By Rev. Benjamin Green
Guest Column
Well, I have not been one to shy away from a subject, and I don’t intend to start now. I know that there will be those who will disagree with me, but what else is new? And from my side of the conversation, I know what the thinking is and why, but the saying still goes, “Two wrongs don’t make a right, and in this case, there are 58 of them, ladies and gentlemen men.
Fifty eight wrongs, and not to mention the ones that were not mentioned, including the ones done to his fans, his friends, and especially to his family, with Camille being at the top.
On the surface, the subject appears to be about the rich and the famous getting away with something that no poor person, black or white, could pull off without doing some serious time. But the truth of the matter is, is that there is a 12,000 lb Asian elephant in the room, and I want to talk about the elephant.
The elephant is not about Bill Cosby being rich or famous only, but it’s also about his being rich, famous and black for those of us who are black. On the one hand, he is getting away with a serious felony because his pockets are deep. But on the other hand, some see him as getting away with something that he should get away with because of all the rich, white men who have gotten away with so much, while black men have been prosecuted, persecuted and even murdered for little or nothing done.
What about this case brings back mixed memories of the O.J. Sompson case? Everything. You knew he murdered those folks but somehow, it was “par for the course.”
Perhaps, from a secular perspective, for some, what Bill did could be reasoned as being “payback.” If however, his actions were isolated, and pertaining to each victim individually, we might be able to squeeze some twisted sense of justice out of this.
But there is more than what meets the eye, or eyes for that matter. In fact, a blind man should be able to see what is wrong with this.
Here are my issues:
- Drugging and raping folks carries the same distain and immorality and color does not make it right, whether black or white. Ask Michael Jackson.
- What happened to those women, was disrespectful to women anywhere and women everywhere.
- The subliminal suggestion in this matter that sets women in this country back is the male dominated notion, that these women deserved what they asked for. No wonder it’s so hard to get predators prosecuted!
- Bill was a role model, for not only blacks. He restored a great degree of faith in white people who, because of his status, believed that black folks were people too.
This may not have been the sentiment of many whites but that, my people, is not part of my discussion, and neither does it justify anything.
- Not to mention that Bill denigrated many young black comedians because of their language, when what he did was far worse than a few swear words. And what are swear words anyhow, other than a dirtier version of something else. “Shit” and “do do” may be spelled differently, but they both smell exactly the same.
- How about the many young kids and babies who grew up on “Fat Albert” and the gang. Fat Albert was not just Fat Albert, he was Bill Cosby. How can we set a good example for our young people, if we are going to be bad examples for our young people?
No, Bill played to the right side of chauvinism, whether it was his intention or not. No, this was not a step in the right direction for women anywhere. And future purposes, those of you who are delighted that he seems to be getting away with murder, you’d better hope that the exact same thing happens to you because Bill’s case has set a precedence.