There are a few things I dislike with great passion, one is oppression, censorship is another and self righteous judgment ranks highly and of course media crucifixion. This brings me to the matter of Bill Cosby noted celebrity, comedian, actor, producer, director, civil rights activist, educator and humanitarian.
Last month comedian Hannibal Buress said, “Thirteen? And it’s even worse because Bill Cosby has the fu#$@*&^ smuggest old black man public persona that I hate. Pull your pants up, black people. I was on TV in the ’80s. I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom. Yeah, but you raped women, Bill Cosby. So, brings you down a couple notches. I don’t curse on stage. Well, yeah, you’re a rapist, so, … If you didn’t know about it, trust me. You leave here and Google ‘Bill Cosby rape.’ It’s not funny. That sh#* has more results than Hannibal Buress.”
Then Bill Cosby invited Twitter users to use his photos to generate memes on the site. The intention backfired when some Twitter users tweeted mimes that referenced rape allegations previously brought against him. One in particularly replayed YouTube video rockstar Antoine Dodson’s rant “There’s a rapist in the hood,” and caused Tweet pandemonium.
Consequently over the last several weeks, decade old discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced. Following Buress’ comment, former aspiring actress Barbara Bowman repeated charges that Cosby had drugged and raped her.
The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. I am sickened by the media crucifixion that America holds, and we especially as victims of unfair judgment better be careful what we do. Years and years of the total disregard for us as human beings deserving of Constitutional rights or justice should have taught us that witnesses are not always credible. Let Emmett Till’s death not be in vain. I abhor the allegations against Cosby not because I respect and appreciate his wonderful contributions to the world but more so because these alleged victims have come out of the wood works now that he’s 77 years old, basically retired and too tired to fight. Where’s the evidence? I have read and re-read what the women have said. Each sharing a similar story of how they were drugged, woke up to discover that they had been raped. One woman even said that she didn’t know what had happened. And I thought, Really? Even if you were passed out, once awakened your body would hint of having had sex. Did he shower or bathe you too? It matters but not here, on the pages of opinion.
That’s my point we are not at liberty to try and pass judgment in the media. A man is assumed innocence until proven guilty. Cosby went to court and was exonerated. Allegations brought by Andrea Constand, the former director of operations for women’s basketball at Philadelphia’s Temple U., Cosby’s alma mater in March 2005 resulted in a lawsuit alleging that, in January 2004, Cosby had drugged and groped her. Ultimately prompted a total of 13 women to enter their names as witnesses in her court case. Among them was Barbara Bowman who at the time claimed being drug and experienced a near rape. Cosby settled out of court with Constand however maintained that the sex was consensual. Interesting isn’t it that he professed sex and the accuser described her experience as gropped? He apologized to his wife. Bowman, he simply accused of lying.
It’s possible. Most of the women who have come out admit that they were aspiring actresses at the time of their interaction with Mr. Cosby and each say the same thing. They were in awe of his celebrity, was taken under his wing, then drugged and describe sexual assault rather than rape. Both Bowman and Joan Tarish state that they woke up and couldn’t tell if they had been raped. Bowman now claims that she is sure that she was raped. Sounds suspicious to me.
Hannibal Buress thought himself clever and even cute when he added . . .” that sh#* has more results than Hannibal Buress.” It was personal. Well he’s gotten more hits than ever at Cosby’s expense. His statements will always be associated with Cosby’s name now. So he pimped Cosby’s celebrity. Hit! Hit! Hit!
This is not the Watergate investigation, where investigative reporting was done; facts were checked, sources vetted and only then were they revealed to the public. Today in a society where everything goes, bloggers spout off their opinions, which is often touted as Word and taken for fact. This irresponsible reporting has been the cause of so much false information, which impacts the lives of people in a real way.
On July 19, 2010, Shirley Sherrod was forced to resign from her appointed position as Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture because of administration reaction to media reports on video excerpts from her address to an event of the NAACP in March 2010 and commentary posted by blogger Andrew Breitbart on his website. This is the same guy who in the hours immediately following Senator Ted Kennedy’s death, Breitbart called Kennedy a “villain”, a “duplicitous bastard”, a “prick” and “a special pile of human excrement.”
Based on these excerpts, the NAACP condemned Sherrod’s remarks as racist and U.S. government officials called on the official to resign. But, later it was understood to be about the NAACP audience reaction to Sherrod’s story, and not Sherrod, the NAACP and White House officials apologized. United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack apologized for the firing and offered Sherrod a new position.
The point is that all this sort of careless communication is dangerous and creates a landscape for fraudulent slander. We have to be careful and not get caught up in the lack of due diligence. Most people repeat what is published or said over the air waves without giving it a second thought. This Is not to be taken lightly.
I’ve seen this before with OJ, and Michael Jackson. Say what you will about either, both were tried in the media, which does not tell the whole story. The juries liberated them. But media sways the public to believe what it wants it to. And it works.
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