The African-American Women's Agency: Clair Huxtable

This is a fairly popular clip of "The Cosby Show" where Clair Huxtable is forced to educate her daughter's boyfriend, Alvin, about the rules and roles of marriage and a woman's agency. Mrs. Huxtable offers to bring Dr. Huxtable and Alvin a cup of coffee and Alvin seems surprised by the offer. His surprise derives from the fact that Mrs. Huxtable is an independent, strong and intelligent woman, but is serving her husband. What he does not understand is that Mrs. Huxtable is choosing. She has a choice. She does not offer to get the coffee because it is her job or her duty (like that of people who serve in restaurants), but rather because it is her choice to do so for her husband and her guest. The right to choose and to have agency is one that the enslaved African women completely lost during slavery. Even after its abolition, African-American women still found themselves without the right to choose and do as they wish compared to that of their male counterparts due to the systems of institutionalized slavery implemented by those who once held them in thralldom. These systems were designed to keep the shackles of slavery intact even when slavery ceased to exist and they were very successful, but through acts of resistance as described in "Hearts of Darkness" by Barbara Omolade, the African-American woman began to disrupt these ideas and systems which continued to oppress them. This clip is great example of just how far the African-American woman has come, but the comments from Alvin blatantly and disrespectfully illuminated just how much more of a path they have to walk.


Claire Huxtable