Written by: Stephen Roberts
The Current published an article in Issue 16, on Jan. 19, titled “Cosby controversy: Racism has nothing to do with it.” Here is a response to that article.
To be blunt, it would probably serve us better if the sky actually did begin to fall, like Chicken Little so famously proclaimed. It might do us some good to be redeemed by a catastrophe that strikes fear into the hearts and minds of those who just don’t seem to get it. Many of the black population on Twitter seem to have it right about more than just a couple of things; the racial injustice all across the country is just one of them. The controversy surrounding the father of black television, Bill Cosby, is another.
Many people, not just black people, took to social media to discuss the circumstances surrounding Cosby’s arrest and charges. It’s wildly irresponsible to paint with a brush broad enough that one feels it gives them license to speak for an entire community. I get it; a lot of us are tired of hearing the same old narrative: race this, discrimination that and so on and so forth. I can assure that, as one of the many broken records out there, we’re equally as exhausted with having to repeat ourselves to no avail.
It’s ironic that a “Chicken Little” reference would be the one chosen. Speaking up and out when faced with adversity is a pivotal lesson from that film. The way we have always been viewed for doing exactly that has always intrigued me. With such a sentiment, it seems the black community is damned whether it does or doesn’t. We might as well do it well if we’re to be damned regardless, right?
The memes that were, that are and which will be made are not made to lump our issues together as if they all belong under the exact same umbrella. Instead, the parallels drawn within them are meant to point out the systemic inequalities that have been allowed to fester for as long as we can trace back. One can’t see that if he or she has already resolved to stop looking.
Victimization often comes with trauma. It requires processing. There’s a sort of synthesis a person should go through to be able to move past that point. When one is re-victimized, however, not only can it re-traumatize them, but it also restarts that process. Imagine a perpetual state of re-victimization, and then tell me there’s no reason to complain.
Bill Cosby has been an exemplar and role model for more than just a generation of young people. This is undeniable. To say that his being black is “just more fuel to the fire” seems far too simplistic in relation to the entire situation. He’s not an average Joe. He has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. He is a black man who has realized success in a town that has historically made it quite difficult for black stars to reach legendary status. There is a conspiracy theory that he was in preparation to buy an entire television network. If true, that’s more than a small reason to smear his name with a case such as this.
Moreover, I agree that rape is rape, regardless of the circumstance or perpetrator. If this situation were about some average Joe, it would have been turned into a three-part “Cops” episode that got marginal ratings while airing just outside of prime time hours. Of course, the majority of the American population wouldn’t have known about it. Just like they don’t know that a sexual assault occurs every 107 seconds, according to Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
Cosby’s rape allegations are a matter of race simply because of the amount of times he’s been brought to court over it. As stated, he’s been accused in the years 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2012. I can only assume that if sufficient evidence could have been found at all, he would have been behind bars. Clearly, that evidence has eluded prosecutors for well over a decade.
Black people have an innumerable amount of reasons to be so much more than just uptight. Quite frankly, it’s an act of the divine that we aren’t. We have every right to stand together and stick up for our fellow brothers and sisters. We owe that to ourselves to be truly able to find unity in such a hostile territory. And, yes, if someone within the black community does wrong, the community members should be first to give criticism. However, this just doesn’t seem to be one of those times.
Only Bill Cosby knows what really happened all those years ago. Furthermore, many probably haven’t heard because it’s been conveniently underreported, but he won his defamation case against his accusers. Maybe the uptight ones are those who ignore the role race plays. Maybe it’s naïve to think it’s possible not to see color because you can’t embrace a difference you choose not to acknowledge or find inferior. I think the black community may have a stronger case than some care to admit. Maybe the sky is actually falling.
