Cosby on Meet The Press

Worth a viewing. I found very little to object to, save his shot at Def Comedy Jam. But that's fine. What I found much more annoying was David Gregory's questions. I feel bad even calling him out. Whenever I hear journalists--frankly, black and white--discuss African-Americans, it always sound like a group of puzzled scientists discussing Martians. I expect Cosby to be very concerned about the problems of black people--they are, after all, black. If you ever attend one of Cosby's call-outs--and I think everyone should go to one--he sounds more like a pissed off Detroit Lions fan, than a racial scold. I made this point in my Cosby profile. I remember at one call-out he addressed people like me who like to compare black folks to the immigrating Italians and Irish. To which he responded, "I'm black, man. I didn't root for Max Schmeling. I rooted for Joe Louis."

That's typical black barbershop logic, and it's fine. It's about what I'd expect from a seventy year old black man. Negroes want to win. Got it. Furthermore, I don't really see a problem with kids getting that message either. It's good to feel like you want to represent. It's good to be proud of who you are. It's good to be competitive.

My standard for journalists, however, are different. If the journalist is going to talk about black on black crime, I expect him/her to have some knowledge of violence and crime in cities, amongst various ethnic groups throughout history. If he's going to talk about the current crisis out of wedlock birth, I expect him to know that there were more black women, per thousand, having babies out of wedlock in the 1960s, then there are today. I expect him to know that the number of single women having babies, per thousand, with one major exception (crack era) has declined among blacks, while rising among whites and Latinos. I expect him to be familiar with his topic.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2009/01/cosby-on-meet-the-press/6565/