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The problem with Cosby
By: karibkween
July 09, 2004
Would Bill Cosby and his middle-class peers be preaching from their bourgeois soap-boxes to the common folk, if they had not abandoned the communities that nurtured them?
Perched atop their white horses, like the infamous plantation overseers at their masters' behest, they verbally whip the field hands into shape. I would like to quote an observation made by the late Gerald Massey:
"For, mark this, the Eternal intends to show us that humanity is one, and the family are more than the individual member, the nation is more than the family, and the human race is more than the nation. And, if we do not accept the revelation lovingly, do not accept the fact kindly, why then 'tis flashed upon us terribly, by lightning of hell, if we will not have it by light of heaven, and the poor neglected scum and canaille of the nations rise up mighty in the strength of disease and prove the oneness of humanity by killing you with the same infection."
Like most other members of his class, Cosby has finally realized that money for all its advantages, is not a shield. Did not Mr. Cosby abandon his cocaine addicted daughter?
I remember writing a paper ages ago in college about the effects of the Cosby Show. Although many Blacks were happy with the shows portrayal, I held a different view. I did not need the Cosby show to affirm what I already knew. I grew up and was partially educated in Trinidad. Professional well-adjusted people of African descent were everywhere. Whites I observed had mixed reviews. There were those who believed it to be an inaccurate portrayal of Black life, because for them all blacks lived in ghettos and were incapable of accomplishing such heights as exemplified by the Cosbys. Then there were those who thought it was a cute fantasy, and were quite flattered by Cosby's imitation of their lives. This was evidenced by the fact that in the throes of Apartheid in South Africa, The Cosby Show was rated number one. Then there were the poor and lower-middle class whites, these I predicted to be the most dangerous. They viewed the show as an excuse for their failure. The result, which I predicted, was a white rage, which culminated in an attack on affirmative action, the take down or attempted take down of several black luminaries and the infamous Rodney King beating and its riotous climax.
One must remember that while the Cosby show was on the air, the CIA was funneling cocaine into LA's Black communities to fund their wars in Latin America and the Middle East. Abuse of crack-cocaine was at epidemic proportions in most US inner cities. What was the response from Cosby? A marijuana cigarette found in Theo's textbook. It mattered not that ordinary black kids had to navigate a drug instigated war zone to get to school everyday.
What we are experiencing today is the outcome of decades of neglect. The true legacy of Ronald Reagan. This latest cultural creation was conceived in the shadows of Reagan-omics. The rich got richer and reveled in excesses, while the poor got poorer and degenerate. Now Mr. Cosby is faced with the fact that his surviving progeny has to exist in a world that he helped create with his silence. It is not surprising that once again he has chosen to place the blame for past excesses and omissions, on the shoulders of the survivors.
Discussion:
Trinidad and Tobago News Bulletin Board
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