The Paris Hilton and Bill Cosby controversy

No, we have not discovered a new video of Paris Hilton mixing it up with Bill Cosby. But there is a tie-in between the two celebrities, and there is some degree of controversy.

Last week Progressive U bloggers attended a talk by Michael Eric Dyson. Dyson is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, an ordained Baptist minister, avid social commentator, and author of numerous books, including Holler if You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur, Open Mike: Reflections on Philosophy, Race, Sex, Culture, and Religion, and his latest, Is Bill Cosby Right? (Or has the black middle-class lost its mind?).

We will include more postings on Dyson's many interesting comments, but the point about Paris Hilton and Bill Cosby is this: Bill Cosby blamed the problems of black America on parents -- black parents care more about buying expensive sneakers for their kids than educating them, Cosby argued. Dyson used Paris Hilton as one of many humorous counterpoints. Paris Hilton's parents are very wealthy, and presumably could have used their parenting skills to teach Paris that education is more important the materialism.

We are not sure exactly what Paris' parents taught her, but we can see how she acts today. "She found gold in them thar (high) heels," says Dyson.

We will have more Dyson commentary to come on this site, but if you get a chance to hear him speak, by all means do.

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