Read Michael Eric Dyson Online
Authors: Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?
Tags: #General, #Sociology, #Psychology, #African American Studies, #Family & Relationships, #Interpersonal Relations, #Ethnic Studies, #Social Classes, #Discrimination & Race Relations, #Social Science
Michael Eric Dyson (29 page)
20
“I Spy: Comedian Bill Cosby Is First Negro Co-Star in TV Network Series,”
Ebony
, September 1965, p. 65.
“I Spy: Comedian Bill Cosby Is First Negro Co-Star in TV Network Series,”
Ebony
, September 1965, p. 65.
21
“‘Raceless Bill Cosby,” p. 131.
“‘Raceless Bill Cosby,” p. 131.
22
Ironically enough,
I Spy
producer Sheldon Leonard sought to protect Cosby’s character from the stereotype of the hypersexed stud. “I am not going to feed the concept that a Negro only responds to the sex drive. We want him to have girls, but there has to be sweetness and dignity in it.”
Newsweek
, “Color Him Funny,” January 31, 1966, p. 76. Obviously, Culp worked free of both sexual stereotype and the compulsion to make his sexual encounters sweet and dignified. The point is that even under ostensible equality—and an artistic environment allegedly free of the constraints of color—Cosby’s character still bore the inescapable burden of race.
Ironically enough,
I Spy
producer Sheldon Leonard sought to protect Cosby’s character from the stereotype of the hypersexed stud. “I am not going to feed the concept that a Negro only responds to the sex drive. We want him to have girls, but there has to be sweetness and dignity in it.”
Newsweek
, “Color Him Funny,” January 31, 1966, p. 76. Obviously, Culp worked free of both sexual stereotype and the compulsion to make his sexual encounters sweet and dignified. The point is that even under ostensible equality—and an artistic environment allegedly free of the constraints of color—Cosby’s character still bore the inescapable burden of race.
23
Smith,
Cosby
, p. 74. Cosby was emphatic about not wanting to get the white girl, either. “Now don’t get it wrong. It was my decision right from the start to play it that way. As long as I’m on the screen, whether television or films, I will never hold or kiss a white woman. Hey, our black women have just nothing to look forward to in films, nothing to identify with . . . tell me, how often do you see a black man falling in love and making love with a black woman? So as it is, I want to be seen only with our women—not Chinese or Filipino women, not yellow, green, pink, or white. Just our women, black ones.” Smith,
Cosby
, pp. 74-75.
Smith,
Cosby
, p. 74. Cosby was emphatic about not wanting to get the white girl, either. “Now don’t get it wrong. It was my decision right from the start to play it that way. As long as I’m on the screen, whether television or films, I will never hold or kiss a white woman. Hey, our black women have just nothing to look forward to in films, nothing to identify with . . . tell me, how often do you see a black man falling in love and making love with a black woman? So as it is, I want to be seen only with our women—not Chinese or Filipino women, not yellow, green, pink, or white. Just our women, black ones.” Smith,
Cosby
, pp. 74-75.
25
Ibid.
Ibid.
26
Ibid.
Ibid.
27
Ibid.
Ibid.
29
Ibid.
Ibid.
30
Ibid.
Ibid.
31
Cosby was also raked over the coals by critic Andrew Sarris in the
Village Voice
for his performance alongside Raquel Welch in the 1976 film
Mother, Jugs and Speed
. Sarris accused Cosby of doing “a Stepin Fetchit imitation.” Smith,
Cosby
, p. 136.
Cosby was also raked over the coals by critic Andrew Sarris in the
Village Voice
for his performance alongside Raquel Welch in the 1976 film
Mother, Jugs and Speed
. Sarris accused Cosby of doing “a Stepin Fetchit imitation.” Smith,
Cosby
, p. 136.
32
Karnow, p. 88.
Karnow, p. 88.
33
Lawrence Linderman, “Playboy Interview: Bill Cosby—A Candid
Conversation with the Kinetic Comedian-Actor-Singer-Entrepreneur,”
Playboy
, May 1969, pp. 74, 76.
Lawrence Linderman, “Playboy Interview: Bill Cosby—A Candid
Conversation with the Kinetic Comedian-Actor-Singer-Entrepreneur,”
Playboy
, May 1969, pp. 74, 76.
