Popular Culture Review Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1993 | Page 69

Race, Class and Gender on T h e Cosby Show"

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Critics like Miller, who accuse the show of being "too white," then,
are revealing their own racial beliefs of what it means to "be" white
or black.
Racial beliefs are connected as much to issues of heritage and
community as they are to class level and its attendant circumstances.
For some critics, the Huxtables "fail" in their wealth, which
contradicts the social reality of most African-Americans. Gray finds
it a general rule on contemporary TV that the black male is defined
more by his class position than by his race (232). MacDonald
describes Cosby's 1969-71 series as "an endorsement of the middleclass, educated black man who has not deserted the ghetto but moves
gracefully between both worlds." Kincaid's affection for the ghetto
teens on his track team assured poor blacks that "they were not
forgotten by those who had obtain^ an education and credentials to
operate in the wider, primarily white society" (118). "The Cosby
Show", however, set in New York City, avoids not only urban poverty
and conflict, but also the most typical family problems and conflicts.
Upper-middle-class families are not immune to issues of drug and
alcohol abuse, serious behavior problems (even if only an isolated
incident), fanuly disagreements, teen sex and pregnancy, but "The
Cosby Show" might imply that they are (Downing 57). Money, we
like to tell ourselves, won't solve all our problems, yet the Huxtables
may convince some viewers that money will solve problems of racial
prejudice and inequality. The display of wealth and status on "The
Cosby Show" may be dangerous if it convinces its viewers that black
impoverishment is only the fault of blacks themselves (a concern
voiced by Gates), and if it actually alters viewer attitudes toward
social and minority assistance programs. Why are the Huxtables so
wealthy? Is it simply a way to reassure white viewers that not all
blacks are poor? Miller proposes that Cliff represents the average,
middle-class viewer, the lucky outsider who is allowed inside and is
tolerated by those who "belong" there. For Cliff , the insiders are
white, and he is the black outsider. For the typical (white) viewer,
the insiders are wealthy and happy, and the viewer is merely
average (Boxed In). Miller's scheme is perceptive, but limited. Once
again, he betrays his own racial beliefs by assuming that Cliff's
"fantasy" is racially-based ("I wish 1 could be white") rather than
class-based ("I wish 1 could be rich"). Miller also neglects to consider
the positive results of a class-fantasy in terms of audience response