Thirty years ago, the Huxtables represented an ideal black family — successful, intelligent, and approachable. In the aftermath of Ferguson, today’s America doesn’t have much tolerance for those who don’t fit into the Huxtable mold.
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Bill Cosby — and his fictional family who dominated network TV in the '80s and early '90s — was the Safe Black.
Unlike new ABC show Black-ish, which is undeniably about the experience of blackness — the show itself is about being one of the only black families in an affluent neighborhood and the adjustments that come with it — The Cosby Show's Huxtables' blackness was subtle. Instead of screaming out loud week after week of what it's like to be black in contemporary times, the Huxtables' blackness was more… silent. (Can't imagine the Huxtables weighing in on Ferguson; Black-ish's the Johnsons? Yes.) Characters wore HBCU T-shirts and sweatshirts, and you only caught that if you knew the history of the schools. But sure, there were the specialty episodes, like the one that touched on the Underground Railroad (educational, but not over-the-head) and stories of the older characters marching in Washington, D.C with iconic Civil Rights leaders.
The Cosby Show was the type of sitcom that gave way to implied racism; the kind that would have white folks asking of black people: Why can't (he/she/them) be more like the Huxtables? Black folks, we saw the Huxtables as extensions of ourselves. They either represented our families note for note, or they were aspirational to those of us who had our eyes on the suburban prize.
Cosby — and his character, Dr. Huxtable — represented that Safe Black, even though Huxtable tended to transcend race. He was non-threatening, and he was the guy every man wanted to be (a shadetree plumber, a know-it-all, a guy with excellent comedic timing), and the mold for what a husband and father should be. He delivered the type of scolding you wanted to hear from a parent, the advice you needed at the right time, and he did it all while wearing loud, colorful, dad-like sweaters. He was funny. And warm. And… comfortable.
Viewers spent much of the series seeing Dr. Huxtable teach his children significant life lessons: Have responsibility. Value education.
And, perhaps most troubling now: Always do the right thing.
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