The Huxtable Effect?

UrbanFaith.com posted a short article about the “Huxtable Effect.” This is the notion that the middle-class African American family portrayed in Bill Cosby’s famous ’80s sitcom, The Cosby Show, had an impact on the way Americans voted in last month’s presidential election. The theory is that the show helped normalized black people in the minds of white citizens to the point that they felt comfortable voting for an African American candidate. In other words, Cosby was Obama’s Jackie Robinson.

Or perhaps it’s not baseball or sitcoms but, rather, golf that helped lay the groundwork for Obama’s victory. Some commentators have suggested that it was actually Tiger Woods who paved the way for Obama’s breakthrough.

What do you think? If you have an opinion, please head over to UrbanFaith and leave a comment. And, of course, you’re welcome to chime in below as well.

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An Unexpected Lesson from Little Bill

If you haven’t read Linda Leigh Hargrove’s funny and thoughtful post about her recent reconciliation epiphany, please check it out. It concerns Little Bill, the gently instructive animated series from Bill Cosby that I used to watch all the time when my kids were younger. (I think one of the more bittersweet byproducts of our kids growing up is that we don’t get to watch certain TV shows anymore; I can’t tell you how much I miss VeggieTales and Blues Clues.)

In any event, I always appreciate Linda’s insight and vulnerability. For those of you who don’t know her, in addition to being a blogger she’s also an accomplished novelist. You can get info about her latest books here.

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