Bill Cosby has a few positive messages he'd like to spread to the young people of America. Unfortunately, he seems to think all of the sex crime allegations made against him can be easily separated from the other good work he wants to accomplish, as he proved when he appeared on Good Morning America and, yet again, refused to adequately address the fact that more than 40 women have accused him of sexual assault.
The 77-year-old actor has, in his career, made quite a few controversial, wonderful, inspiring speeches in which he mostly addresses young people and urges them to set their goals high and value education. His most recent appearance on the morning talk show was to promote his partnership with the Black Belt Community Foundation, which is working to improve the lives of people living in Alabama's "Black Belt," a region of 12 counties with high rates of poverty and low high school graduation rates.
Their message is noble, but their messenger is ... ugh. Bill Cosby.
As part of his mission, Cosby visited Alabama high schools this week to talk about the importance of education. When he was asked on GMA how he would address any questions about those sex allegations, this was his response:
I'm not sure that they will come like that. I think that many of them will say, 'Well you're a hypocrite, you say one thing, you say the other.' My point is, listen to me carefully, I'm telling you where the road is out. You wanna be here, or you wanna be concerned about who is giving you the message.
Um, can my answer be: there's room enough in my mind to be concerned about both?
I'm afraid Cosby is dreaming if he thinks that kids haven't heard about the sex assault allegations and are going to be able to look past them and do as he says, not as he does in life.
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I don't think he gets it. I'm sure there are a million amazing messages he wants to deliver to children about their potential, contributing to their communities, etc. But the message is lost when he fails to address some very serious allegations about a very serious topic: abusing women. He didn't cheat on an exam of deflate a few balls and get caught and apologize and life goes on — he is being accused of hurting a lot of women and hasn't said or done anything that shows he takes this (or them) seriously.
You can't just separate the message about the messenger. And high school students are certainly in the know about these allegations. He is dreaming if he thinks he still holds water as a good role model.
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Do you think Cosby should be allowed to separate these sex assault allegations from his philanthropy work and give speeches to young people?
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