Just a quarter of a century ago, in the neighborhoods you were told to stay clear of , the theory was that the new “Cosby Show” was not reality. The show was funny, responsible and smart, but some people thought it was a fairy tale.
The Huxtables
The focus on this one fictional Black Family mirrored the lives of many Africans American families whose existence had been overlooked by the general media as well as those who needed and deserved a different kind of role model.
How important is the media!
Last year when then candidate Obama was running for the Presidency it was said (often) that people where now open to this possibility having seen movies and a TV show with an African in American as commander and chief.
The Cosby show first aired at a time when MTV, a breeding ground exclusively for white recording artists, was under pressure to include more colorful acts. At that time, the thought of an African American quarterback leading a team to a Superbowl win was seen as a bigger fantasy then a Black doctor with a stable home life.
I don’t think there is a show on the air now that represents the promise of the kind of change in cultural understanding that the Cosby Show offered. Maybe there is one, but I’ve not seen it yet.
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