that it’s must fine to leave them to sink or swim by themselves. In that sense, Cosby, much more than the poor he castigates, is supremely irresponsible.” (Pg. 234)
Dyson’s book is a fine response to Cosby’s defenders in 2004, and later.
May 6, 2008
Once it became clear that the author was going to spend most of the book trashing on Cosby, I lost interest. Yes, Cosby is not perfect. He has his flaws; we get it already, move on with the argument. And the thing is, Dyson does make some important points about how social issues do have to be taken into account in regards to the poor. However, and I think he may not be totally clear or misses this, those social issues are not an excuse to not be personally responsible. The example he uses of the kid shot by the police for stealing. Sure, you can say poverty drove him to it, but he still had the choice to actually commit the crime. There is always another choice, and one can choose to do the right thing. So, may not sound PC, but if said kid got shot in said robbery, it is fair to ask what was he doing stealing in the first place when we all know it is illegal to do so? To excuse it is simply a way to abdicate responsibility. Are there other issues, yes? But as usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Cosby seems to represent one extreme, but Dyson then represents the other extreme.
A pity in my case since I liked Dyson's later book on Katrina. I guess once a while a writer comes up with a book that is not so good.
A pity in my case since I liked Dyson's later book on Katrina. I guess once a while a writer comes up with a book that is not so good.
June 5, 2013
I feel like his argument, although very strong and thoughtful, includes a lot of digressions (e.g, he discussed the sexual allegations against Mr. Cosby). Although they are used to support his argument of Mr. Cosby's hypocrisy, I find them to be a bit irrelevant to whether or not Mr. Cosby is "right." Overall, a very thoughtful read about the structural, economic, and social plight that poor blacks face and why Mr. Cosby's argument (which negates these factors) is quite reckless.
February 4, 2008
Well, despite having what might very well be the worst cover design in the history modern day publishing, I actually liked this book. Perhaps just because I always hated BIll Cosby (even before he went on all those rants about why he hates poor black people). Not very academic, but I'm not sure it was meant to be. A very fast read.
November 27, 2007
Dyson is correct in pointing out that Cosby's attack on poor black America ignores situational causes, but his pages and pages of personal attacks on Bill Cosby do nothing to further his argument. He comes off sounding just as hate-filled and myopic as Cosby did, if not more.
February 5, 2011
I've been on page 38 since '08. It's a wrap.
February 8, 2012
This could have been an excellent book with information and analysis on the origins and impact of class dynamics among African-Americans. Instead, its just a personal diatribe against Bill Cosby.
June 12, 2023
Dyson does a phenomenal job laying out his thoughts and perspectives on the black experience on various levels.
This book does a great job of discussing upward mobility through class for African Americans and the viewpoints that accompany each level.
My favorite part was the discussion between the generational divide between African Americans and what it says about the broader landscape of our country.
This book does a great job of discussing upward mobility through class for African Americans and the viewpoints that accompany each level.
My favorite part was the discussion between the generational divide between African Americans and what it says about the broader landscape of our country.
November 7, 2018
A great examination of the controversial comments of Dr. Bill Cosby.
April 18, 2016
As indicated by the title, this is Michael Eric Dyson's take on Bill Cosby's notorious rants of a few years ago lambasting the poor. For those who are unaware, Cosby took it upon himself to criticize poor blacks, especially youth, for a variety of issues including dressingly sloppily, promiscuity, not being able to "speak English correctly", irresponsible consumerism, and not parenting.
Dyson, in his typical fashion, seeks to explain the larger causes for each of these issues. While Cosby seeks to place the blame squarely on the victim's shoulders, Dyson seeks to examine more systemic reasons. As usual, Dyson is entertaining and easy to follow, as well as intelligent in his arguments. (He also suffers from repetitive points and redundancy..but maybe some of us need this stuff etched into our brains)
This book was a little odd because in addition to theorizing about specific social issues, Dyson also confronts Cosby's validity as a spokesperson directly. He brings up instances/scandals in Cosby's own life (ie. an extramarital affair, possibly fathering a child out of wedlock, having a drug abusing daughter) that are very much in the same category of offenses that Cosby chastises other blacks about. Dyson also provides a contrast between Cosby of the 1960s and 1970s to that of the Cosby today. Cosby, at one point, seemed to have a much more complete and compassionate view of the plight of the poor blacks in this country. Cosby has always (until recently) preferred to keep quiet about issues surrounding race, seemingly in part to keep from offending white audience members. However, Cosby once wrote a dissertation the clearly focused on more institutional and systemic factors for continuing poverty, and granted an interview with Playboy where he candidly talked about race relations in a framework much more similar to Dyson.
I personally could have done with less criticism of Cosby specifically. It's clear that he's only human, and that he's getting old and frustrated and out of touch with the younger generation. He also occupies a different economic class and level of privilege, so one can't be all that surprised at his comments...I still want to hear why Cosby is wrong, but I don't think it's necessary to drudge up his personal failures repeatedly.
Dyson, in his typical fashion, seeks to explain the larger causes for each of these issues. While Cosby seeks to place the blame squarely on the victim's shoulders, Dyson seeks to examine more systemic reasons. As usual, Dyson is entertaining and easy to follow, as well as intelligent in his arguments. (He also suffers from repetitive points and redundancy..but maybe some of us need this stuff etched into our brains)
This book was a little odd because in addition to theorizing about specific social issues, Dyson also confronts Cosby's validity as a spokesperson directly. He brings up instances/scandals in Cosby's own life (ie. an extramarital affair, possibly fathering a child out of wedlock, having a drug abusing daughter) that are very much in the same category of offenses that Cosby chastises other blacks about. Dyson also provides a contrast between Cosby of the 1960s and 1970s to that of the Cosby today. Cosby, at one point, seemed to have a much more complete and compassionate view of the plight of the poor blacks in this country. Cosby has always (until recently) preferred to keep quiet about issues surrounding race, seemingly in part to keep from offending white audience members. However, Cosby once wrote a dissertation the clearly focused on more institutional and systemic factors for continuing poverty, and granted an interview with Playboy where he candidly talked about race relations in a framework much more similar to Dyson.
