Bill Cosby guided by his legal team (Facebook)
Michael Eric Dyson is blasting Bill Cosby for claiming racism in his ongoing sexual assault case. Dyson reacted to the report Thursday that Cosby’s legal team raised the issue outside court Sept. 6.
According to the Associated Press, Cosby faces 13 women possibly testifying that he drugged and molested them. Twelve of the accusers are white, and high-profile attorney Gloria Allred represents the group, which includes 20 more alleged victims.
Cosby’s lawyers targeted Allred in a statement obtained by the New York Daily News. They prefaced it by highlighting the comedian’s ability to point out the positivities among races.
“Mr. Cosby is no stranger to discrimination and racial hatred, and throughout his career, Mr. Cosby has always used his voice and his celebrity to highlight the commonalities and has portrayed the differences that are not negative — no matter the race, gender and religion of a person,” the statement read.
“[Allred] calls herself a civil rights attorney, but her campaign against Mr. Cosby builds on racial bias and prejudice that can pollute the court of public opinion,” it continued. “And when the media repeats her accusations — with no evidence, no trial and no jury — we are moved backward as a country and away from the America that our civil rights leaders sacrificed so much to create.”
It is unknown whether or not the team will bring the argument into the courtroom.
But the ploy gives Dyson displeasure.
The Georgetown University sociology professor called out Cosby for allowing his team to use the defense.
The actor previously derided the Black community for pointing to institutional racism rather than taking personal responsibility.
“It is ironic that a man who has chastised the Black poor for making race an excuse would now have to lean upon that as part of his defense strategy,” he said.
“If you’re more cynical, you might say, ‘What manipulation of racial rhetoric in defense of the indefensible,’ ” Dyson said.
