Who is he? William Henry Cosby Jr., or Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable? Growing up in Philly, Bill Cosby was everywhere for me. In a mural filled city, his was in North Philly. While attending summer camp at Temple University, his face was plastered along the athletic hall of fame wall. Bill is also one of the “noted alumni” of my high school so his picture is on the walls, and his name is in my yearbook. My parents even had a few of his books in their personal collection. In addition to watching The Cosby Show and A Different World, I literally grew up with Bill Cosby all around me.
Ever since the first allegations of sexual assault and rape surfaced years ago, it has been hard for me to separate the man from the character because I have distinct relationships with both of them. I’ve never met Bill Cosby in person but he has been such a big part of my adolescent memories that I feel like I personally know him. I feel connected to Dr. Huxtable for obvious reasons. Think about all the things that Cliff, Claire, Sondra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa and Rudy did for African American culture every Thursday night from 1984 – 1992. The show has had a great impact on my life as a wife, mother and daughter in America.
There are a lot of lessons and gems that I’ve picked up from the show that I still reference and apply to my life today.
You can place your child on the “right path,” give them all the resources they need to be successful, but they will still go their own way. I think everyone recalls the episode that Claire demanded for Sondra to pay back every penny that they paid for her college education once she announced that she was foregoing law school to run a wilderness store.
And what about Theo? His character has really helped me when it comes to raising boys. This fool packed up his belongings and was ready to move into his college dorm, only to be denied housing because he still had the check to pay for his housing in his coat pocket.
I’m not disagreeing with the conviction, but for me it’s hard to separate Bill from Cliff. Does getting rid of Bill mean getting rid of my childhood memories? (Kevin Hart was also a counselor at that same summer camp, so I really don’t want to get rid my summer camp memories). I know for a fact that I am not getting rid of Cliff. Thanks to TVOne, I don’t have to pull out my Cosby Show DVD box sets, but it sucks that the show is named after him. The Cosby Show is one of the few shows I can sit down and actively watch with my boys. They love to dance to the theme songs, and Logan always seems to pick up on the celebrity appearances.
Like I mentioned, I am not disagreeing with the conviction and I am glad that the victims are finally getting their justice. But I am still personally struggling with what to do with my own relationship with Bill.