35
Gerald Nachman,
Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s
(New York: Pantheon Books, 2003), pp. 583-584.
Gerald Nachman,
Seriously Funny: The Rebel Comedians of the 1950s and 1960s
(New York: Pantheon Books, 2003), pp. 583-584.
36
For an insightful study of
The Cosby Show
, see Sut Jhally and Justin Lewis,
Enlightened Racism:
The Cosby Show
, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream
(Boulder: Westview Press, 1992). For another very smart take on the show, and on black television in general, see Herman Gray,
Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for Blackness
[With a New Introduction] (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, [1995] 2004), pp. 79-84. For a brilliant study of black television in relation to the civil rights and black power struggles, see Christine Acham,
Revolution Televised: Prime Time and the Struggle for Black Power
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004). Also see Sasha Torres’s fine study,
Black, White, and in Color: Television and Black Civil Rights
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003).
For an insightful study of
The Cosby Show
, see Sut Jhally and Justin Lewis,
Enlightened Racism:
The Cosby Show
, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream
(Boulder: Westview Press, 1992). For another very smart take on the show, and on black television in general, see Herman Gray,
Watching Race: Television and the Struggle for Blackness
[With a New Introduction] (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, [1995] 2004), pp. 79-84. For a brilliant study of black television in relation to the civil rights and black power struggles, see Christine Acham,
Revolution Televised: Prime Time and the Struggle for Black Power
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004). Also see Sasha Torres’s fine study,
Black, White, and in Color: Television and Black Civil Rights
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003).
37
Zoglin, p. 60.
Zoglin, p. 60.
38
“Life with Bill Cosby: Pretty Wife, Camille, Swept Along by Husband’s Swift Rise from Obscurity to Stardom,”
Ebony
, September 1966, p. 40.
“Life with Bill Cosby: Pretty Wife, Camille, Swept Along by Husband’s Swift Rise from Obscurity to Stardom,”
Ebony
, September 1966, p. 40.
39
Linderman, “Playboy Interview: Bill Cosby,” p. 82.
Linderman, “Playboy Interview: Bill Cosby,” p. 82.
42
Ibid.
Ibid.
43
Lynn Norment, “The Cosby Show: The Real-Life Drama Behind Hit TV Show About a Black Family,”
Ebony
, April, 1985, p. 30.
Lynn Norment, “The Cosby Show: The Real-Life Drama Behind Hit TV Show About a Black Family,”
Ebony
, April, 1985, p. 30.
44
During slavery, the shrewd use of stereotype was a way that blacks used negative appraisals of their identities by white owners to their advantage. As historian Ira Berlin writes, “In the very stereotype of the dumb, brutish African that planters voiced so loudly, newly arrived slaves found protection, as they used their apparent ignorance of the language, landscape, and work routines of the Chesapeake to
their own benefit. Observing the new Negroes on one Maryland estate, a visitor was ‘surprised at their Perseverance.’ ‘Let an hundred Men hew him how to hoe, or drive a Wheelbarrow, he’ll still take the one by the bottom, and the Other by the Wheel.’ Triumphant planters had won the initial battle by gaining control over Chesapeake society and placing their imprint on the process of production, but slaves answered that the war would be a long one.” Berlin,
Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America
(Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998), p. 120.
During slavery, the shrewd use of stereotype was a way that blacks used negative appraisals of their identities by white owners to their advantage. As historian Ira Berlin writes, “In the very stereotype of the dumb, brutish African that planters voiced so loudly, newly arrived slaves found protection, as they used their apparent ignorance of the language, landscape, and work routines of the Chesapeake to
their own benefit. Observing the new Negroes on one Maryland estate, a visitor was ‘surprised at their Perseverance.’ ‘Let an hundred Men hew him how to hoe, or drive a Wheelbarrow, he’ll still take the one by the bottom, and the Other by the Wheel.’ Triumphant planters had won the initial battle by gaining control over Chesapeake society and placing their imprint on the process of production, but slaves answered that the war would be a long one.” Berlin,
Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America
(Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998), p. 120.
