Me, Us, and Bill Cosby

Recently I was asked how I felt about Bill Cosby now with all the allegations and revelations about him having come out; especially during his recent mistrial for sexual assault. My answer is this: I can forgive him but I can't forget how he indulged himself at not only those women's expense but ours also as his fans, supporters, and of those who believed in him because of the message he pretended to portray. It makes it harder at the thought that he has the audacity to want to hold town hall meetings about sexual assault. This is not about a white supremacy conspiracy but about what Bill Cosby has admitted to himself and been brought out by others.

I feel disappointed because it means that everything he claimed to represent over the course of his more than 50-year career as a devout family man, model father, and community sage was a lie. He created images of the ideal father & husband in which he cast himself and pretended to be in real life while some times condemning others, but he was lying to us the entire time. He also had these encounters with his wife's consensual knowledge on the condition that he didn't embarrass her. These are the over indulgent behaviors of the rich & powerful regardless of ethnicity, and Bill took full advantage of his position. 

It's very disappointing to me but expected when I hear Black folks talk about him being mistreated but ignoring his bad behavior and lack of accountability for it. Here is a man who was supposed to be so supportive of Black People in our fight for justice, yet the majority of the women he was raping or committing adultery with were white. I'm not going to hold my tongue or be silent just because he's black no more than I would if he was white. He doesn't get a pass for being a deviant no matter what color he is. We've played "silence of the lambs" too long while wolves of all colors get away with rape and murder. A drugged woman can't give her consent; that's rape!  

There are some who believe the fabrication that he's under attack for attempting to purchase NBC years ago to try making sense of all this. Bill Cosby isn't being destroyed by the "white man". He's destroying himself with seeds he planted over 50-years. It's not an issue to me as to why these women were alone in a situation with a married man and speculating on it only ends up becoming victim shaming. Cosby has been lying to us for 50-years and that's the real shame. It's also a shame that other Hollywood figures defend his lifestyle along with those in the Black Collective who refuse to hold him accountable just because he's Black while ignoring any facts exposed. 

Bill Cosby played himself and us for nearly 50-years, but you want me to be quiet when he's been vocal all those years?!? Cosby was the seducer who used drugs to freely have his way with these women, and he admitted to this under oath in a court deposition, but we still overlook that to excuse him. He was once billed as "America's Dad" and the "#1 Dad" even by white America who you would perhaps never expect to revere a Black man as such. Forever gone and shattered as an iconoclast is the image of this fun loving pudding eating Dad who I looked up to as a model for fatherhood and wisdom right alongside my own father.

The vehement defense of him by some in the Black Collective also highlights for me the problematic lack of accountability among us when it comes to those we see as important figures. As long as we won't hold them accountable then they never will be and we can't hold anyone else accountable either because of the hypocrisy of our own sliding scale. Everything isn't a conspiracy against us, but sometimes the consequences of our own actions. Being a Black man with an open opinion about another Black man doesn't make me a coon or sellout either, but it may make you one for accusing me of it while exonerating Mr. Cosby for his actions over the last 50-years. 

The way we view celebs is the same way a jury sees a cop who kills an unarmed person; which is why they go free. We think we're above board but we're not, and we judge just the same depending on the person. We see personality & celebrity the same way a jury sees a badge & uniform, so the dead victim gets no justice and a rape victim doesn't get any either when up against a person like a Bill Cosby or some other revered figure we put above reproach. ~ Mr. Blaktastic