Actress Phylicia Rashad, who played Bill Cosby’s wife on two different shows, the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992 and on the CBS sitcom Cosby, from 1996 to 2000, has stepped in it big-time. On the day of Cosby’s release from prison she tweeted “FINALLY!!!! A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” She included a photo of Cosby in the tweet.
This didn’t sit well at all with some students and alumni of Howard University, where Rashad herself is an alumna, and had been appointed the dean of its recently reestablished College of Fine Arts in May. In fact, uproar erupted as calls for her to be removed from the position reverberated around social media.
Rashad sent a letter to Howard University students and parents a few days later, offering “[her] most sincere apology” for tweeting in celebration of Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction being overturned. “My remarks were in no way directed towards 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,” she wrote.
She continued by writing that over the next few weeks, she plans “to engage in active listening and participate in trainings to not only reinforce University protocol and conduct, but also to learn how I can become a stronger ally to sexual assault survivors and everyone who has suffered at the hands of an abuser.”
She followed up her first tweet, which was roundly rebuffed by some online, by another which stated, “I fully support survivors of sexual assault coming forward. My post was in no way intended to be insensitive to their truth,” she wrote. “Personally, I know from friends and family that such abuse has lifelong residual effects. My heartfelt wish is for healing.”
After the criticism of Rashad erupted, Howard University stated its disproval for the support she showed for Cosby. “Survivors of sexual assault will always be our first priority,” read the posting on Howard University’s social media account. “While Dean Rashad has acknowledged in her follow-up tweet that victims must be heard and believed, her initial tweet lacked sensitivity towards survivors of sexual assault.” The statement from Howard continued, “Personal positions of University leadership do not reflect Howard University’s policies.”
Nonetheless, the controversy continues and appears to be picking up steam as members of the #MeToo movement and other groups weigh in. It’s still too early to determine if Rashad can weather the storm of her own making but it will be interesting to see how much compassion the various women’s rights groups extend to the embattled sister.
3 Responses to “MANSFIELD: Phylicia Rashad’s Self-Inflicted Wound”
Kant
Some females who never experienced sexual mistreatment refuse to believe that their loved ones or admired celebrities
Indulge in misbehavior.
Tedolph
The Left eats its own-always.
Kathy Wray Coleman
Good article Mansfield What is also of issue though is that procedure does not matter in our racist society where Blacks are concerned. Of course Cosby mistreated and took advantage of women, and he said he drugged them to get sex But prosecutors must understand that violating procedural protocol in criminal case will sometime get a reversal like in Cosby’s case, but usually not for poor Blacks http://www.clevelandurbannews.com Kathy Wray Coleman, editor