I personally could have done with less criticism of Cosby specifically. It's clear that he's only human, and that he's getting old and frustrated and out of touch with the younger generation. He also occupies a different economic class and level of privilege, so one can't be all that surprised at his comments...I still want to hear why Cosby is wrong, but I don't think it's necessary to drudge up his personal failures repeatedly.
January 16, 2016
Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind? by Michael Eric Dyson (Basic Civatas Books 2005) (305.896073) is unlike anything I've ever read. The sole purpose of the book appears to be to deconstruct and belittle a speech Bill Cosby gave at an awards dinner sponsored by the NAACP, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Howard University to recognize and praise Cosby's philanthropic endeavors on the fiftieth anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The author took exception (for 244 pages) to Cosby's failure to blame white America for the fact that a black underclass still exists fifty years post- Brown v. Board; Cosby instead called out the black poor and blamed it as a class for failing to improve its collective lot (p. 58). Disclaimer: I am not black nor have I ever been. I was unaware until I read this book of a schizm in the black community (or so the author contends) between the "Afristocracy" (upper-middle class blacks and the black elite) who hold the "Ghettocracy" (the poor blacks in the community; the unemployed and the underemployed) to blame for the failures of poor blacks to live up to the standards of the civil rights pioneers (p. xi - xiv). The author states his purpose in the preface on page xv when he states, "I will dissect Cosby's flawed logic..." In the opinion of the reader considering both views, the question is simply this: Could it possibly require 244 pages to try to overcome the logic contained in any argument unless the argument is valid? My rating: 2/10 (for the author's effort and fine use of language). Finished 2/18/11.
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August 11, 2008This was a response from the Cosby speech sometime last year at the NAACP honors or some event of.
I've finally gotten through this book. Frankly, I've been annoyed the whole time I read the book. Dyson makes his argument strongly against what Cosby has said about the black community with information about Cosby's past & family history but it hasn't change my opinion on the 'black community problem' debate.
In fact it makes me want to leave Mr. Dyson in Trenton NJ or Newark, NJ for a few days & see if his ideas as to why lower to middle black folks act they way they act changes. In my opinion, Dyson needs to reality check.
I've finally gotten through this book. Frankly, I've been annoyed the whole time I read the book. Dyson makes his argument strongly against what Cosby has said about the black community with information about Cosby's past & family history but it hasn't change my opinion on the 'black community problem' debate.
In fact it makes me want to leave Mr. Dyson in Trenton NJ or Newark, NJ for a few days & see if his ideas as to why lower to middle black folks act they way they act changes. In my opinion, Dyson needs to reality check.
June 9, 2008
saw it in the airport bookstore and couldn't resist...this was a lot longer than it should have been. the thoughts were interesting, but i felt like this could have been done in 100 pages rather than over 200. i found myself groaning at times...strangely, the second to last chapter was the best one. too bad it didn't come at the beginning of the book. i could have read it and then, put the book down and saved myself the agony of having to get through the whole thing!
January 12, 2010
My question with this particular title were a few of the personal statements that (I guessed) were included to be a part of analyzing the Cos's statement. Perhaps these personal statements could have been used had the Cos made statements in the same to one particular individual... but from my take Cos was speaking in general. Right here (and I forget the philosophy term for arguements built this way) but this is where it made it difficult following Dyson's arguement.
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September 5, 2010this book is good and interesting at first i looked at what bill cosby said and i agreed with him 100% i looked around at the black community and i saw exactly what he was talking about but then as i continued to read i realized that micheal dyson's argument made much more since aand i realized that bill cosby sounded really crazy and non-factual. i have to finish reading but i go with michael what he says really makes since in my opinion....i would give this book to anyone..
December 30, 2014
The author seems to argue both sides of the same point, complaining Cosby didn't do more for his race by using race in his 60s comedy routines, but then calls his tirade against poor blacks today as coming from an area of incompetence. It is well written, but I don't think he can state so easily that blacks think about the issue of poverty in a more complex way than whites.
July 27, 2007
Very academic! I felt like I needed to take his course in order to understand some of the terms. I don't think he gave an objective opinion, mostly propaganda. He doesn't like Bill Cosby and doesn't believe he has any right to voice his opinions.
March 14, 2008
I adore Bill Cosby and read this book on the recommendation of my good friend Curtis. I like Dyson and thought that he made some valid points but the book did nothing to diminish the respect I have for Mr.Cosby.... It was definitely worth the read!! Thanks,Curt
March 19, 2008
Dr. Dyson struggled with this book. Yes we know he has a habit of inventing his own vocabulary but he rambled on and on. It is quite evident that his attacds on Mr. Cosby are more personal than anything else
July 30, 2025
Dr. Dyson's book does a good job of exploring and scrutinizing the complex issues Bill Cosby mentioned in his speech. Despite the excellent scruinizing, the book could have been better if he used more informed reasoning, statistical analysis, and case studies.
August 17, 2014
I kind of enjoyed the book but I was annoyed by Dyson's argument. Half the time I kept thinking where you going with this? I'm pretty sure you could've summed up the whole book like this. "C'mon son, stop generalizing."
October 18, 2007
I like Dyson's approach in this book. He thoroughly examines the off handed derogatory remarks made by Bill Cosby with eloquence and class.
June 4, 2008
every sentence is a thesis statement. it's a lot.
Want to read
January 16, 2008I am trying to get into this book. It is interesting.
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