he Cosby Show was different. African Americans were viewed with average jobs and average lifestyles. The African Americans on this show talked intelligently and about important issues. An article in Ebony magazine titled The Huxtables: Fact or Fantasy stated, The Cosby Show presents a high level of positive images which are far ahead of other Black sitcoms. The show continued to allude to famous African American art, authors, and universities. The intelligent African American was constantly depicted on the show through things such as the anti-apartheid poster on Theos door and the naming of Sondras children (Winnie and Nelson) after Winnie and Nelson Mandela. Bill Cosby tried very hard to eliminate all stereotypes of African Americans in his show. In fact, Cosby even hired someone specifically take out any stereotypes or racial jokes he found in the scripts. He wanted his show to view African Americans in a positive light in order to change Americas concept of them. (Racial Stereotypes Persist, 12) However, he was criticized for this very thing. Many popular critiques said the problem with The Cosby Show and others like it is the characters were acting white. John Killens asserts, The Black folk [on these shows] are full of understanding and wisdom, sympathetic all the way. No basic problems between the races. All men are brothers, right? An undramatic, middle-classish situation, which hardly has anything to do with the Black experience. (Torres, 71) Many found The Cosby Show to be unrealistic, saying their world was too perfect, but The Cosby Show, in actuality, did a great job of portraying the middle-class African American. Its depiction of the African American family was not too perfect; it was just a dramatic change from what the American people were used to. The Cosby Show quite realistically portrayed the middle-class African American family, and in doing so helped to change Americas perception of Afri...
