The Cos Flaps His Jaws, mk. Zillion
Shavar Jeffries over at Blackprof highlights a bit of foolishness courtesy of Bill Cosby, who recently opined that the Washington Post’s feature series “Being a Black Man” is—get this—too positive. Apparently the unrelenting stream of dark-tinted crime reports combined with the recent spate of soul-crushing “plight of the young black male” news stories (sporting headlines like “The Missing Black Men” and “Black Men Lag Behind in America”) aren’t painting a dire enough portrait. The Cos says he wants “the truth,” but he only seems interested in the negative, depressing facets thereof—that is, the things news outlets usually focus on anyway. In other words, there are plenty of articles already out there covering all the daunting problems black men face as a demographic group, so why is he criticizing the only high-profile journalistic attempt to profile a few inspiring black voices? Many of the individuals who appear in “Being a Black Man” represent sorely-needed counterweights to the nearly monolithic rapper/sports star/criminal media paradigm that holds hostage the aspirations of so many young black minds. I understand that Bill is upset with some of the pernicious trends that have taken root in black America—so am I—but I’d have thought he’d be happy to see evidence of success in spite of the odds aligned against us. His reaction makes me wonder whether he’ll ever contribute more to the rectification of this monumental conundrum than cranky invective spouted during foundation forums and gala speeches.
Published on July 30, 2006 at 11:10 pm.
6 Comments.
Filed under men's issues, black culture.
