The unfortunate controversy plaguing this show's legacy will not stop me from celebrating that on this date 32 years ago "The Cosby Show" aired and for 8 years (and beyond) broke records, made history, changed television, and changed the trajectory of many, MANY lives. Its positive social impact is innumerable & cannot be denied. No matter how one feels about the man behind the show, no matter if some networks never bring it back on air, the good that this show did worldwide is irreversible. It was major progress. However, I'm conflicted celebrating this post bc with that said, it's obvious that the world we live in still has much more work to do. The show has not prevented black men from being shot by police even if their hands are up. The impact of the show has not protected black men and black women from the confusion, intimidation, sheer hatred, and downright ignorance of a large part of white America (and in some cases, black America). The struggle continues. As "The Cosby Show" forced white America and black America to recognize the black upper middle class (shedding light on the fact that black folks did live like the Huxtables and inspiring many more to achieve that "American Dream,") the work that we need to do takes the work of ALL of us on every socio-economic level. We may have differences-different value systems, different economic hardships. We may like different music, different styles of dress, different education levels. But at the end of the day, we are black people still fighting blatant ignorance and hatred. That puts us all in the same boat. House slave or field slave is still a slave and the strength of the hatred towards us knows no difference. We HAVE come a long way in this country that we helped build and that should be celebrated, while at the same recognizing we still have a long way to go. And fighting and beefing with each other only gets in the way of collectively paying attention and staying collectively focused on protecting ourselves from the forces and people seriously trying to hurt us. #BlackLove shouldn't be relegated to just black couples. It should be the standard in how we see, treat, & respect each other.
A photo posted by Malcolm-Jamal Warner (@malcolmjamalwar) on