National Enquirer
Covington’s allegations
Erinn’s addiction problems
Mike Tyson/Erinn
National Review
black responsibility and
I Spy
Ndegeocello, Meshell
Neoapartheid
in education
See also
Educational inequalities
Neonatal mortality rates
New Bill Cosby Show, The
Newman, Katherine
Newsweek
Cosby’s accidental strategy
I Spy
New York City schools
New York Post, The
New York Times
“acting white,”
on Autumn Jackson
on Cosby’s early career
criticism of Cosby
Nickel and Dimed
(Ehrenreich)
“Nigga” term
Cosby’s criticism of use
Cosby’s use of
Malcolm X and
in rap music
Niles Township High School
“Nobel Cos, The” (Sorel)
Notorious B.I.G.
NPR’s
Talk of the Nation
NWA
Oakland School Board and Ebonics
Obama, Barack
“acting white” concept
“empathy deficit” concept
incidental blackness strategy of
Ogbu, John
Operation PUSH
Oprah
O’Reilly Factor
Our Kind of People
(Graham)
Parker, Star
Parks, Rosa
Personal responsibility
Cosby and
description
social responsibility and
Personal responsibility/blacks
black leaders on
black press and
conservatives and
Cosby and
“Philanthocracy,”
Philanthropy
Phil Donahue Show
Cosby on
Erinn Cosby on
Phillips, Walter M., Jr.
Piercings
blacks and
homosexuals and
Pitts, Leonard
Playboy
interview of Cosby
Poitier, Sidney
Poor blacks
irresponsibility toward
literature on
mainstream values of
“policing” by black elite
poor child vs. poor parent
press attacks on (early 1900’s)
racial uplift philosophy
religion/understanding their poverty
responsibility to help
self-help philosophy and
statistics on
white responsibility and
See also
Cosby’s criticism of poor blacks; Poverty
Positive-negative framework of black identity
Cosby and
description/examples
as simple view
Poussaint, Alvin
Poverty
black explanations for
explanations of
external self-explanations and
fatalistic explanation of
formal empathy and
gender/understanding
income/understanding
individualistic explanations of
internal self-explanations and
structural explanations of
white explanations for
See also
Cosby’s criticism of poor blacks; Economic inequalities; Poor blacks
Powell, Colin
Pryor, Richard
black identity and
California Suite
career beginnings
comic style of
Purchasing Power: Black Kids and American Consumer Culture
(Chin)
Push for Excellence (EXCEL) program
Racism
black inferiority myth
Camille Cosby on
class divide and
generational divide and
racial uplift and
summary of problems
universality and
white superiority myth
See also
Cosby’s criticism of racism/whites; Criminal justice system inequalities; Economic inequalities; Educational inequalities; Social inequalities
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
Rap music
black fashion and
Cosby’s views on
as negative
as positive
Raspberry, William
Reagan, Ronald
Reagan’s “War on Drugs,”
Redbook
Reed, Rex
Responsibility
interrelated types of
irresponsibility toward the poor
See also
Self-help philosophy;
specific responsibility types
Rice, Condoleezza
Robinson, Jackie
Rock, Chris
Rogers, J.A.
Rogers, Timmie
Russell, Nipsey
Ryan, William
Sahl, Mort
Saturday Evening Post
Savage Inequalities
(Kozol)
Scarface
Scarification
Schmitt, Jack
Self-help philosophy
Cosby and
economics and
See also
Personal responsibility /blacks
Sesame Street
Shakur, Tupac
Sharpton, Al
Shipler, David
Silent Night
(Jackson)
Silver, Roy
Simmons, Russell
Single black mothers
60 Minutes
Smith, Barbara
Snoop Dogg
Social inequalities
for black males
overview
See also
Criminal justice system inequalities; Economic inequalities; Educational inequalities
Social responsibility
description
irresponsibility toward the poor
personal responsibility and
Sorel, Edward
Sowell, Thomas
Stages of black identity
Status of black identity
Stepin Fetchit
Stereotype stage of black identity
Cosby and
description/examples
as negative
Stevenson, Adlai
Stewart, Martha
Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Strategies of black identity
accidental blackness
incidental blackness
intentional blackness
overview
Structural explanation of poverty
Styles of black identity
black authenticity and
Cosby’s early embarrassment over
Suburban vs. urban schools
Sykes, Wanda
Talk of the Nation
Tattooing
Thomas, Clarence
Thompson, Shawn
claims of
Cosby’s gifts to
daughter’s imprisonment and
Thurman, Howard
Tupac Shakur
Turner, Nat
“TV’s Black World Turns-But Stays Unreal” (Gates)
2Pac
Tyson, Karolyn
Tyson, Mike
Ultimate responsibility
description
immediate responsibility and
irresponsibility toward poor
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
(Stowe)
Universal ideals
blacks and
civil rights movement and
Cosby and
Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
Uptown Saturday Night
Urban vs. suburban schools
Variety
Voting Rights Act (1965)
Walker, Alice
Walker, Kara
archetypal/antitypical work of
black identity and
Walker, Madame C.J.
Walkers of Memphis
Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Project
Ward, Clara
“War on Drugs,”
Washington, Booker T.
Washington, Desiree
Washington Post
Watson, Lance
Wayans, Keenan Ivory
White, Graham
White, Shane
White, Slappy
White Christmas
(Crosby)
White superiority myth
Williams, Antonay
Williams, Bert
Williams, Michael K.
Williams, Walter
Wilson, Flip
Wilson, William Julius
Wire, The
Woods, Tiger
Working Poor, The
(Shipler)
Wright, Jeremiah
Wright, Richard
Zahn, Paula
Copyright © 2005 by Michael Eric Dyson
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dyson, Michael Eric.
Is Bill Cosby right? : or has the Black middle class lost its mind? / by Michael Eric Dyson. p. cm.
eISBN : 978-0-786-72207-5
1. African Americans—Social conditions—1975- 2. African American families. 3. Middle class—United States. 4. Conflict of generations—United States. 5. Intergenerational relations—United States. 6. Social values—United States. 7. United States—Race relations. 8. United States—Social conditions—1980- I. Title.
E185.86.D945 2005
306.87’089’96073—dc22
2005004100
/