Bill Cosby Fails to Garner Support from the Black Community

Embattled comedian Bill Cosby is definitely not ending the year on a good note. The past couple of months have been an intense litany of putrid accusations that have done an immaculate job tarnishing what was seemingly a flawed reputation.

But that’s just it. Cosby was never completely devoid of the swirling rumors regarding his moonlighted sexcapades. We just happen to embody a time when the tools needed for optimum exposure are just clicks away.

First, it was a joke and then it catapulted into a surreal case study of what being famous and morally challenged can garner.

Cosby was supposed to remain “America’s Most Beloved TV Dad” even after his successful sitcom The Cosby Show ended back in 1992. But fast-forward to the present and it is clear that the man who spent most of his life challenging his community to meet his high expectations is now fighting to maintain whatever dignity he has left.

Allegations of gross sexual misconduct by numerous women from all walks of life, including supermodels, Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson, have left most who revered Cosby, confused and astounded. How could the same guy who made the idea of being a “family man” seem indisputably appealing be capable of such vile acts?

That question remains unanswered – in the meantime we are left to wonder and ponder whether we spent our childhood idolizing and supporting a serial rapist who drugged women in order to adequately take advantage of them.

The betrayal is harsh and the only way to retaliate is to abandon ship. Aside from a handful of celebs including Jill Scott and Whoopi Goldberg and of course his family unit, not a whole lot of people are willing to rally around the 77-year-old comedian and actor. Even his former co-stars who spent a healthy portion of their lives dedicated to his brand have yet to comment or offer up any indication of their loyalty and empathy.

So it should be no surprise that the black community for the most part has chosen to watch from afar as opposed to speaking up for one of their own. It could also stem from the fact that Cosby’s negative comments towards lower income blacks especially pertaining to lack of education and resources is finally catching up to him.

Many felt he was unfairly railing on a population that was already steeped in stereotypical filth, which automatically initiates all the disadvantages that the privileged sect can’t ever fathom but consistently mocks.

His preferred method of assistance was not appreciated and ultimately made him unpopular and disliked. Obviously things haven’t changed and after his recent assessment regarding the way the black media should handle his ongoing crisis – it is clear that Cosby is still in the dark when it comes to the status of his relationship with the black community.

Perhaps, he should refrain from attempting to defend himself especially when he divulges his expectation of “the black media to uphold the standards of excellence in journalism, and when you do that you have to go in with a neutral mind”.

That didn’t sit well with the National Association of Black Journalist, and president Bob Butler immediately retorted his annoyance at the notion that Cosby would expect black journalists to be “preferential” based on skin color, “You don’t go easier on a person with color”.

But the real culprit is the strain of Cosby’s negligence and the way it has been interpreted and internalized by his own people. As his legacy is reduced to rubble and he becomes a laughing stock of a younger generation who didn’t have the benefit of drooling over The Huxtables, the tragedy is unfolding in a way that his detractors might have hoped for but it doesn’t minimize the dramatics.

When wife Camille and daughter Evin, finally responded to the mayhem, the overriding message was that the man we thought we knew still exists.

That might be comforting if we could say that we really did know Bill Cosby – but at the end of the day, we are left with relics of a TV personality who took a lot more than he gave. And that’s definitely not anybody worth knowing.