海角大神

As Bill Cosby faces unsettling sexual abuse allegations, it seems as if former NBA power forward 鈥淪ir鈥� Charles Barkley has stepped into a void and taken on a new role: the black scold.

While Mr. Cosby endures growing legal problems that have squelched his credibility as 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Dad,鈥� the Alabama-born Mr. Barkley has gamely waded into the topic of demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo., over the death of a black teenager by a white police officer.

On Tuesday, Barkley defended the police and called some of the black demonstrators 鈥渟cumbags鈥� for looting and committing arson. The comments come after other recent statements where Barkley chided black NFL players for shunning Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson for 鈥渁cting white鈥�; likened black culture to a bucket of crabs, where those trying to escape are quickly pulled back down; and noted that if NFL running back Adrian Peterson goes to jail for child abuse for using a switch on his son, then 鈥渆very black parent in the South is going to be in jail.鈥�

To be sure, such pugilistic commentary may be part of an ex-athlete鈥檚 bluster and is perhaps intended as a message of tough love from inside black America. Throughout his career, Barkley has never been shy about offering his opinion.

But critics say Barkley鈥檚 scolding feeds into arguments from white conservatives who don鈥檛 see or acknowledge that part of black people鈥檚 problem is a long history of Anglo-Saxon oppression 鈥� issues that continue to rear up in places like Ferguson. Critics also find Barkley's commentary slightly eccentric and ill-informed.

He 鈥渋s now that former athlete who specializes in pseudo-intellectual social commentary,鈥� Yesha Callahan writes on the Afrocentric Root website.

Yet the evolution of the black scold 鈥� a group that includes leaders like Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, the stereotype-skewering comedian Chris Rock, and even President Obama 鈥� could also count as a step forward, in a debate where those who challenge mores in the black community are themselves often scolded for being an 鈥淯ncle Tom.鈥�

Barkley鈥檚 exhortations, at the very least, 鈥渇orce us to look squarely at some things many find awkward ... the truth is somewhere in the middle,鈥� writes Ron Christie, author of 鈥淎cting White: The Curious History of a Racial Slur,鈥� in The Daily Beast. (Mr. Christie is black.)

Until news of multiple allegations of sexual assault, Cosby, a pioneer in integrated popular entertainment with his role in 鈥淚 Spy鈥� in the 1960s, had transformed his 1980s-era Cliff Huxtable persona into a more aggressive arbiter of African-American behavior.

His 2004 "pound cake鈥� speech is where he first took black culture head-on, chiding: "Who are these sick black people and where did they come from and why haven't they been parented to shut up?"

In 2007, Cosby spoke to a crowd of all black men at Detroit's St Paul Church of God in Christ. "We are not a pitiful race of people," he said. "We are a bright race, who can move with the best. But we are in a new time, where people are behaving in abnormal ways and calling it normal...."

Given Cosby鈥檚 current troubles, 鈥淵ou get dissonance so intense it's disorienting鈥� when considering such admonitions to the broader black community, Jen茅e Desmond-Harris writes on the website Vox.

Barkley has not set himself up as a role model and has never claimed to speak for anybody but himself. Yet his well-known pate, Southern charm, and willingness to answer any question have wedged him into the post-Ferguson debate in a way that's struck a nerve.

Defending his use of the term 鈥渟cumbags,鈥� Barkley told CNN on Wednesday that 鈥渨hen you鈥檙e looting people鈥檚 property, that鈥檚 what you are.鈥�

Barkley also acknowledged America's race legacy in the CNN interview. Peaceful protesting, he said, is OK because 鈥渨e have a racial issue in this country. We鈥檝e always had a racial issue in this country.鈥�

Conservatives have rallied to Barkley鈥檚 side, applauding him for having the courage to break from the black political ranks to speak truth to power.

Yet many social commentators have criticized Barkley for failing to understand the cultural and historical legacy of black people 鈥� including, they say, the slave-era roots for using a switch, the prison-esque fashion of saggy pants, and the empowerment of abandoning Anglo-Saxon names for colorful African-sounding names, the kind which Cosby once criticized: 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know a damned thing about Africa. Wit鈥� names like Shaniqua, Taliqua, and Muhammad ... and all of 鈥檈m in jail.鈥澛犅�

But if Barkley has become the new black scold in chief, his court includes other famous African-Americans who have challenged what some call 鈥渢he soft bigotry of low expectations鈥� for blacks.

Mr. Obama, in particular, has said there鈥檚 鈥渁n element of truth鈥� to criticisms that black people attack other blacks who try to get ahead in the world. 鈥淭he notion that there鈥檚 some authentic way of being black, that if you鈥檙e going to be black you have to act a certain way and wear a certain kind of clothes, that has to go,鈥� the president said in July.

But Barkley and Obama appear to diverge on Ferguson. While calling for rule of law, Obama also said last week that heated protests are understandable in a country where poor black people 鈥渁ren鈥檛 making these problems up.鈥�

While Barkley鈥檚 blunt critiques may have the ring of truth to some, his sentiments are ultimately hurtful to African-Americans, some critics say, because they play too easily into stereotypes that can be exploited for political purposes.

鈥淲hat's much more fascinating than Barkley's statements is that our national and political culture always seems to have a place for the black scold, along with broad and ill-informed generalities about black culture and behavior,鈥� writes Nia-Malika Henderson in The Washington Post. 鈥淭here is no such thing as the white scold.鈥