45
Cosby would surely disagree with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., on his views of
Amos ’n’ Andy
. Gates says that one “of my favorite pastimes is screening episodes of ‘Amos ’n’ Andy’ for black friends who think that the series was both socially offensive and politically detrimental. After a few minutes, even hardliners have difficulty restraining their laughter. ‘It’s still racist,’ is one typical comment, ‘but it was funny.’ The performance of those great black actors—Tim Moore, Spencer Williams and Ernestine Wade—transformed racist stereotypes into authentic black humor. The dilemma of ‘Amos ’n’ Andy,’ however, was that these were the
only
images of blacks that American could see on TV. The political consequences for the early civil rights movement were thought to be threatening. The N.A.A.C.P. helped to have the series killed.” Gates, “TV’s Black World Turns—But Stays Unreal,”
New York Times
, Sunday, November 12, 1989, p. 40.
Cosby would surely disagree with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., on his views of
Amos ’n’ Andy
. Gates says that one “of my favorite pastimes is screening episodes of ‘Amos ’n’ Andy’ for black friends who think that the series was both socially offensive and politically detrimental. After a few minutes, even hardliners have difficulty restraining their laughter. ‘It’s still racist,’ is one typical comment, ‘but it was funny.’ The performance of those great black actors—Tim Moore, Spencer Williams and Ernestine Wade—transformed racist stereotypes into authentic black humor. The dilemma of ‘Amos ’n’ Andy,’ however, was that these were the
only
images of blacks that American could see on TV. The political consequences for the early civil rights movement were thought to be threatening. The N.A.A.C.P. helped to have the series killed.” Gates, “TV’s Black World Turns—But Stays Unreal,”
New York Times
, Sunday, November 12, 1989, p. 40.
47
For a discussion of the cultural and racial context in which Wayans’s show and other black series either flourished or floundered on the Fox network in the 1990s, see Kristal Brent Zook,
Color by Fox: The Fox Network and the Revolution in Black Television
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
For a discussion of the cultural and racial context in which Wayans’s show and other black series either flourished or floundered on the Fox network in the 1990s, see Kristal Brent Zook,
Color by Fox: The Fox Network and the Revolution in Black Television
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
50
Michael Eric Dyson,
I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.
(New York: Free Press, 2000).
Michael Eric Dyson,
I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.
(New York: Free Press, 2000).
52
“Compared to What,” written by Gene McDaniels, on the sound recording
Swiss Movement
by Les McCann and Eddie Harris, Atlantic Records, 1969.
“Compared to What,” written by Gene McDaniels, on the sound recording
Swiss Movement
by Les McCann and Eddie Harris, Atlantic Records, 1969.
54
Ibid, pg. 40.
Ibid, pg. 40.
55
“Color Him Funny,” p. 76.
“Color Him Funny,” p. 76.
56
Morgan, p. 78.
Morgan, p. 78.
57
Tiger Woods, Media Statement, cited in Jay Nordlinger, “Tiger Time: The Wonder of an American Hero,”
National Review,
April 30, 2001, p. 41.
Tiger Woods, Media Statement, cited in Jay Nordlinger, “Tiger Time: The Wonder of an American Hero,”
National Review,
April 30, 2001, p. 41.
58
Morgan, p. 78; Nachman, pp. 572-573; Smith, p. 46.
Morgan, p. 78; Nachman, pp. 572-573; Smith, p. 46.
59
Smith, p. 70.
Smith, p. 70.
61
Lawrence W. Levine,
Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1977).
Lawrence W. Levine,
Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1977).
62
Quoted in Nachman, p. 573.
Quoted in Nachman, p. 573.
64
Nachman, p. 572.
Nachman, p. 572.
66
Smith, p. 57. The italics are found in the first edition of Smith’s book, published in 1986 by St. Martin’s Press; in the second edition, the italics are removed. I have kept them because I think they accurately convey Cosby’s frustration.
Smith, p. 57. The italics are found in the first edition of Smith’s book, published in 1986 by St. Martin’s Press; in the second edition, the italics are removed. I have kept them because I think they accurately convey Cosby’s frustration.
67
For instance, when Chris Rock’s comedy stirred controversy among African Americans, and led to the charge of his “stereotyping” black culture, “Rock and his supporters [said] the controversy misses the point of his art, which turns images upside down in the interest of promoting new thinking in America.” Kevin Chappell, “Bigger, Better, and Hotter! Chris Rock Talks About Fame, Controversy and the Challenge of Being No. 1,”
Ebony
, October 1999, p. 163.
