More Cosby

I would be remiss if I didn't link to this engaging interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates, from our crack web video team:

Comments

Absolutely great interview - someone at the Atlantic needs to get that fellow a blog, stat.

Posted by Steven | April 19, 2008 1:27 PM

I find it sort of interesting that Mr. Coates didn't attempt to distance himself from Cosby's views in the interview like he did in the article. It seems that in the article he wanted to make a more "nuanced" point, but in the end I think he recognizes that Cosby is basically right on. I almost wanted to cry when Coates talked about dreading the almost-inevitable revelation that the man who murdered the girl in North Carolina would turn out to be black.

Posted by MC | April 19, 2008 2:15 PM

i love the enthusiasm with which coates speaks! he seems so genuinely interested in the topic that it's like there's energy radiating from his body.

i think the part he ended with is the key; black liberals who are making the case in opposition to cosby that policy needs to change are not ignoring the role that individual agency plays in the plight of the black community, i think they are positing that policy does have an influence in how one views their agency and that's why the policy debate is significant.

i'm not sure that one could suggest that bill cosby is representing a view that is contrary to mainstream black understanding of how to uplift black people because while cosby may be harsher in his speech, i hear strains of his opinion in mainstream black thought on a regular basis. in fact, i think that people engage more in debates about what black people can do on individual, family and community levels than about whether policy represents a roadblock to the success of black americans. i don't know whether that speaks to a loss of hope of the ability to change institutions or what, but i think it's an accurate observation.

Posted by aisha | April 22, 2008 2:53 AM

great video.

Posted by joshua | April 22, 2008 9:32 PM