Dyson criticizes Cosby’s remarks

Radio personality and culture critic Michael Eric Dyson took shots at everyone from Paris… Radio personality and culture critic Michael Eric Dyson took shots at everyone from Paris Hilton to President George W. Bush Wednesday night in the William Pitt Union.

His speech, which was sponsored by the Black Action Society, criticized comments Bill Cosby made in a May 2004 speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education.

Dyson, a Philadelphia resident, is the award-winning author of “Is Bill Cosby Right?”, which refutes a list of complaints Cosby had with black people in America today.

“We gave Mr. Cosby a pass because of his celebrity, or at least most did,” said Dyson, who is also an ordained minister and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

He went on to voice his discontent with Cosby’s comments about the language some young black people use.

“Ebonics is a sophisticated language which needs to be appreciated over time,” Dyson said. “Ebonics is a complex system of rules and regulations. Slang is a derivation of those rules.”

He also criticized the reaction to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Commenting on why people didn’t leave the city, Dyson said, “134,000 people in New Orleans didn’t own a car. They weren’t stupid, they weren’t stubborn, they were stuck.”

Speaking about New Orleans’ Mayor Ray Nagin’s preparation for Katrina, Dyson said, “He was more concerned about entrepreneurs than his city’s citizens.”

Dyson also voiced his disagreement with the portrayal of the citizens of New Orleans in the national media.

“Of course there were thugs,” he said, “but they were antediluvian thugs, they were thugs before the flood. The flood didn’t change them.”

Dyson’s speech ended to the sound of standing applause from the crowd of about 75, after which he answered questions from the audience ranging in topics from the Barry Bonds steroid controversy to the effects of Flavor Flav on the black identity.

Dyson received a doctorate in religion from Princeton and has written books on subjects ranging from Tupac Shakur to Martin Luther King to Malcolm X.

Student opinion of the speech was overwhelmingly positive.

“I thought it was excellent,” Student Government Board member Sheila Isong said. “I wasn’t too familiar with his work, but now I’m going to get some of his books.”

“I thought it was very inspiring,” said Brennan Rhodes, vice president of the Black Action Society. “It’s very frustrating to hear things like that from someone [Bill Cosby] of such high status. Hearing what [Dyson] had to say put it in perspective.”

Student John Clendaniel, who watched the speech, added, “I’d really like to see more speakers like this at Pitt. I thought it was great.”