Posted by Tina
Yesterday Bill Cosby was hauled into court to face crimial charges that he drugged and sexually assaulted a woman. Other women have claimed they too were drugged and assaulted which will weigh heavily on the outcome of the case. Cosby was released on bail of $1 million. Several prominent blacks have spoken out, expressing disappointment and a sense of betrayal by the man that had been known as “America’s Dad.”
James Peterson, director of Africana Studies at Lehigh University: “Cosby has long enjoyed the loyalty given to breakthrough cultural figures by the black community that can sometimes supersede their transgressions. This contradicts our sense of who Bill Cosby was. People really felt that Mr. Cosby would never be arraigned. He wasn’t Cliff Huxtable.”
Author and Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson: “This is an entire edifice of iconic and symbolic blackness shattered by this charge, millions of people looked up to him. There is a fatal difference now between Cliff Huxtable and Bill Cosby that can never be overcome, because Cosby depended as a figure and an icon on the goodwill he established through his characters. It does add a creepy subtext and a shadow of tremendous moral weight that will inevitably be brought up each time his name is evoked.”
I can understand the disappointment and fears felt by the black community. One of their brightest stars has fallen. The entire nation looked up to Bill Cosby, both as an accomplished comedian and breakthrough actor and through the positive messages of his very popular TV show. The Huxtables represented iconic examples of close family and good parenting. Should the personal failings of the man tarnish the legacy and image he built through his work? Do the charges against Cosby “shatter” the “edifice of iconic and symbolic blackness,” as professor Dyson suggests. I don’t think so. I think the two faces of Bill Cosby can be viewed separately.
Bill Cosby is a human being possessing both good and bad qualities. His failings are no worse, nor better, than anyone’s in a similar situation. He will be treated as an equal now, just as he was when his television show crossed all racial barriers to become the most popular show on television…and that’s exactly as it should be.
Bill Cosby the fallen man will now face his accusers in court and suffer whatever consequences result. But the legacy he built, the edifice, if you will, is another matter. The positive messages and inspiration his work provided to millions of American’s of all races remain forever. The positive images this black creator and actor created will live on long after Bill Cosby the man is forgotten. There is much to admire in his messages, the last of which, ironically, may be that every human being is capable of surrendering to dark forces. The higher we climb the farther the fall. In life personal strength in the face of temptation is every man’s constant battle and when social mores have been relaxed, as they were in the seventies, personal temptations become even more difficult to resist. so in terms of a legacy, the charges against Cosby can serve as a reminder to all of the importance of high social and familial standards. Whether we are aware of them or not, high social and familial standards act as support for our better selves. They are the foundation on which we stand and act as barriers to temptations.
Bill Cosby’s legacy will be mixed. The characters this creative person created will live forever as fine examples of the best in all of us.
Your thoughts….
After reading part of the deposition that will be used I am disgusted.
Matters none ones talents, race, or fame If this is all true he is scum.
Shows how money allows some to live by other rules than the rest of us must adhere to.
Thanks for your thoughts, Dewey.
If guilty Cosby’s behavior is as disgusting as it gets.
The values featured in the Cosby show are timeless and should not be tarnished by his behavior.
In my opinion the way Bill Clinton has been treated, as well as the women he is alleged to have assaulted, by Democrats, feminist women, and media has done more to harm those values. (Hillary too!)
Money will not save Mr. Cosby from the long arm of the law.
Public ignorance and depravity have “saved” Bill and Hillary Clinton. She can now get away with saying that women in these situations should be believed and yet she stands accused of colluding to harm and silence the women Bill abused.
An article at American Thinker today, “Examining Bill Cosby’s Accusers,” is worth noting. Patricia L. Dickson considers that those that have accused Bill Cosby will be scrutinized now that formal charges have been made. A court battle could be further damaging to Cosby, on the other hand, a few of his accusers have already been discredited:
Dickson cites four more discredited stories and compares the Cosby case to a similar case against British actor William Roache in which Roache was acquitted and asserts that the “entire ordeal is coordinated against Mr. Cosby because he angered the race industry when he spoke out against destructive black culture.”
Cosby’s admitted personal behavior involving drug use and infidelity remain a stain on his character but it will be interesting to watch this case to see if it involves the politics of personal destruction.