By all accounts–including a recent criminal one–Bill Cosby’s predator, creepy-sex past has caught up with him. But whatever the ultimate legal outcome, two scenarios will remain in play.
First is the welfare of his victims. Call it strength and assertive self-image in numbers. Finally.
Second, for all of Cosby’s unconscionable, moralizing hypocrisy, his societal message shouldn’t be condemned as well.
As a stand-up comedian, he was chided for not using street language like Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy. Basically, he wasn’t black enough. “The Cosby Show” was criticized for lulling white households into a false sense of civil-rights success. Basically, he didn’t traffic in racial stereotypes. He was neither a race hustler nor an Uncle Tom.
He later railed against gangsta rap, teenage pregnancy, gang allegiances and even pants worn below the butt. Because of his conservative prescriptions for black America, Cosby was lambasted by critics of both races.
He deserved better. Now, ironically, he likely deserves much more punishment than can ever be meted out. But his message of personal responsibility in America’s racial cauldron, however undermined by hypocrisy, remains valid.