Recently, a fellow Odyssey writer penned an article titled “Bill Cosby: A Legacy Unjustly Destroyed”, defending the legacy of Cosby over his sexual assault allegations.
To be blunt, myself and many others are getting tired of watching ignorance take place over justice. I continuously see comparisons of Cosby being made to the many other men of Hollywood who’ve been accused of rape, and who haven’t suffered consequences, such as Woody Allen or Charlie Sheen. While I would be pleased to see the numerous other men (and women) who have sexually assaulted people be charged and tried, their lack of punishment shouldn’t excuse any other rapist for their actions. The alleged actions of people such as Woody Allen or Charlie Sheen are awful, but they do not excuse Cosby for what he has admitted to doing: giving drugs to women in order to have sex with them. In case you or anyone else is unaware, this is sexual assault. I even looked up the definition of “sexual assault” according to the United States Department of Justice for you: any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.
And while you argue that Cosby hasn’t even been tried, so why take away his fame, I have to ask you this: if you were raped, how would you feel if your rapist was still being portrayed as a “family man”, and still making money from that facade? How would you feel if you were raped, and the public decided to blame you for destroying the “legacy” of your rapist?
Perhaps Bill Cosby did inspire African American children; I can admit that as a white female, I can’t understand this impact. But I have to wonder, how can an accused rapist really be your greatest inspiration, when there are so many other brilliant leaders in the black community who don’t drug and sexually assault women? Look at W. E. B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr., or more recently, figures such as Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors, Shaun King, or even big stars such as Beyonce and Nicki Minaj. I don’t have the right to tell the black community who to admire, but can you not acknowledge that these black leaders were able to make large impacts on African American culture and/or communities, all while being capable of not raping people?
Being sexually assaulted is a disgusting feeling. It leaves you feeling dirty, empty, and violated. When you continue to excuse rapists for their actions, you insult victims everywhere. You tell them that they are somehow to blame for being raped, and that their pain isn’t valid. You are contributing to the rape culture that plagues our society by blaming victims and making it even more painful for women and men who have endured sexual assault to come forth about the abuse that has been done to them. And to make matters worse, according to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, a whooping 68 percent of all sexual assaults are not reported to police, and 98 percent of all rapists won’t even spend a day in jail for their crimes. That means only 2 percent of rapists are charged. Would you like to excuse their “legacies” as well?