For instance, when Chris Rock’s comedy stirred controversy among African Americans, and led to the charge of his “stereotyping” black culture, “Rock and his supporters [said] the controversy misses the point of his art, which turns images upside down in the interest of promoting new thinking in America.” Kevin Chappell, “Bigger, Better, and Hotter! Chris Rock Talks About Fame, Controversy and the Challenge of Being No. 1,”
Ebony
, October 1999, p. 163.
68
Mark Dowie,
American Foundations: An Investigative History
(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002), pp. xvi, xxi-xxiii, 7, 12.
Mark Dowie,
American Foundations: An Investigative History
(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002), pp. xvi, xxi-xxiii, 7, 12.
69
A.S. Doc Young, cited in Smith, p. 92.
A.S. Doc Young, cited in Smith, p. 92.
70
Smith, p. 75.
Smith, p. 75.
71
Ibid., p. 168.
Chapter TwoIbid., p. 168.
Classrooms and Cell Blocks
1
Lawrence Linderman, “Playboy Interview: Bill Cosby—a Candid Conversation with the Kinetic Comedian-Actor-Singer-Entrepreneur,”
Playboy
, May 1969, p. 73.
Lawrence Linderman, “Playboy Interview: Bill Cosby—a Candid Conversation with the Kinetic Comedian-Actor-Singer-Entrepreneur,”
Playboy
, May 1969, p. 73.
2
Ibid.
Ibid.
3
Richard Zoglin, “Cosby, Inc.: He Has a Hot TV Series, a New Book—and a Booming Comedy Empire,”
Time
, September 28, 1987, p. 59.
Richard Zoglin, “Cosby, Inc.: He Has a Hot TV Series, a New Book—and a Booming Comedy Empire,”
Time
, September 28, 1987, p. 59.
4
Ibid.
Ibid.
5
Ibid. In the acknowledgments to his doctoral dissertation, Cosby thanks Damerell, who, he says, “guided me in the writing of the technical and creative components of my television research.”
Ibid. In the acknowledgments to his doctoral dissertation, Cosby thanks Damerell, who, he says, “guided me in the writing of the technical and creative components of my television research.”
8
Mary Pattillo-McCoy, “Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril among the Black Middle Class,” in Dalton Conley, Editor,
Wealth and Poverty in America: A Reader
(Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), p. 106.
Mary Pattillo-McCoy, “Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril among the Black Middle Class,” in Dalton Conley, Editor,
Wealth and Poverty in America: A Reader
(Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), p. 106.
10
“Black Middle Class: Getting Squeezed,”
The Middle Class Squeeze
, Rep. George Miller, Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats, July 15, 2004, Issue # 8,
www.house.gov/georgemiller
; “Vital Signs,” p. 73.
“Black Middle Class: Getting Squeezed,”
The Middle Class Squeeze
, Rep. George Miller, Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats, July 15, 2004, Issue # 8,
www.house.gov/georgemiller
; “Vital Signs,” p. 73.
11
Klein, p. A1.
Klein, p. A1.
12
Ibid.
Ibid.
13
“Black Middle Class: Getting Squeezed” and “Vital Signs,” p. 73.
“Black Middle Class: Getting Squeezed” and “Vital Signs,” p. 73.
14
“Vital Signs,” p. 73.
“Vital Signs,” p. 73.
15
Linda Darling-Hammond, “The Color Line in American Education: Race, Resources, and Student Achievement.”
Du Bois Review
1:2 (2004), p. 214.
Linda Darling-Hammond, “The Color Line in American Education: Race, Resources, and Student Achievement.”
Du Bois Review
1:2 (2004), p. 214.
17
Kozol, pp. 236-237, cited in Darling-Hammond, p. 25.
Kozol, pp. 236-237, cited in Darling-Hammond, p. 25.
18
“The Racial Wealth Gap Has Become a Huge Chasm That Severely Limits Black Access to Higher Education,”
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
, 2005, pp. 23-25.
“The Racial Wealth Gap Has Become a Huge Chasm That Severely Limits Black Access to Higher Education,”
The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
, 2005, pp. 23-25.
