The one thing I have to give respect to Ebony on is consistency. Take a look at Ebony from back in the 40s and 50s and look at a copy today and you'll see that the magazine really hasn't changed that much. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, but it's a true thing.
Re: Comparing Bryant to Cornel West/Henry Louis Gates/Julianne Malveaux: I can see your point Soror Shelacious (and I even linked him with other scholars in a previous post) but Bryant is a journalist. He's not an editorial columnist like Malveaux (who is one of my sheroes), nor is he a public intellectual like Gates or West. His job is to present as unbiased a representation of the news as is possible in his profession. When he does his sports show, he's able to give a little more editorial commentary, but people expect that from sportscasters, not from their newscasters. However, he chose to editorialize at a private function, and that is within his right. I don't think he was overstepping the bounds of his profession in that capacity because he wasn't acting as Bryant Gumbel: Employee of CBS.
The Bryant Gumbel people see on CBS every morning is a completely different animal than the Bryant Gumbel people see in interviews. I'm no big fan of the man after how he treated his now ex-wife, but I have a lot of respect for him. If possible, try to get a copy of the Chris Rock Show episode with Bryant, or do a search in your local library on profile pieces he's done with magazines over the last couple of years. He has been a very, very outspoken critic of race and racism in the media, especially in light of how long it took him to convince the Today Show to do a series from Africa.
Here's a piece written by Jill Nelson (author of "Volunteer Slavery) about Gumbel and some of his feelings on race:
http://www.usaweekend.com/97_issues/...nt_gumbel.html