Opinion of Bill Cosby

[bedstuy]

One of the greatest comedians, FF.

Brilliant entertainer, but his views on race are, alas, sorely lacking. (And no, I don't give a damn about him being black. Racist crap is racist crap regardless of whether the person saying it is white as the driven snow or black as the darkest night).

It's not right to label Bill Cosby a racist.  He was a black guy talking to a group of black people, so you need to put what he said in that context.  He's obviously not condemning all black people.  However, Atlas is way too unsophisticated about race to discuss Bill Cosby's underlying point, so let's not. 

[bedstuy]

Nothing happens in a vacuum. The 1991 riots didn't happen because "lulz, let's kill whitey". They happened because of the total failure of justice where white cops, beat a black man half to death, and were acquitted by an all-white jury. It was essentially 90's Trayvon Martin - and had there been rioting after Zimmerman's acquittal, I wouldn't have cheered them on, but I wouldn't have laid the blame squarely at black people's feet.

I think that's a pretty silly way to look at these issues. 

Sure, you shouldn't judge "black people" based on the actions of a few criminals.  I agree with that.  Cory's point is basically racist drivel, and that's why Bill Cosby's words became problematic in America.  We tend to turn everything into a white vs. black issue unfortunately.

But, that's not what Bill Cosby actually meant.  I think his point is that even if there are racial inequities, black people ought to work on the social problems, mostly born out of poverty, on an individual level.  If you just constantly see yourself as a victim with no agency, that's actually racist in my eyes because it's disempowering to black people.  Individual people can make a huge difference in things like the achievement gap, by talking to their young children and reading to them for example.  That's not to say, black parents have the same advantages as white parents on average.  But, I think the point is just that constantly focusing on racism and the victim status of black becomes counter-productive after a point. 

[bedstuy]

This is going predictably poorly.

Do you actually think that's a good way for the black community to think?  That they're all helpless and can't do anything to improve their individual situation without white people's munificence.  I never said that society should not work on racism or help poor black people out of poverty.  There's room for that.  But, there's also room for what Bill Cosby was somewhat inartfully talking about. 

There are just limits to what society or government does for anyone.  Is the government going to read black kids bedtime stories and tuck them in at night?  Is the government going to fully address the social ills of poverty?  Certainly not.  And, even if the government should, they're not going to.  So, what's supposed to happen at that point?  We can talk about the root causes of black social problems in America forever, that's not going to make them go away.  Of course you can say, it's white people's fault and that's historically true I guess.  But we can't just say, "hey white people, fix the black community's problems please."  How is that supposed to work? 

[bedstuy]

I just meant you shouldn't imply that people can judge "black people" based on the Rodney King riots.  And, making statements about black culture in these broad strokes is just dicey in general. 

[bedstuy]

On why it is so hard to aknowledge that people like Cosby ad Woody Allen might be sex offenders:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/04/11/when-nice-guys-behave-like-monsters/

That's pretty messed up to conflate convicted child rapist Jerry Sandusky with Woody Allen and Bill Cosby who have never been charged with any type of sexual assault or misconduct.  It's unfair, even if we have an inkling that these guys are gross creeps, to assume that every allegation about them is true.

[bedstuy]

On why it is so hard to aknowledge that people like Cosby ad Woody Allen might be sex offenders:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2014/04/11/when-nice-guys-behave-like-monsters/

That's pretty messed up to conflate convicted child rapist Jerry Sandusky with Woody Allen and Bill Cosby who have never been charged with any type of sexual assault or misconduct.  It's unfair, even if we have an inkling that these guys are gross creeps, to assume that every allegation about them is true.

Not really the point.

Well, as far as I know, you might be a sex offender.  What of it?

As far as Bill Cosby goes, I hate this whole thing where we put people on trial in the court of public opinion.  Being accused of something is tantamount to being guilty I guess.  I understand the logic of where there's smoke, there's fire.  But, with a celebrity with millions of dollars there's also the logic of cashing in with lawsuits and hush money. 

Maybe Bill Cosby is a creep like Bill Clinton is a creep.  Maybe he's a horrible rapist who happens to have used his fame and money to cover up his tracks.  Maybe he's innocent, I don't know.  This is not some cut and dry issue where we know the facts. 

I guess what I don't understand is why the media and a certain segment of the population needs to transform into an army of self-righteous yentas whenever a controversy like this comes up.  If you're convinced someone is a rapist, report it to the police.  But, I just don't think it's my job to revile Bill Cosby to prove how feminist and anti-rape I am.   

[bedstuy]

Fifteen different women accusing him of raping them does not equal zero evidence. It's not like there's any additional evidence that would come out at trial; it all happened years or decades ago so there would be no physical evidence. It would just be his word against theirs, as is the case now.

I didn't realize it was that many.  I just looked it up and you do see the stories corroborate each other with a specific pattern.  That's very damning.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-women-who-have-accused-bill-cosby-of-rape-2014-11