The news this week has been filled court proceedings. On September 25th comedian and actor Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to ten years in prison for three counts of aggravated indecent assault after being found guilty in April 2018. The sentencing sent social media in an uproar. Many people were satisfied with the news while others responded with protest.
Those opposed to the sentence communicated their disapproval with common rebuttals. The first one being, “Well why did these women bring this up after all these years?” Many people who have been victims of sexual assault are afraid to come out with their stories because they are often met with shame and humiliation. It does not matter when it happened, it still happened.
The other frequent response is, “If he was a white man, he would be walking free”. We cannot deny that there are biases within the U.S. court system that put Black people at a disadvantage, but to imply that Bill Cosby should walk because there are White people who have committed similar crimes that are not in jail is intellectually lazy and disingenuous. Bill Cosby committed a crime and was found guilty, period. He was not being prosecuted for his blackness. Bringing up the likeness of Harvey Weinstein and Brett Kavanaugh does not change what Cosby did. Harvey Weinstein will see his day in court and this week we already see what is happening with the Kavanaugh case. Having an attitude like this shows that you really do not care about justice. They would rather point the finger and say, “Well if they can get away with it then why can’t Bill?” If you really cared about victims of sexual assault you would be happy with Bill Cosby’s sentencing and waiting on other abusers to see their day in court. None should be able to commit crimes with impunity.
If you have been a victim of sexual assault please call 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.