What? Bill Maher Says Republicans Are Scared of Black People Not Named Cosby and Urkel

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Comedian and TV show host Bill Maher made some interesting remarks the other day on his show about GOP fear and racial tension. During a segment in which he posted a picture of members of the New Black Panther Party, Maher noted that Republicans generally "soil their adult diapers" when confronted by people of color. He did, however, note one exception:

"Every black person scares you (GOP) unless they look like Urkel, talk like Colin Powell and wear Bill Cosby sweaters."
I wish I could say that the remark was funny, but the truth is that it’s funnier in print than it was during the delivery. All the while, I have to give Maher credit for speaking the truth. When it comes to the integration of African Americans into mainstream America, there is a notion of "acceptability" that many of us, especially black males, are forced to constantly deal with.

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What? Bill Cosby Tells Russell Simmons to “Get the F*ck Out of My Face”

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

So, Bill Cosby tells Russell Simmons to “Get the fuck out of my face”?   I would like to say that the comment surprises me, but the truth is that someone else told me they had a similar interaction with Cosby in private.  It appears that their divergence of opinions stems from Cosby’s remarks about black youth a few years ago.  In case you don’t know, Cosby seems to think that all young people are headed to hell in a hand basket, and that they all miraculously decided to get together and destroy their own futures.  The problem, obviously, is that there are a host of extraneous factors which led to the urban decay we’ve witnessed over the last 30 years:  A failed educational system, unbelievable amounts of black unemployment and mass incarceration have worked together to destroy the integrity of the black family.  Cosby’s courage in attacking single mothers and black teens is not matched with an equal amount of courage as it pertains to standing up to the powers-that-be who profit from our destruction.  Therefore, his analysis was incomplete at best.

 

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Your Black Education: Exclusive Interview With Iconic Educator Dr. Janice Hale

Interview with Iconic Educator, Dr. Janice Hale, by Tolu Olorunda.

It is rare for an educator to reach great heights of popularity and acclaim, but Dr. Janice Hale has earned every stripe of fame. As an internationally-renowned scholar, Dr. Hale is no stranger to controversies surrounding her work and theories. No other than Rev. Dr. Jeremiah E. Wright Jr. acknowledged her in his, much-talked about, speech in Detroit earlier this year. Wright celebrated Dr. Hale as someone we owe “a debt of gratitude.” [...]

YourBlackWorld.com recently had the esteemed opportunity to engage Dr. Janice Hale in dialogue on a wide array of topics. Included in the conversation were issues surrounding the recent selection of Arne Duncan as Sec. of Education, problems confronting Black students, the ISAAC program, Early Childhood education and more. As one never known for mincing words, Dr. Hale took no prisoners as she expressed her feelings about Bill Cosby… Excuse me, Dr. Bill Cosby, modern-day Civil Rights Organizations, Oprah Winfrey, and the public/private school system. Get your pens and pads ready. Class is in session:

Thanks for being with us, Dr. Hale. To kick things off, how did it feel being snubbed for the Sec. of Education position, which you lobbied so tenaciously for?

*Laughs* That’s so funny. I don’t feel snubbed about that. What I feel snubbed about is that, I feel in my book “Learning While Black,” I really provide solutions for what is wrong with education and how to fix African-American education, and I don’t feel my solutions have gotten any attention. [...]

Based on the selection of Arne Duncan – who holds a bachelor’s in Sociology – as Sec. of Education, what is incumbent upon Black folks in pushing an agenda that would improve learning conditions of Black students?

Full Interview At Your Black Education

Your Black Life: Bill Cosby and the Art of Fear – Dr. Boyce Watkins

“‘White America needs to understand that it is poisoned to its soul by racism’, and that ‘all too many White Americans are horrified not with the conditions of (Black) life but with the product of these conditions-the (Black person) himself’. In a word, they are not horrified by injustice done to us in New York or New Orleans, in the schools, courts, streets, slums or prisons, but are horrified at the righteous anger we express, and the audacity not just to hope but also to resist injustice and oppression in its various forms.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I recently appeared on an episode of Good Morning America about a judge in Atlanta named Marvin Arrington. The show renewed my skepticism of mainstream media, and helped me remember why I love Bill Cosby so much.

Apparently, Judge Arrington was fed up with seeing one black defendant after another in his courtroom, and surely to the liking of Bill Cosby, Arrington took matters into his own hands. Judge Arrington took the unprecedented step of dismissing all of the white attorneys from his courtroom and holding a private session with the black defendants. [...]

When Good Morning America called to ask me what I thought about Arrington’s actions, they spent more time asking me about Bill Cosby than Arrington. [...] Apparently, we have not yet created enough episodes of Fat Albert to earn the license of unconditional, single-minded self-righteousness [...]

More At Your Black Life