Bishop Eddie Long has returned to the public eye.

In his first interview since the sexual misconduct allegations were levied against him, Long spoke to Channel 2 News in Atlanta. Of course, the media was told that Long would not answer questions about the allegations, but hearing him speak in public was a media attraction nonetheless.

The event was the Trumpet Awards prayer breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta. When answering questions, Long only spoke about hope, the future and other relatively vague, light-hearted issues. The mood appeared to be positive, and Long was given an optimistic reception from those in the audience as well as Corey "CoCo Brother" Condrey, the radio personality who introduced Long to the crowd.


"There's people praying for you, and there's people that in the midst of whatever happens, we love you," Condrey said in front of the crowd.

"In the midst of adversity right now, we're praying for him and we love him. Ladies and gentleman, Bishop Eddie Long."

The allegations that Long would not refer to are in reference to a civil suit filed by four young men who are accusing Long of using his influence to coerce them in to having sex with him. Since the allegations surfaced, Long has kept quiet in public. Also, mediation in the case is going on behind closed doors, with both sides working to find a mediator. If the mediation is not successful, a jury trial date may be set for next summer.

"It's a wonderful celebration of a time when our nation needs hope, when people need to see people who rise up and are doing great things and actually making a difference in someone's life," Long said.

The Bishop Eddie Long sex scandal once consumed the media, particularly within the black community. Long's team is surely comforted by the fact that the public has stopped talking about the issue, and it may even move to the back of the public's collective mind. At that point, I fully expect that the case will be settled and Long will continue on with his life.

It's very interesting how the focus of our outrage one month can be yesterday's news the next.

One great example is the BP oil spill last summer. While the world was angry at BP at the time and determined to boycott the company's products, many Americans now have no problem buying BP gas. By 2012, the BP oil spill will be an afterthought, as the world moves from one 24-hour whirlwind news cycle to the next.

I'm sure Long's team hopes to take advantage of the fleeting attention span of the American public. Also, should Long emerge from the case and perform one or two high-profile deeds, millions of Americans will surely forgive him.

The unfortunate consequence of our collective attention deficit disorder is that there may be a group of young men who are permanently scarred for life. That's why the public still deserves to know the truth.




Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.