Bill Cosby has been an icon in the black community for over
40 years. He has been a leader in the field of entertainment and championed a
plethora of causes that facilitated the betterment of African Americans, both individually
and culturally. Recently, a multiplicity of persons have come out and accused
him of sexual abuse. I have no opinion
as to whether he is guilty or innocent, because in the 41 years of my life I
have witnessed that, every time a black man rises to great wealth, power, and
influence, he inspires the scrutiny of the government and all of its
investigative agencies. I compiled a small list of historical figures and
contemporary black heroes and if you are objective a cursory look will clearly
show that our black super heroes have always been/still are under attack.
Jack Johnson was boxing
first black heavyweight champion of the world.
He was a symbolic figurehead of the toughest man in the world; the fact
that he was an African American was a challenging to the superiority mind set
of many white Americans, as well as the government. He won the title in 1908; by 1912 he was
convicted of a federal crime (The Mann Act), for transporting his white wife
across interstate lines.
A similar example is Marcus Garvey, the great black
nationalist/entrepreneur who founded “The Black Star Cruise Line,” he had hoped
these ships would ultimately take black Americans back to their home in
Africa. He was charged, convicted, and
imprisoned for mail fraud for advertisements related to his enterprise, The
Black Star Cruise Line. He was also
weighted with a heavy fine so as to bankrupt him and his image to the millions
of African Americans who had come to see Garvey as a super hero.
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are two leaders who I don’t
have to provide the reader with any history about. They may have been the two single most
influential men of the century, they both had the power to help black Americans
change the way they saw themselves and their brethren. Both of the men underwent incredible scrutiny
from the investigative agencies of the U.S. Government and were under constant
surveillance and pestered by government commissioned spies. Both spent time in America’s jails and
Malcolm even did a stint in the prison system.
I should note that after his religious conversion he was faultless as
was Martin; however, neither survived the decade in which they were at the
zenith of their power, leadership, and influence.
Muhammad Ali was also imprisoned and for no reason at all
other than his religious conviction that would not permit him to kill
innocents. Then when it comes to black
super hero fighters you will observe repeated instances where the symbolic
“baddest man on the planet”, must be humbled and tamed, a la
Reuben “Hurricane Carter, Mike Tyson, and lately Floyd Mayweather.
Some of our most beloved entertainers like Sammy Davis Jr.
and Red Foxx died penniless after tax evasion charges threatened to have them
imprisoned. They ended up losing all of
the wealth they amassed over a lifetime. We all know its one matter to be old and sick,
but it’s entirely another to be old, sick, and broke, which everyone should
know will kill you. Unfortunately, this is
what happened to these black super hero entertainment icons.
In the realm of politics there was Marion Barry the former
Mayor of Washington, D.C., who was a political giant in the nation’s capital
and held the mayor seat from 1979-1991.
He was set up by the FBI with a prostitute and a crack pipe and was
captured on video in a sting. In this
case I do concede it was a dumb move and he shouldn’t have been smoking dope,
but it served to illustrate my point that sinister elements are actively at
work to discredit, destroy and imprison our black super heroes. Heroes like Jesse Jackson and his child out
of wedlock scandal, or Al Sharpton and his taking a bribe scandal. They like to take the black man off of the
pedestal and break him down to his knees.
They like to take a man that black people respect and shame him in our
eyes. A man like James Brown whose crazy
looking mug shot picture was plastered all over the nation. James Brown was crazy, but no matter what he
made you still want to say it loud, “I’m black and I’m proud.”
How about Michael Jackson, he is after all, arguably the
greatest pop/r& b artist of all time.
His music and dance influence are powering the styles we see that are
hot on the scene today. He was I believe
one of the most targeted celebs of the century.
I will be the first to admit Mike was weird as the day is long and if it
were me I wouldn’t be hanging out and having sleep overs with a bunch of kids
at Neverland Ranch, consuming “Jesus Juice.” My point here is that the
authorities procured warrants to take photographs of Michael Jackson’s
genitals. Imagine how humiliating that
must have been, and what a great fall from the most toasted singer in the world
to a criminal defendant in custody forced to strip so that your man parts could
be photo documented. All super heroes
fly high, but it is the black ones that always come crashing down, usually
after some U.S. government prosecutorial action. Can I ask one rhetorical question: Where were
these kids’ parents? It just smells like
a set up.
In contemporary America sports are huge and black men more
so than ever before reach super hero status through their physical feats on the
field and courts of sold out stadiums and coliseums. Barry Bonds is a not too distant victim of
the attack, a “special” prosecutor did his best to see the Major League Baseball’s
all time home run leader imprisoned, for
perjury, (lying) (wow, guess that’s all the evidence they could muster).
It’s been alleged
that Michael Jordan gambled on games and also that gambling had something to do
with his father’s death, but it’s just lies, taint, and slander to throw mud on
one of the all time greats who was too squeaky clean to nab in any wrongdoing,
and was too diligent to fall for the setup.
Unlike Kobe Bryant, who in a moment of thoughtlessness almost lost his
career and went to prison for a white woman who moaned, “yes” that night, and
cried “rape” later, when it suited her ends to say so.
Most recently its Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson under the
fiery attack of the media and the government. Both are NFL running backs, Ray
for the Baltimore Ravens and Adrian for the Minnesota Vikings. Ray Rice’s case is somewhat flawed, he did
after all beat his (now) wife who was (then) girlfriend as if she were a Hebrew
slave. Adrian Peterson’s case is a
little more complex as a child is involved. I will say this, in black culture mama and
daddy beat that tail so that when you grow up the police wouldn’t have to and
so that they don’t have to go to their own child’s funeral because we all know
what happens to our black youth when their uncontrollable. Belts, brooms, switches, extension cords,
shoes, and hot wheels race tracks, were all fair game in my community. Lately, the NFL was summoned to a Congressional
panel to talk about the league and its incidents of domestic violence.
Ordinarily such a forum could be a good thing, but It became clear to me they
had made the face of domestic violence into a black face, Ray Rice’s.
Finally, for irony’s sake I had to include Michael Vick, the
now New York Jets back-up quarterback, who was then Atlanta Falcons black super
hero icon QB and highest paid player in the league. Michael Vick was sentenced to three years in
prison for dog fighting. What’s ironic is that Ferguson police officer Darren
Wilson shot and killed an unarmed teenager (Michael Brown) and he will never do
a day in prison. One man killed dogs and
got a three year stint he was black, another man killed a human being and
walked away scot free, isn’t that ironic?
As I stated in the opening, I don’t know if Bill Cosby is innocent
or guilty. It’s hard for me to look at
any information the government or media provides as accurate or credible. Yes,
I know personally that people keep secrets, even 30 and 40 year old ones, but I
also know people will tell lies for the opportunity to receive settlement
money. If there is a trial and he is found guilty, I can’t say whether it was
reached with a just jury, using just judgment.
I feel bad for the man, he’s old
and sick now, but he fought a good fight and ran a good race. He was immune from attacks for a good long
while, now he is about to be shamed, discredited, and humiliated. The legacy he worked so hard to create is
about to be ran through the mud and he is headed the way of black super heroes
past.
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