Bill Cosby is black and that sucks. Being black in America can often times suck, but that is not why it sucks that Cosby is black. This is not even about his personal black experience and how that may have sucked. This is more about how the fact that he is black, will impact the African American community internally. Anyway, Bill is black, and not only is he black, but he was the black man to be in America for generations. He had funny, but respectable stand up routines. He crafted a respectable black family for television that was so respectable that it could even serve as a blueprint for "normal" American families. He, this black man, would be elevated to "America's Dad." He pretty much moved on and became America's grandad with, "Kids Say The Darnest Things"
Bill was so good, so respectable, that it almost felt like he was single handedly making America into the post-racial, colourblind society we hear so much about. He was elevating the black community, one sagging pants at a time, carrying it to the dizzying heights of waist worn respect and decency. Golly-gee, if Martin had a dream...
Whatever.
Why does it suck that Bill Cosby is black? It sucks because some of us, too many of us, will don our capes for Bill Cosby. Too many of us will step onto the battlefield of racial politics, march to the front lines, and take fire for Bill Cosby; for the culture. Mind you, brother Bill was not returning the favour, in fact brother Bill was not a fan, nor a defender of the culture. Brother Bill threw the culture, and the men and women in it, living it, making it, under the bus whenever he could. Bill tried to silence Hip Hop, Bill detests AAVE (..but Fat Albert though), and constantly, and consistently castigates the black poor for the choices they are forced to make, and for not working hard enough and pulling themselves up.
I wonder if Bill loved black people. I think he did. I'm sure he did. I'm just not sure that he liked their blackness; not all of it. A lot has been invested in making blackness unwanted and unlikable - I get it; we all struggle. It sucks that Bill is black because rallying to the support of our brothers, and to a lesser extent our sisters (sad), in these types situations is an instinctive, defensive response in the black community in America. We know that the justice system, from police to judges to lawmakers, has not always had our best interest at heart. We know that equal crime does not merit equal time, as we see here and here. So, we cape. We cape hard. We even cape for those that do not need, nor deserve our capedom, just because they are black. #thejuiceisloose Bill does not deserve us donning our capes.
Celebrity sex scandals are nothing new, in fact a sex scandal can catapult virtual unknowns to A-List status in the blink of a Kardashian eye. However, this entire thing surrounding Bill Cosby is not a sex scandal. This is about predation, incapacitation, manipulation, assault, and rape - rape being about power, not sex. It was a power trip.
Bill had been out here drugging, manipulating, abusing, and raping women for about 40 years and getting away with it. This side of Bill Cosby was not even a massive secret. While it may not have been public knowledge, it was certainly known within the industry. As we have seen with most of the men named in this #metoo and #timesup era, their actions were not those of sexually deviant masterminds that fooled everyone, they were actions facilitated by those around them, willingly or not. They were also the actions of powerful men, using their power and influence to silence, shame and/or destroy anyone, not just their victims, who would challenge them, or call them out on their actions.
The judicial system does treat black men worse than all other men in America - a statistical fact that can be seen here, and here. Bill Cosby is not one of those black man statistics however, not even close. In fact Cosby has done something that no other black man that I can think of has ever done in America, and that would be get away with the rape and sexual abuse of almost 60, mostly WHITE women, suffering the lightest possible sentence. In the land of Emmett Till, the Central Park 5, and Brian Banks, this is nothing short of magic. The statute of limitations has been Cosby's friend here,and had Hannibal made his joke a year later, Cosby would likely have never seen a trial, much less a jail sentence. Bill Cosby could have been fated like Daniel Holtzclaw, or like Dr. Larry Nassar, but he was not. Lucky him I guess.
For many, Bill Cosby, his work and his art, especially in television, mean(t) a lot, well beyond mere entertainment value. If that is the case, then hold on to Clif Huxtable if you must, but let Bill go.
It is hard for many people to square all of this. The irony of a man that preached respectability politics so loudly, a man whose entire media empire, and public image was build as that of a righteous and moral man, being accused of things so degenerate seems too baffling to be true. Remember that we are human, and we can be many things, even completely opposite things at the same time.
