In a country where for the past three years both our politics and our pop culture have been shrouded in deception, malice and complicity, it's surprising how over the past few months, we seem to have started to get some of the justice we've deserved for a long time.
Sure, the Mueller investigation is still in swing and has yet to fully disable Trump even a year into its continuation, and the Supreme Court of the United State's ruling on the Colorado baker case is less than hope-inducing, but there have been some noticeably positive moments in American current events so far that make me optimistic that the times are finally starting to catch up.
Perhaps most notably is Bill Cosby's conviction, a process that is more than three years in the running, and for his victims, more than 30 years. Thirty years, speaking of which, he is likely to be sentenced to serve — effectively issuing the lecherous serial rapist a life sentence.
When allegations about Cosby first surfaced, nobody thought he would suffer any consequences because only 0.6% of rapes result in incarcerations, and with Cosby's massive fan base it seemed like he would become just another example of a celebrity getting away with everything they want. But on April 26, 2018, Cosby was convicted of three counts of sexual assault and will be sentenced on September 24 of this same year.
Roseanne Barr, a longtime Trump supporter, anti-feminist and racist, finally faced repercussions for her actions over the years, when her show was canceled by ABC after she made a particularly racist tweet. Roseanne for a long time has gotten away with spewing homophobic, racist, sexist nonsense and evading any and all consequences for her actions. Even the episode of her eponymous television show where she thought her Muslim neighbors were terrorists managed to escape everything but criticism from late night talk show comedians.
Many people have argued that ABC didn't truly fire her because of the ethics of her tweet but because of fear of backlash on ABC if they didn't take action, but regardless, we now live in a time where it is good business to take action against racism, something which has not been the case until very recently and still is an evolving development.
Most recently, the judge that gave Brock Turner his notoriously light sentence was just recalled in California, making him the first judge to be recalled in the state since 1932. After being convicted by a jury for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in a dumpster, Brock Turner was sentenced to only six months in prison and three years probation. The judge has stood by his sentence, but the people have taken action.
Are these signs that America is finally catching up to the times and we are finally going to start seeing positive outcomes of controversial events? I want to be hopeful. Like any sensibly-minded person, I want to believe that justice will prevail and these three events will mark a new era in history, separating us from events like Trump's presidency or the Charleston neo-Nazi riots that have shed doubt on our country's willingness to change from our bigoted roots.
Even the fact that the Mueller investigation has yet to make any moves on Trump himself can be construed as a sign that things could be changing because Trump is only as powerful as the people who surround and support him, and Mueller has been knocking them over like dominos.
It is easy to be overly pessimistic when things are this bad. And my optimism doesn't make me blind to the fact that things really are truly awful. But change does happen, and we ought to recognize the good that's happening in the world — recognize it as something that never could have happened two years ago — and at the very least hope that it means more good is on the horizon.
