Bill Cosby Blasts Hollywood's Portrayal Of Blacks On Television

Jet, April 12, 1999

Bill Cosby recently lashed out at those in the entertainment industry who he said insult and degrade minorities with their work.

"And I'm saying this is done on purpose. I'm not starting trouble," said the star of TV's "Cosby" to an audience of about 500 at a Los Angeles Academy of Television Arts and Sciences conference on children's television where the medium's best was recognized.

"I will tell all of you this stuff hurts. God, it hurts ... This stereotyping, it hurts because someone sitting behind a desk said, `This is what I want Black people to look like.'"

The conference, Through the Eyes of Children, was sponsored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard.

Kennard concurred with Cosby's stand at the affair. In Kennard's opening remarks, he said that he grew up watching a television world that failed to reflect successful Black men, like his architect father, or show working women, like his mother, a teacher. Television was almost entirely White, Kennard told the crowd.

"I knew there were Black architects, Black teachers and Black store owners, but not on TV," Kennard said. "I remember once the Bank of America had a Black teller in one of its commercials. My mother was so excited that she ran out and changed the family's bank account."