, Columnist
Bill Cosby, UVA and Ending Rape Culture
What do the sexual-assault allegations surrounding Bill Cosby and the University of Virginia have in common?
A lot to think about.
Photographer: Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Sexual-assault accusations against Bill Cosby have simmered for years. And then -- spurred in part by a comedy act -- the water boiled.
The media is self-flagellating. Last week, the Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote of his reported essay about Cosby, published in 2008, after multiple sexual-assault accusations had already been made: "The subject was morality -- and yet one of the biggest accusations of immorality was left for a few sentences, was rendered invisible. ... The lack of pursuit puts me in league with people who either looked away, or did not look hard enough."