Comedian Bill Cosby Under Fire: From Hero to Zero

ILL COSBY. The name used to evoke immediate images of hilarious G-rated comedy monologues, a sweater-clad paragon of fatherhood, Fat Albert and pudding pops. Now it immediately calls to mind-what, exactly?

Criminal? As of this writing, he has not been arrested, tried or convicted of any crime, except in the court of public opinion. Serial rapist? The alleged victims are lining up faster than holiday shoppers for a Black Friday doorbuster, more than 20 at last count. In a CNN special, six of them got together to hurl a few descriptions of their own: "predator," "sociopath" and "despicable coward" among them. However, while they are throwing devastating heat, so far they are shedding little light.

Philanthropist? Comedy legend? TV trailblazer? Social activist? Those labels haven't been used in so long, it's almost as if they never existed. Cosby's fans and admirers have quickly fled from him like he's slathered in Ebola. And every day, it seems, another honor is stripped or another woman steps out of the shadows to level a damaging accusation against the comedian. The runaway juggernaut that is his negative publicity was slowed only by the Ferguson verdict, and the coast-to-coast outrage that followed. Slowed, but never halted.

Did Cosby perform these horrific acts? I don't know. Neither do you, though it's been a poorly kept Hollywood rumor for decades and the anecdotal evidence is mounting higher than downtown's Renaissance Center. What we can perceive is our reaction to this media onslaught: overnight Cosby has fallen from the top of Black America's Mount Rushmore-as an icon and role model beloved by millions (don't be ashamed to admit it now), surpassing race, with the likes of Oprah and Barack-to the spawn of Hades, complete with pitchfork and horns.

The higher you fly, the farther you fall. Yet, this backlash seems particularly malicious. Mike Tyson was arrested, tried and convicted of rape; now he has his own cable cartoon series. Ray Rice was caught on video smashing his fist into his wife's face; now he has been cleared to return to the NFL. We have an amazing capacity to forgive our heroes. But Bill Cosby is being held to an immensely higher standard.

I come from an era when my entire family would stop and race to the TV whenever a Black person appeared on screen, so rare was the sight. When Cosby exploded in the '60s-a young, clean-cut, African-American comedian spinning family-friendly anecdotes-an entire nation was smitten. He went on to break the TV color barrier with I Spy (playing the smart character, not the jock, remember?) and spent the better part of a decade as the dad we all wished we had on The Cosby Show, prompting offspring everywhere to ask their fathers: "Why can't you be like Cliff Huxtable?"

Quite simply, these ongoing allegations have broken our collective heart. America feels betrayed and hurt. Cosby made the Black community safe for White America by celebrating our commonality, while at the same time exposing enough of our culture to the masses to make African-Americans feel proud. This can't be our Bill Cosby, this man we're reading and hearing about. This is like finding out Oprah is running a brothel.

Cosby has taken the entirely wrong approach, or listened to some extremely bad advice. Hiding behind attorney statements and the occasional Twitter post just doesn't cut it. If the allegations are untrue, he needed to attack them head-on with the same verve and charisma he brought to the comedy stage and every other entertainment form he has conquered. So he's 77? So what? To do less is to turn his myriad positive accomplishments – on behalf of African-American art, historically Black colleges, elementary education and countless other worthy causes-to rubble. His legacy should not be as a cranky old rapist. He must tell his side of the story often, and loudly. Just be The Cos.