During the worst years of apartheid, the most popular show on
television in South Africa--among both Black and White South
Africans--was "The Cosby Show." Why did people living under a
system built on the idea that Black people were inferior and
threatening flock to a show that portrayed African Americans as
comfortably mainstream? "Starring Mandela and Cosby" takes up this
paradox, revealing the surprising impact of television on racial
politics.
The South African government maintained a ban on television until
1976, and according to Ron Krabill, they were right to be wary of
its potential power. The medium, he contends, created a shared
space for communication in a deeply divided nation that seemed
destined for civil war along racial lines. At a time when it was
illegal to publish images of Nelson Mandela, Bill Cosby became the
most recognizable Black man in the country, and, Krabill argues,
his presence in the living rooms of white South Africans helped lay
the groundwork for Mandela's release and ascension to power.
Weaving together South Africa's political history and a social
history of television, Krabill challenges conventional
understandings of globalization, offering up new insights into the
relationship between politics and the media.
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