Teachers of media history routinely screen episodes of The Cosby Show for their students. We cite it as a turning point in the cultural depiction of African Americans. A colleague of mine now wonders if he should be troubled by rape accusations surfacing against the series’ eponymous star.
Of course he should be troubled. We should all be troubled by accusations of sexual misconduct. Will Cosby’s personal life color his contribution to media history (and vice versa)? Yes. Does that complicate our appraisal of the Huxtables? Does it add to the meta-conversations about black celebrity presented in Black Dynamite? Yes, yes, and again… yes.
