For the past couple of months there has been dozens of women coming forward, alleging that Bill Cosby raped or sexually assaulted them. This happening has occurred coincidentally around the same time Cosby was to make more stepping stones in his career. There is a pretty clear divide in the opposition and favoring of this situation: either the women stepping forward are apart of a scheme to defame the powerful Comedian or the women have grown tired of a rapist living merrily while they carry shame they've had for years. Maybe these women want to end their silence and liberate other woman who fall victim to rape and have felt they cannot speak up. Rape is a touchy subject that can easily be desensitized as many have seen as this story unfolds.
Cosby was about to start a new project with NBC, the same station that originally aired the series "The Cosby Show" back in 1984. The project was still in its earlier stages; however the company simply put out a statement saying "The Cosby project is no longer in development" and left it at that. Netflix also decided to distance themselves from the alleged celebrity, as they were to put on their website the stand up comedy special "Bill Cosby 77", but decided to postpone. Potential money has been lost for Cosby along with current income he was receiving from TV Land, as they have discontinued reruns of "The Cosby Show".
Clearly aside from a good reputation and legacy being left behind, money is at stake as well. Those who back Cosby up are definitely claiming the woman who have stepped forward are trying to extort him and his money. He is indeed a powerful black who plays a positive role in society, which typically is rare and even discouraged in the media. Has America had enough of Bill Cosby? Is he doing too well for a black man and needs to be stopped? Many of the girls were minors when he was claimed to have raped or assaulted then. What does a young white girl who is trying to advance in her career outside of acting have to go to Bill Cosby for? Social climbing is a real thing in Hollywood. So could these women could have just not gotten advances they wanted and became upset? Or were they misguided and young, thinking a great figure like Cosby only wants to help them pursue their dreams and to their misfortune instead became another one of his victims. Was the worry of being believed overpowering their voices? This is one of the biggest problems with this case: who wants to believe Cosby is capable of raping and abusing so many, let alone any women? That opposes every ideology of the man.
Bill Cosby is known as a family man. He is known as a tasteful comedian. To hear something like this is almost blasphemous. That is why black women like Whoopi Goldberg, Jill Scott and Mrs. Cosby continue to stand behind Cosby while he... well he says nothing. The first time Bill Cosby remained silent to a question asked of him was when an AP interviewer asked him if he had a response to any of the allegations. As many saw while they were still being recorded Cosby consistently asked for that portion of the interview to be "scuttled" afterward. He also asked black journalist to remain neutral. This probably causes ambiguity between black people because while many find Cosby to be a positive black male that has done so much for the black community, many would say he shames black people. So is Cosby hoping to be helped out by black people? Is he going to "pull the race card"? Does he realize he is viewed no better than the black people he seemingly looks down upon?
In my circle of life, I've noticed black males are the quickest to defend Cosby while women, regardless of race or age undoubtedly say he did it. This is of no surprise, being that black men are constant societal targets and feel this is another man being brought to a downfall as was (quite arguably of course) Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson, Michael Vick and others. While women on the other hand, are tired of victims of rape being shamed, blamed, doubted or just made out to be deserving of it. Unfortunately this is frequent in society and it allows for girls and women to feel it is their own fault they were sexually advanced beyond their consent. This shows the women being raped are the problem when the rapist is, which is a norm that needs to stop. Once this stops, women will not remain in silence after being attacked because they worry people will not believe them. That disposition is unfair entirely.
So the question is still whether Bill Cosby actually raped those women. With his longtime career and affluence, it is completely possible that he got to these 32 women who've came out and potentially even more. Frank Scotti, who once worked for Cosby said he was in charge of "paying off" eight different women and guarding Cosby's dressing room while he "interviewed" models. Barbara Bowman was one of the 13 Jane Doe who came out years ago. She wonders why it took decades for people to hear her out. Some of the women have been publicly speaking up against Cosby long before the past two months, not in this oh so synchronized attack that some people imagine it to be. Also many of the stories are very similar: the being drugged, waking up to him in a robe, him becoming angry if you deny him and the forced masturbation/oral sex. Right about all the women are white; this can be a factor as to believing or not believing them. Some may see it as the common occurrence of white women sexually advancing with a black man but claiming rape when things turn sour. Many came to Cosby to seek something. Could have been a sugar daddy? As a black woman I can see the opposition on both ends of the spectrum and would not want to belittle either problems: race and rape. I empathize with those who do feel strongly about what they believe to be true though. However, hopefully the truth will come out and soon.
The one thing we do not need is to make fun of this situation. It was extremely disappointing to see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler mocking the sensitive subject. The memes are also immature. To scale rape down to an internet joke is pathetic. It is also distasteful that Cosby refrains from speaking out. With such accusations headed his way from so many woman he better say something quickly. Not only is his reputation on the line, but so is his money. I'm sure once he loses enough of that this situation will not be so cyclic anymore.
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