Written by Marianne Mansfield
Bill Cosby was never one of my favorites. The wacky faces he made on the Cosby Show distracted me from the plot, however thin it might have been. I liked him a little better as Art Linkletter’s successor on Kids Say the Darndest Things, but again, the faces.
After that, Cosby was even less on my radar until the spring of 2004 at which time he unveiled his belief that blacks should take responsibility for their own lives. He first aired this position in a speech on May 17, 2004 at an NAACP event commemorating the 50thanniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision striking down school segregation. He was both praised and condemned for what he said that day, and continued to say it in front of black and white groups, alike. He had credibility, however, and his remarks sparked memorable dialog about the future of young and low-income black men.
His thoughts played in my mind, and frankly, I didn’t know where to land. Was he right? Or was he blaming the victims? I was unsettled, but not enough to prevent me from distancing myself from the debate. I’m not proud to admit that, but that was the year of my retirement, and I had other things on my mind.
Now fast-forward to the past few months. As of today’s date, there are now 15 women who have come forward, accusing Cosby of molestation and/or rape. If what the women say is true, this is a pattern of behavior on Cosby’s part that spans from the late 1970s to 2005. Most describe similar scenarios of being offered a drink with a drug that rendered them unable to fend off Cosby’s unwanted advances.
Cosby denied all accusations at the time and he was never brought to trial. He did, however, reach a financial settlement with one of his accusers in 2006. In a lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand against him, it was alleged that he drugged and molested her at his home in Pennsylvania in 2004. The terms of the settlement were never disclosed.
Why is all of this stuff coming up now, again? The match seems to have been struck in interviews published in February, 2014 by Newsweek in which two of the women repeat their allegations from earlier years. The kindling to which the match was touched was the announcement in July of 2014 by NBC that the network planned to launch a series in which Cosby was to play the patriarch of an extended family. Then, in August, Netflix disclosed that they would be airing a comedy special featuring Cosby the day after Thanksgiving. And finally, in September, Mark Whitaker, an author, published a biography of Cosby (on which Cosby collaborated). In the book, the allegations were not addressed.
Boom. The fire ignited.
And again, I am conflicted. My first, and overly simplistic reaction was to wonder if some of the women were lining up to cash in on Cosby’s apparent return to the spotlight. Once more, I can’t claim pride in this thought, but it did cross my mind. After all, these incidents were years ago. Isn’t a person allowed to escape his past errors? And if the allegations turn out to be untrue, the question becomes, what does it take to move forward?
But then, the number of women speaking out, and the parallels that exist in all of their stories, began to link themselves together and wrap themselves securely around Cosby as he tried, too hard, to discredit them by saying nothing. He’s getting tripped up. To me, it looks like the truth is doing the job.
On my Facebook page, I asked for readers’ opinions about the Cosby situation. A woman who had been raped, replied. She talked about the enormous difficulty of fighting through the system, even when the perp is not a super star. She also described her anger that men with money can pull out a checkbook and make ‘un-pleasantries’ disappear. She said there is no amount of money that could compensate for the nightmares and fears that never go away.
Another respondent wondered if the story would be as large if the alleged rapist was not a famous black man. Good question. Refusing to address this firestorm exploding about his life is doing Bill Cosby no favors. His silence is getting him nowhere.
I think he did it, and if he did, he should take responsibility for his life and his actions, just as he admonished young blacks to do in 2004. If he didn’t do it, he’s going to need to prove it to me.
I’m listening.
Marianne Mansfield has lived in Southern Utah since 2010. She and her husband followed their grandchildren to this area from Michigan. In her former life she was a public school educator. More than half of her career was spent as an elementary principal, which is why her response to most challenges is, “This isn’t my first rodeo.” She grew up in Indiana, and attended Miami of Ohio, Ball State University and Michigan State. She is a loyal MSU Spartan and Detroit Tiger baseball fan. She has been writing fiction and opinion since her retirement in 2004.
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