Statement from The Brokaw Company: Bill Cosby Responds to Media Criticism

PR Newswire - A United Business Media Company

Search Blogs that Mention this News Release

Click this link to view linked Bookmarking Services

Click this link to view linked Blogging Services

Statement from The Brokaw Company: Bill Cosby Responds to Media Criticism

    Los Angeles, May 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Bill Cosby says that media rumors that
he has abandoned the African American lower economic community are grossly
exaggerated.  A report in the "Reliable Source" column of the Washington Post
(5/19/04) reprinted in many newspapers across the country left out an
important piece of information from Cosby's remarks at a gala in honor of the
50th anniversary of Brown V. Board of Education organized by the NAACP Legal
Defense Fund in Washington DC last Monday.
    The article in the Post failed to mention that Mr. Cosby's remarks were
specifically in context to addressing the epidemic of an estimated 50% of
African American males in the inner city that are dropping out of school. The
Post article inaccurately characterized Cosby's remarks as a general criticism
of the black lower economic classes.
    Mr. Cosby explains that his comments were intended to be a call to action,
to "turn the mirror around on ourselves."  "I think that it is time for
concerned African Americans to march, galvanize and raise the awareness about
this epidemic to transform our helplessness, frustration and righteous
indignation into a sense of shared responsibility and action."
    "I travel the country and see these patterns in every community-stories of
12 year old children killed in the cross fire between knuckleheads selling
drugs, the 14 year olds with a sealed envelop as their first step into the
criminal justice system, the young males who become fathers and not held
responsible, the young women having children and moving back in with their
mothers and grandmothers, and the young people who choose not to learn
standard English."
    "My question:  Is Bill Cosby hoping that the drop out rate will reach 70%
soon and teenage single parenthood will grow to 80% in the lower economic
neighborhoods?   Or is he clanging a bell and warning that this is an epidemic
that has to be stopped?  Are we so worried about what others think about us
that we are unwilling to address this disease that is inflecting our people
more and more every day?"
    Mr. Cosby points out that media critics such as Christopher Farley at Time
Magazine are flawed in their argument that African American literary greats
such as Langston Hughes and Zora Hurston honored the dialects that Mr. Cosby
criticized as a lack of language proficiency that further denies opportunity
to inner city blacks.  "Clearly, Mr. Farley did not speak in dialect on 'Good
Morning America' nor would he probably have been hired by Time if he spoke
that way.  Secondly, someone should question Mr. Farley whether Mr. Hughes or
Ms. Hurston knew standard English and chose to write in dialect."
    "I feel that I can no longer remain silent.  If I have to make a choice
between keeping quiet so that conservative media does not speak negatively or
ringing the bell to galvanize those who want change in the lower economic
community, then I choose to be a bell ringer."

SOURCE The Brokaw Company

Industry & Market Focus

Choose links below to browse the latest Industry News and related resources from PR Newswire.

Auto & Transportation News
Banking & Financial Services News
Business Services & Consultancy News
Energy News
Entertainment & Media News
Government & Policy News
Health News
Heavy Industry News
Retail News
Sports News
Technology News
Travel News

International News
Multicultural News
News For Investors
Trade Shows

Add your news release

PR Toolkit for Communicators

Submit Feedback

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Auto & Transportation includes:

•  Aerospace & Defense

•  Airlines & Aviation

•  Automotive

•  Maritime & Shipping

•  Retail & Automotive Sales Reports

•  Transportation

•  Travel News

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Banking & Financial Services includes:

•  Accounting

•  Banking & Financial Svcs

•  Financing Agreements

•  Insurance

•  Mutual Funds

•  News for Investors

•  Public Offerings

•  Real Estate

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Energy includes:

•  Chemical

•  Discoveries

•  Environmental Services

•  Mining & Metals

•  Oil & Gas

•  Utilities

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Entertainment & Media includes:

•  Advertising

•  Art

•  Books

•  Entertainment

•  Film & Motion Pictures

•  Magazines

•  Multimedia & Internet

•  Music

•  Publishing & Information

•  Radio

•  Television

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Government & Policy includes:

•  Conservation / recycling

•  Corporate Social Responsibility

•  Domestic Policy

•  Economic News & Analysis

•  Education

•  Election & Campaign

•  Environment

•  European Government

•  Federal Executive Branch

•  Federal & State Legislation

•  Foreign Policy

•  Homeland Security

•  Higher Education

•  Labor

•  Legal

•  Not-for-Profit

•  Trade Policy

•  U.S. State Policy News

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Health includes:

•  Healthcare & Hospitals

•  Biotechnology

•  Medical & Pharma

•  Supplemental Medicine

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Heavy Industry includes:

•  Aerospace & Defense

•  Agriculture

•  Chemical

•  Construction & Building

•  Machinery

•  Mining & Metals

•  Paper & Forest Products

•  Textiles

•  Tobacco

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

News for Investors includes:

•  Banking & Financial Services

•  Bankruptcy

•  Conference Calls

•  Contracts

•  Dividends

•  Earnings

•  Earnings Projections

•  Investment Opinions

•  Joint Ventures

•  Mergers, Acquisitions & Takeovers

•  Mutual Funds

•  OTC & SmallCap

•  Public Offerings

•  Rating Agency

•  Restructuring & Recapitalization

•  Sales Reports

•  Shareholder Rights

•  Stock Splits

•  Venture Capital

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

International News includes:

•  English

•  Israel

•  Español

•  Português

•  China

•  Asia Net

•  Brazil

•  Canada

•  France

•  UK & Europe

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Multicultural includes:

•  African-American

•  Asian-American

•  Children Related

•  Handicapped/Disabled

•  International News

•  Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual

•  Native American

•  Religion

•  Senior Citizens

•  US Hispanic

•  Veterans

•  Women Related

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Retail includes:

•  Fashion

•  Food & Beverages

•  Household & Consumer

•  Office Products

•  Restaurants

•  Retail

•  Sales Reports

•  Supermarkets

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Sports includes:

• Sports

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Technology includes:

•  Consumer Electronics

•  Design Automation

•  Electronic Commerce

•  Hardware

•  Internet

•  Multimedia & Internet

•  Networks

•  Performance Management

•  Peripherals

•  Security

•  Semiconductors

•  Software

•  Technology

•  Telecommunications

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Travel includes:

•  Airlines & Aviation

•  Auto & Transport News

•  Gambling & Casinos

•  Leisure, Hotels & Restaurants

•  Sports News

•  Travel

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Trade Shows includes:

•  Automotive

•  Entertainment

•  Financial

•  Healthcare and Biotech

•  Retail

•  Sports

•  Technology

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Business Services & Consultancy includes:

•  Advertising

•  Agency News

•  Small Business Services

•  Workforce Management/Human Resources

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Public Issues includes:

• Public Safety

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

Welcome to PRN Direct.

PRN Direct is our secure customer dashboard
for PR Newswire members.

Roll over the links at left to see what's included
on each page, then click the link to get there.

PR Toolkit.

Get the Word Out About your Products & Services.