by ZAHEER ALI
Last week on her Web-based show, Katie Couric highlighted the rise of Islamophobia as one of the more disturbing news stories of 2010. In a discussion that included The Root’s Sheryl Huggins Salomon, Couric suggested that America needs a Muslim version of The Cosby Show to fight the fear and ignorance that exists about Islam and Muslims, very much the same way The Cosby Show challenged racial stereotypes about African Americans.
Couric’s instincts are right when she draws parallels between Islamophobia and racism. And she is correct in focusing on the role of media and cultural production in that fight. But her Cosby Show proposal is misplaced, both historically and socially. Perhaps what is needed more than another Cosby Show are the lessons learned from the first one.
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It seemed that America preferred its black professionals on TV rather than in real life. There was still a stark difference between the prime-time position of the Huxtables in television and the precarious political and social status of most blacks in the ’80s. A television show does have its limits.
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