Allegations against Bill Cosby hard to reconcile with public persona, doesn't mean they are false
I wanted to write something about the American justice system as it pertains to Bill Cosby – something along the lines of innocent until proven guilty, how trial by media is fundamentally flawed and how people perceive the difference between a black man and a white man, perhaps through the comparison with Woody Allen or Roman Polanski.
There is also the idea that memory is a tricky thing. People do not remember so much as reconstruct. Photos, stories and other stimuli can affect what people believe they remember. False memories can be created with the right words and pictures. They can be created through dreams and nightmares. However, with so many accusers, it is hard to believe that this is a conspiracy to bring down a beloved icon.
I grew up with Cosby and “Picture Pages” and “Fat Albert” and yes, I watched the Huxtables along with most of America. I have seen Cosby in concert believing that to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a man who is also a legend. I wanted to, in some way, defend a man who has brought so much joy to the world.
The problem is that it is not inconceivable that Cosby is the man that the women, who have alleged these crimes, claim he is, and there are enough accusers and corroborators to make the case that Cosby received preferential treatment when accusers first stepped forward. Power corrupts, and America has seen its share of high profile, moral hypocrites who have abused their positions of power – people like Jimmy Swaggart and Bill Clinton.
Cosby is a television pioneer. He is a comedian. He is a successful black man, and he is an icon. None of these facts precludes the possibility that he used his position of power, influence and money to perpetrate rape and then cover it up. A public persona is not the same thing as a private persona.
In the end, none of this should be about Cosby’s status, power, fame or image. It should be about what he did or did not do. It should be about finding the truth. While no one can expect Cosby to admit to his actions, the best that anyone can hope for is… I don’t know what because, in this case, there appears to be no best. There only appears to be another bad example of a man who couldn’t control his prurient urges to the detriment of society and himself.
The Missing Component
What is missing from the above is a statement regarding what the women involved have gone through. I feel incapable of and inadequate to the task of trying to describe the consequences of requiring these women to continually rehash the story in the face of establishment disbelief. The fact that it was a stand-up routine by a man that brought legitimacy to the claims of the women calls into question the ability of the justice system to follow the precepts of balance and blindfolds.
The other question that is hard for me to reconcile within my own internal dialogue revolves around this statement by Edward Schumacher-Matos: “The charges are too many to ignore.” Isn’t one charge, one allegation of rape too many to ignore? It may be a false allegation, but in a system where innocence is the presumed state, it should be investigated with consequences only being applied after the investigators or court have reached their conclusions.
There is also the idea that memory is a tricky thing. People do not remember so much as reconstruct. Photos, stories and other stimuli can affect what people believe they remember. False memories can be created with the right words and pictures. They can be created through dreams and nightmares. However, with so many accusers, it is hard to believe that this is a conspiracy to bring down a beloved icon.
I grew up with Cosby and “Picture Pages” and “Fat Albert” and yes, I watched the Huxtables along with most of America. I have seen Cosby in concert believing that to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a man who is also a legend. I wanted to, in some way, defend a man who has brought so much joy to the world.
The problem is that it is not inconceivable that Cosby is the man that the women, who have alleged these crimes, claim he is, and there are enough accusers and corroborators to make the case that Cosby received preferential treatment when accusers first stepped forward. Power corrupts, and America has seen its share of high profile, moral hypocrites who have abused their positions of power – people like Jimmy Swaggart and Bill Clinton.
Cosby is a television pioneer. He is a comedian. He is a successful black man, and he is an icon. None of these facts precludes the possibility that he used his position of power, influence and money to perpetrate rape and then cover it up. A public persona is not the same thing as a private persona.
In the end, none of this should be about Cosby’s status, power, fame or image. It should be about what he did or did not do. It should be about finding the truth. While no one can expect Cosby to admit to his actions, the best that anyone can hope for is… I don’t know what because, in this case, there appears to be no best. There only appears to be another bad example of a man who couldn’t control his prurient urges to the detriment of society and himself.
The Missing Component
What is missing from the above is a statement regarding what the women involved have gone through. I feel incapable of and inadequate to the task of trying to describe the consequences of requiring these women to continually rehash the story in the face of establishment disbelief. The fact that it was a stand-up routine by a man that brought legitimacy to the claims of the women calls into question the ability of the justice system to follow the precepts of balance and blindfolds.
The other question that is hard for me to reconcile within my own internal dialogue revolves around this statement by Edward Schumacher-Matos: “The charges are too many to ignore.” Isn’t one charge, one allegation of rape too many to ignore? It may be a false allegation, but in a system where innocence is the presumed state, it should be investigated with consequences only being applied after the investigators or court have reached their conclusions.