The famous "Pound Cake Speech" that condescends to the black youth to pull up their pants and to speak properly; and the drugging and sexual assault of Andrea Constand, the one case within the statute of limitations, and the one that has ultimately sent him to jail, both happen in 2004.
That nigga was magic.
Bill was so good, so respectable, that it almost felt like he was single handedly making America into the post-racial, colourblind society we hear so much about. He was elevating the black community, one sagging pants at a time, carrying it to the dizzying heights of waist worn respect and decency. Golly-gee, if Martin had a dream...
Whatever.
Why does it suck that Bill Cosby is black? It sucks because some of us, too many of us, will don our capes for Bill Cosby. Too many of us will step onto the battlefield of racial politics, march to the front lines, and take fire for Bill Cosby; for the culture. Mind you, brother Bill was not returning the favour, in fact brother Bill was not a fan, nor a defender of the culture. Brother Bill threw the culture, and the men and women in it, living it, making it, under the bus whenever he could. Bill tried to silence Hip Hop, Bill detests AAVE (..but Fat Albert though), and constantly, and consistently castigates the black poor for the choices they are forced to make, and for not working hard enough and pulling themselves up.
I wonder if Bill loved black people. I think he did. I'm sure he did. I'm just not sure that he liked their blackness; not all of it. A lot has been invested in making blackness unwanted and unlikable - I get it; we all struggle. It sucks that Bill is black because rallying to the support of our brothers, and to a lesser extent our sisters (sad), in these types situations is an instinctive, defensive response in the black community in America. We know that the justice system, from police to judges to lawmakers, has not always had our best interest at heart. We know that equal crime does not merit equal time, as we see here and here. So, we cape. We cape hard. We even cape for those that do not need, nor deserve our capedom, just because they are black. #thejuiceisloose Bill does not deserve us donning our capes.
Celebrity sex scandals are nothing new, in fact a sex scandal can catapult virtual unknowns to A-List status in the blink of a Kardashian eye. However, this entire thing surrounding Bill Cosby is not a sex scandal. This is about predation, incapacitation, manipulation, assault, and rape - rape being about power, not sex. It was a power trip.
Bill had been out here drugging, manipulating, abusing, and raping women for about 40 years and getting away with it. This side of Bill Cosby was not even a massive secret. While it may not have been public knowledge, it was certainly known within the industry. As we have seen with most of the men named in this #metoo and #timesup era, their actions were not those of sexually deviant masterminds that fooled everyone, they were actions facilitated by those around them, willingly or not. They were also the actions of powerful men, using their power and influence to silence, shame and/or destroy anyone, not just their victims, who would challenge them, or call them out on their actions.
The judicial system does treat black men worse than all other men in America - a statistical fact that can be seen here, and here. Bill Cosby is not one of those black man statistics however, not even close. In fact Cosby has done something that no other black man that I can think of has ever done in America, and that would be get away with the rape and sexual abuse of almost 60, mostly WHITE women, suffering the lightest possible sentence. In the land of Emmett Till, the Central Park 5, and Brian Banks, this is nothing short of magic. The statute of limitations has been Cosby's friend here,and had Hannibal made his joke a year later, Cosby would likely have never seen a trial, much less a jail sentence. Bill Cosby could have been fated like Daniel Holtzclaw, or like Dr. Larry Nassar, but he was not. Lucky him I guess.
For many, Bill Cosby, his work and his art, especially in television, mean(t) a lot, well beyond mere entertainment value. If that is the case, then hold on to Clif Huxtable if you must, but let Bill go.
It is hard for many people to square all of this. The irony of a man that preached respectability politics so loudly, a man whose entire media empire, and public image was build as that of a righteous and moral man, being accused of things so degenerate seems too baffling to be true. Remember that we are human, and we can be many things, even completely opposite things at the same time.
The famous "Pound Cake Speech" that condescends to the black youth to pull up their pants and to speak properly; and the drugging and sexual assault of Andrea Constand, the one case within the statute of limitations, and the one that has ultimately sent him to jail, both happen in 2004.
That nigga was magic.
