Stakes is High: Life After the American Dream

Smith opens the essay by revealing that, prior to his move to New York, his expectations of the city were formed by what he consumed in pop culture, such as Woody Allen, Biggie, and the quasi-utopian world of The Cosby Show, where the Huxtables seemed to embody “the American Dream, and it could feel as though they were keeping space for the rest of us to come grab hold of it too” (105). The Huxtables were a symbol for what a “colorblind” America could look like, a world in which “white people had no responsibility for black success” (106), which made the idea of Bill Cosby assaulting or harassing 60 women an impossible, alternate reality.

And yet, as Smith reminds the reader, Bill Cosby will likely die in prison as a result of those accusations (although his only conviction is tied to the Andrea Constand case). Smith then goes on to list many other notorious men who have been accused, some convicted, of sexual assault: Brett Kavanaugh, Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, R. Kelly, and Donald Trump. Smith then reminds the reader that these types of assaults are happening everywhere, all the time, and that countless men will never actually be held accountable for their actions.