CBS Evening News Anchor and renowned cancer warrior Katie Couric recently echoed the frequently voiced feeling of American Muslims when she said, “Maybe what the country needs is a Muslim version of the Cosby Show, to open up the eyes of those who are filled with nothing but blind hatred for these people.” I’m old enough to remember when the only African American characters you saw on TV shows were the worst possible stereotypes – pimps and drug dealers. Growing up in a small, segregated town in Western Pennsylvania, those images just reinforced what we were taught: ‘Keep your distance from those people, they are different, you can’t trust them.’ It’s not that many Americans harbored an inherent dislike for African-Americans; rather, simple ignorance made them afraid. Slowly, television began to embrace change. First there was Good Times, a sit-com about a black family living in a Chicago ghetto, another stereotype for sure but at least it was a loving, intact family. Around this time, too, began actively seeking opportunities to meet people of different backgrounds in college. I recall being greatly inspired by a Jesse Jackson speech I heard on campus.
Then came Cosby. Cliff and Claire’s professional, middle-class, fun family helped Americans appreciate some things about African American culture while seeing a lot of themselves in these characters. Former Presidential Advisor Karl Rove once said that the Cosby’s weren’t “a black family, they were America’s family.” In my own life I was deeply touched when I met an African-American Muslim in a mosque, who put his hand on his heart the moment he saw me and said “Assalamu’alaikum (Greetings of Peace), Brother.”
Since that time I have come to know and love people of many ethnic and religious backgrounds, far beyond what my small-town white community had permitted, and America’s attitudes toward African-Americans have changed as well. To get from “The Cosby Show” to the “The Chowdhry Show” is not an easy path. There are huge financial and storytelling obstacles just to make a pilot, let alone be a successful show that runs for several seasons. In the mean time, our organization remains committed to changing perceptions, by circulating in society the remarkable stories of Muslims through our films. In the end, the story of The Cosby Show reminds us that Americans are open-minded, that ignorance can be fought, and that peace can win. Image source