The acclaimed "hip-hop intellectual" exposes the raw nerve of class and generational warfare in black America with this provocative defense of impoverished African Americans
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.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 2.5 / 5.0
Bill is right, Dyson is wrong:
Dyson produces poor arguments that justify the substandard performance of some African Americans. Accountability is needed and this is what Bill has asked of African Americans.
on the fence:
I couldn't take it anymore. I dropped the book halfway into the 2nd chapter. This is a personal attack on the messenger, not the message. Sure, the "Hood" lacks discipline, parenting and strong male role models; and Cosby brings light to these situations. Dyson's stance is that how can a: high school drop-out with two degrees essentially handed to him a marginal parent and alleged adulterer a less than lukewarm activist (until the twilight of his career) be the spokesperson for the ills... more info
DYSON GIVE US A BREAK!! YOU JUST DON'T GET IT!!:
This book was a wimpish series of personal attacks on Bill Cosby for not being perfect. It is Dyson's lame exercise of trying to trash the messenger (and avoid debating the message). What irritated me most about this tired book was when Dyson attempted to cast those who agree with Bill Cosby's position as the black elite, or the "afristocrats". At the same time he attempts (but fails)to portray himself as the legitimate representative of "real black people", or "black folk". That was laughable! In fact, I... more info
us or them:
in mr. dyson's world, every black man who would suggest taking self-responsibility over the things one CAN control, is simply a pawn of the evil white overlord who stands in purposeful oppression of black self-awareness. mr. dyson is a divisive separatist who seeks to promote the 'us against them' mantra that continues to wall us off from one another; from communication; from healing. he carries a great talent for distributing blame.
