Bill Cosby Rape Allegations: Does He Get A Pass Because He’s Black?


Bill Cosby rape allegations are nothing new, but they’ve recently popped back into the spotlight thanks to a rant from fellow African-American comedian Hannibal Buress, who unloaded on the former star of The Cosby Show during a standup routine.

“Thirteen,” Buress said, referring to a piece reported on Gawker. that described the number of accusations made against the comedy legend.

“It’s even worse because Bill Cosby has the f***ing smuggest old black man public persona that I hate. He gets on TV, ‘Pull your pants up black people, I was on TV in the 80s! I can talk down to you because I had a successful sitcom!’ Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby, so turn the crazy down a couple notches. ‘I don’t curse on stage!’ But yeah, you’re a rapist though, so….”

Defenders of Cosby, including one source “close to him” told BuzzFeed that he didn’t see what the big deal was in giving Cosby a new show at NBC.

“You had the Gawker thing. And now there’s a gal at Newsweek that’s frisky, looking at some of these things,” the source said. “I can’t see that that has anything to do with him going back to television.”

It hasn’t taken long for the public discourse on these Bill Cosby rape allegations to turn towards race, especially in light of the recent public crucifixion of Stephen Collins for accusations of child molestation.

Collins was not convicted of any crime, yet he’s losing jobs like crazy — first the sequel to Ted, then his job on Scandal. Going by what the trolls are saying, this must mean there is a racial double standard and that Bill Cosby gets a free pass on rape because he’s black.

To this, as a white guy, I have to call BS. There’s a bit of a difference between rape allegations and a full-on admission that you molested multiple children.

No, Stephen Collins will not be convicted of a crime, but I don’t blame people for running away from him. There is an audio confession of him taking responsibility.

While the Bill Cosby rape allegations are serious in nature and the comedian should be publicly crucified if they turn out to be true, we do still live in a country where you’re innocent until proven guilty.

Beyond the fact that the accusations are out there, none of us are in a position to prove anything, including Buress, whom I would think just opened himself up to legal action by stating Bill Cosby rapes women as if it’s fact.

http://youtu.be/MrWoEgBw610

Unfortunately, the Internet age has created a society where the accusation is all that is needed to confirm guilt. That’s what is going on with Bill Cosby, and no, that isn’t a defense of the man.

Where there is smoke, there is usually fire, and 13 accusations are a lot to defend. However, Cosby has confessed to nothing. There isn’t a clear-cut smoking gun as in the case of Stephen Collins.

So no, white Internet trolls, Bill Cosby isn’t getting a free pass on these rape allegations because he’s black. We simply don’t know enough at this point to convict.

But what do you think, readers? Should the Bill Cosby rape allegations be enough to end his career, or do people need to chill out? Share your thoughts in our comments section.

[Image via Randy Miramontez / Shutterstock.com]

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