The Cosby Show America Theme

One of the major themes of this novel is how people idealize places (and other people) and how, by building up those expectations, one sets oneself up to be let down. This is especially true for Ifemelu, who dreams of living in “a house from The Cosby Show, in a school with students holding notebooks miraculously free of wear and crease” (122). Ifemelu goes on to reference The Cosby Show several times, describing scenes therein as her idyllic dream of America. To her, Obinze, and many others in the Nigerian community to which she belongs, America is something of a fantasy, one which represents opportunities for wealth and prosperity. Inevitably, that which is fantasized to be the representation of the fulfillment of one’s life’s wishes, the

She is attempting to find her mentally constructed “real America” (147) as she is confronted with the harsh realities of the actual “real America,” which is portrayed throughout the remainder of the novel in a decidedly less-than-favorable light. Ifemelu eventually becomes cognizant of her disillusionment, describing on her blog how “the longer [one is in the United States], the more [one] start[s] to get it” (228). This awareness primarily centers around the prevalence of American racism, a topic which appears frequently on Ifemelu’s blog. Ifemelu realizes (and then attempts to communicate to other “Non-American Blacks,” who may be going through the same process she has) that, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or background, “[i]n America, [y]ou [a]re [b]lack”—“America [does not] care”

Hence, “American tribalism is alive and well” (227), and this “tribalism” serves as an enablement of discrimination. Worse, despite racism reach many facets of American culture, from law enforcement (Ifemelu says that, when a crime is reported, people of color should “stay well away from the crime area for weeks, or [they] might be stopped for fitting the profile” (274)) to public opinion (Ifemelu advises black men to “be hyper-mellow…or someone will worry that [they]’re about to pull a gun” (274)) to the whitewashing of commercial products (Ifemelu says one knows one is being hurt by “White Privilege” if one “[uses] the ‘nude’ color of underwear and Band-Aids…already know[ing] that it will not match [their] skin” (430). These “nude” products are emblematic of the American idealization of “whiteness,” and the ways in which minorities suffer therefrom. Even worse, there is societal pressure for black people “not…to be angry about racism” (275), further demonstrating the flaws of American