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| Credit: pete_forester @Twitter |
First, I'm gonna go on record and say I fully believe that drugging women and zippy-zoopity bop is Bill Cosby's thing. This does not change the fact that I enjoyed and learned from The Cosby Show and A Different World. These two shows were positive examples of blackness during the formative years of my childhood. Yeah, sure Cosby enjoys puddin--puddin his dick where it doesn't belong. But that does not suddenly let Vanessa off the hook for going to Baltimore to watch The Wretched and having big fun. Bill Cosby is a human man, not a black Jesus. At the end of the day, what's right is right and what's wrong is wrong.
Second, black's folks inability to admit that a person of color may have done something wrong fucks up our collective credibility at times. It seems like the reputation and hope of all black kind are on the shoulders of celebrity blacks, making it hard for us to accept any wrongdoing lest it make us all look bad. I do not believe the Cosby allegations are a conspiracy to mar the name and image of a successful and affluent black man. In fact, I believe the amount of time that passed before anyone came out indicates the exact opposite. Since he was a lone black raft in the white Hollywood sea, some women may have put his success before their right to not be violated because "we" needed him to make it. And that's fucked up.
I feel like, when white folk get busted, they have to wear a media "cone of shame", apologize for getting busted and fucking it up for other white folk, and their careers either live to die another day, or they are paid to go away. In October of this year, Stephen Collins (yeah I didn't know who he was either), of 7th Heaven fame and was accused of inappropriate sexual conduct with children. The immediate repercussions of the accusations during the investigation were: reruns were pulled from networks, he was fired from Ted 2, and his appearance on Scandal did not air. But then Collins straight up admitted to doing something "terribly wrong" and now the show is back in syndication. Christian Conservatives still consider the show to be an excellent example of family values. However, they do not condone using baby hands to jerk your dick off.
Get ready to call me names. Black folk need to do a better job of separating talent and humanity. Beyonce is a phenomenal entertainer; flawless, if you will. She is a complete package with beauty, talent and she carries herself with respectability. But I do not want her to be a role model for my daughter because I don't know her as a person. I prefer to remain my daughter's role model, as it is my responsibility as her parent. When I see that she is enjoying a form of entertainment, I ask her if she is having fun. Because I want her to associate music videos, doll play, celebrity and such as fun, not real life that she should emulate.
Have you ever made a parental suggestion to a black parent? My condolences. I hope your face grows back soon. Yet, black parents turn their kids to the tv and say shit like "that's who you're going to be" instead of "you have the talent to do that too". There is a HUGE difference between telling a child they're going to be the next Michael Jackson and encouraging them to foster a talent that is as appreciated and admired by millions. You know I'm talking about his music and not the other thing right? Because, yeah...just--no. We have to feel like we're enough for our children. We have to believe the fleeting fame and money that most rappers and athletes make isn't the epitome of success. We have to stop making entertainers our saviors and role models. We have to be willing to admit and permit jokes about the possibility that Bill Cosby doped and dick some chicks. Everything is not a conspiracy.
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