One of the reasons that Bill Cosby has been a beloved American comedian for six decades is that he offered one of the most soothing versions of the story of race in America. He was a history-making entertainer whose successes emblematized racial progress within the entertainment industry. He was the first African American man to land a leading role on primetime television drama in “I Spy.” Cosby had a doctorate in education, and brought the stories of black city kids to television with “Fat Albert”; he was a staple on public television with the “Picture Pages” segments on PBS that are my earliest television memory. His most indelible creation was “The Cosby Show,” the blockbuster Thursday night sitcom that in 1984 provided the nation with an aspirational vision of a loving, successful, upper-middle-class black family. Bill Cosby was the Noble Black Savage and brought comfort to the status quo. He functioned as the colonized black person who made white colonizers feel comfortable about their hegemony. Reality is not so black and white (tongue firmly in cheek). newrepublic/article/120338/bill-cosby-rape-allegations-why-america-took-so-long-wake
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 04:31:35 +0000
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