Obama Will Not Take Cosby’s Medal Of Freedom
The AP reported that President Obama announced he has no plans of revoking Bill Cosby’s Medal of Freedom, mostly because he said there’s no precedent for doing so. He went on to pretty much say Cosby’s a rapist though. “If you give a woman, or a man, for that matter, without his or her knowledge a drug, and then have sex with that person without consent, that’s rape,” he said. “And I think this country, any civilized country, should have no tolerance for rape.”
Oddly it’s the second day in a row that Obama brought up rape.
In a similar move, the Smithsonian Museum announced that they will not remove an exhibit Cosby owned African art, but they did post a sign that clarifies that the exhibition is fundamentally about the artworks and the artists who created them, not Mr. Cosby.
“A Message to Our Visitors about This Exhibition
“Allegations that publicly surfaced when we opened this exhibition in November 2014, now combined with recent revelations about Bill Cosby’s behavior, cast a negative light on what should be a joyful exploration of African and African American art in this gallery.
“The National Museum of African Art in no way condones Mr. Cosby’s behavior. We continue to present Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue because it is fundamentally about the artworks and the artists who created them, not Mr. Cosby.
“Most of the objects are from the permanent collection of the National Museum of African Art. About one-third are on loan from Camille and Bill Cosby. Though the exhibition does recognize their role in assembling those works, the purpose of the exhibition is to examine the interplay of artistic creativity in African and African American art — something that has been part of our museum’s history since our founding more than 50 years ago. The exhibition brings public attention to artists whose art has not been seen, art that tells powerful and poignant stories about African American experiences.
“We invite you, our valued visitors, to provide your comments in the Visitor Book we have placed in the hallway at the exit to this exhibition. You can also send comments to our website at conversations.africa.si.edu.”
