Don’t Fire Phylicia Rashad — Educate Her By Having Her Listen to the Stories of Cosby’s Accusers
Cosby co-star should give as much voice to accusers’ stories as she’s given Cosby himself
Actress Phylicia Rashad predictably sparked a firestorm of criticism when she tweeted her support for her former TV co-star, Bill Cosby, shortly after Cosby was freed from prison at the direction of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Cosby, 83, was released after Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned the comedian’s conviction for sexual assault, which dozens of women accusers have said was a decades-long pattern of behavior of drugging women and then taking advantage of them — while hiding behind his “all-American dad persona.”
Rashad, who starred alongside Cosby in two of his TV sitcoms — including their groundbreaking series which ran from 1984 through 1992 on NBC — tweeted: “FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted- a miscarriage of justice is corrected!”
The problem is that Rashad, today, is no longer just another actor in Hollywood; she holds the position of dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University in Washington DC, where her pro-Cosby tweet landed with a loud and heavy thud.
She’s gone back and deleted her original tweet, which Rashad has acknowledged was “upsetting.”
Moreover, she’s penned a letter to the Howard community.
“My remarks were in no way directed toward survivors of sexual assault. I vehemently oppose sexual violence, find no excuse for such behavior, and I know that Howard University has a zero-tolerance policy toward interpersonal violence,” Rashad wrote.
But those actions may not be enough for those who were angered by Rashad’s public support for a one-time convicted sex offender.
Her own employer denounced her initial comments after they went viral.
“Survivors of sexual assault will always be our first priority,” read a Howard University statement. “While Dean Rashad has acknowledged in her follow-up tweet that victims must be heard and believed, her initial tweet lacked sensitivity toward survivors of sexual assault.”
However, rather than dismissing Rashad from her position at the university, there’s a better alternative.
And not just any old bland “sensitivity training,” either.
Rather, for Rashad to set this right, she ought to set aside time — at least a full day’s worth — to meet with, and hear out the stories of, Bill Cosby’s many accusers.
If her professions of contrition are to be more than lip service, then arranging this meeting — and giving Cosby’s accusers at least as much voice as she gave Cosby himself — is the least that Rashad can do.