19
Gary Orfield,
Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation
(Cambridge, Mass.: The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University, 2001).
Gary Orfield,
Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation
(Cambridge, Mass.: The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University, 2001).
20
Orfield, cited in Darling-Hammond, p. 217.
Orfield, cited in Darling-Hammond, p. 217.
21
William Henry Cosby, Jr.,
An Integration of the Visual Media Via
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning,
University of Massachusetts, September 1976, p. vi.
William Henry Cosby, Jr.,
An Integration of the Visual Media Via
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning,
University of Massachusetts, September 1976, p. vi.
22
Ibid., pp. 3, 4, 5.
Ibid., pp. 3, 4, 5.
23
Cited in “Bill Cosby and the Politics of Race,” in Michael Eric Dyson,
Reflecting Black: African-American Cultural Criticism
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993), p. 85.
Cited in “Bill Cosby and the Politics of Race,” in Michael Eric Dyson,
Reflecting Black: African-American Cultural Criticism
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993), p. 85.
24
Cosby, p. 8.
Cosby, p. 8.
25
Ibid., p. 11.
Ibid., p. 11.
26
Ibid., pp. 11-12.
Ibid., pp. 11-12.
27
“Vital Signs,” Autumn 2003, p. 73.
“Vital Signs,” Autumn 2003, p. 73.
28
“The State of the Dream 2004,” report by United for a Fair Economy, 2004, p. 16.
“The State of the Dream 2004,” report by United for a Fair Economy, 2004, p. 16.
29
“Vital Signs,” Autumn 2003, p. 73; “State of the Dream,” p. 17.
“Vital Signs,” Autumn 2003, p. 73; “State of the Dream,” p. 17.
30
See Janet Duitsman Cornelius,
When I Can Read My Title Clear: Literacy, Slavery, and Religion in the Antebellum South
(Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1991).
See Janet Duitsman Cornelius,
When I Can Read My Title Clear: Literacy, Slavery, and Religion in the Antebellum South
(Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1991).
31
Among the voluminous research, see J. L. Dillard,
Black English: Its History and Usage in the United States
(New York: Random House,
1972); William Labov,
Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972); Geneva Smitherman,
Talkin and Testifyin: The Language of Black America
[1977] (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1986); John Baugh,
Black Street Speech: Its History, Structure and Survival
(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983); Geneva Smitherman,
Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner
(Boston: Houghton Miflin, 1994); Salikoko S. Mufwene, John R. Rickdord, Guy Bailey and John Baugh, Editors,
African-American English: Structure, History and Use
(New York: Routledge, 1998); Theresa Perry and Lisa Delpit, Editors,
The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1998); John Rickford and Russell John Rickford,
Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English
(New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000); Lisa J. Green,
African American English: A Linguistic Introduction
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002); Marcyliena Morgan,
Language, Discourse and Power in African American Culture
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002); and Sinfree Makoni, Geneva Smitherman, Arnetha F. Ball, Arthur K. Spears, Editors,
Black Linguistics: Language, Society, and Politics in Africa and the Americas
(New York: Routledge, 2003).
Among the voluminous research, see J. L. Dillard,
Black English: Its History and Usage in the United States
(New York: Random House,
1972); William Labov,
Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972); Geneva Smitherman,
Talkin and Testifyin: The Language of Black America
[1977] (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1986); John Baugh,
Black Street Speech: Its History, Structure and Survival
(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1983); Geneva Smitherman,
Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner
(Boston: Houghton Miflin, 1994); Salikoko S. Mufwene, John R. Rickdord, Guy Bailey and John Baugh, Editors,
African-American English: Structure, History and Use
(New York: Routledge, 1998); Theresa Perry and Lisa Delpit, Editors,
The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children
(Boston: Beacon Press, 1998); John Rickford and Russell John Rickford,
Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English
(New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000); Lisa J. Green,
African American English: A Linguistic Introduction
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002); Marcyliena Morgan,
Language, Discourse and Power in African American Culture
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002); and Sinfree Makoni, Geneva Smitherman, Arnetha F. Ball, Arthur K. Spears, Editors,
Black Linguistics: Language, Society, and Politics in Africa and the Americas
(New York: Routledge, 2003).
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