Update (12:10 p.m.): I’ll appear on Tammy Bruce’s radio show at 1:30 p.m. EST to talk about the series.
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I reviewed FX’s new reality show, “Black. White.”, which runs for six episodes Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. I don’t watch much TV, and I never watch reality shows, but I’m a writer, right? I do what I must for my craft!
The two families lived together for six weeks and switched races. High concept. The families: the Sparkes, a black family from Atlanta, are Brian, a 41-year-old contractor; his wife Renee, a 38-year-old office manager; and their son Nick, 17. The Marcotulli-Wurgels from California are Carmen, a 47-year-old location scout; her shack-up boyfriend, Bruno Marcotulli, a 47-year-old teacher; and her 17-year-old daughter Rose.
I stepped up to the challenge of enduring a whole hour of people in bad makeup acting out some of the worst racial stereotypes since Amos ‘n Andy. There was a word limit for the review (about 900), so I ended up deleting half of what I wanted to say. Examples:
***
1) For her “black†experience, the white daughter Rose (in blackface) attends a slam poetry-writing class. Her poem is terrible, but so are everyone else’s. Unlike the real blacks in the group, Rose uses “big words.” She was impressed with the others’ “poetry” and how real, raw, and “black” it was. Afterwards Rose was remorseful about deceiving people.
(Speaking of poetry, check out Michelle Malkin’s latest column about a 7-year-old black nationalist poet.)
2) Both families attended a same-race focus group (or something like that) as members of the other race. Renee (the black woman) listened intently as a white man sitting beside her told the group how bad he felt when he wanted to wash his hands after touching a black person. It was a strangely moving moment, if you can believe it, and Renee didn’t get upset at all. “He was shaking when he told us that. You can tell it really bothered him,” she said.
Too bad there weren’t more revealing, honest, and touching scenes like this.
A white woman in the group complained about a black employee she managed. She said the woman had “the worst attitude I’ve ever seen,” but to fire her would require a mile-long list of reasons so the company wouldn’t get sued. Black liberals will wish evil things on me for airing this bit of dirty laundry, but dealing with black women with bad attitudes is typical, especially in a city like DC and in “customer service.” Don’t get me started on government agencies like the DMV.
3) Later in the show, Bruno (white man in blackface) goes to a car dealership and reports that nothing remotely racist or otherwise inappropriate happened to him. Brian (the black man) says he feels that Bruno isn’t opening himself up to the “black experience.”
Interpretation: if you’re looking for prejudice, you’ll surely find it. This is how some black people live. Everything, and I mean everything, is seen through a “racist” prism. Brian is a somewhat attractive, light-skinned, green-eyed, successful black man (who said he’s experienced racism from blacks and whites because of his looks) in America going about his business and taking care of his family, but you’d think he leaped right out of the Jim Crow era to appear on the show.
4) The women: Carmen, white liberal raised by parents involved in the Civil Rights movement, was too intimidated by Renee, the “sister” from Georgia. Carmen said Renee seemed “strong”; Renee said Carmen was “weird” and “emotional.”
5) The kids: Nick was unfazed by it all; Rose seemed the most sincere. The adults were tainted by years of talking and thinking about race, buying into stereotypes, looking for racism under rocks, etc. The kids, Rose especially, were less affected by those things. As a result, Rose appeared more adjusted and less nervous than her mother.
A strange scene: To see what it was like to do something “white,” the producers sent Nick in whiteface and Rose without makeup to an etiquette class. Huh? Why not send them to the mall or a sporting event to hang out with a group of their peers? I don’t know how or why they came up with the etiquette class idea or what the point was supposed to be. (That good table manners are “white?”) Thankfully, the scene was too brief to give it much thought.
***
Ask a black person 40 and under to give you an example of racism, and you’ll be in for a laugh riot. Typical answers: a sales clerk following them around in a store or a gas station attendant looking at them funny while they pump gas (into a nice car). That’s it. Break out the whips and chains ’cause slavery is making a comeback!
As I questioned the usefulness of FX’s experiment, I realized there was none. The purpose of “Black. White.” is to titillate, exploit, and entertain, and it does all three quite well. There’s more, but I must end now or I’ll be here all day.
Bottom line: if you’re up for an hour-long laugh, watch “Black. White.” If you’re interested in a serious and honest conversation about race, don’t tune in. Come to think of it, in PC America, serious and honest conversations about race are rare.
I want to know what you think of the show. If you saw the pilot, give us your review. If not, tell us what you think of the concept.
It’s a shame that the show took the same old, tired low road. Without meaningful and uncomfortable dialog, I’m afraid we’ll never achieve real understanding.
Comment by WarWagon — 03.15.06 @ 9:03 am
Morning LaShawn,
I didn’t see the show, but I did see the actors/actress and clips from it on Oprah, which she aired in an hour long program prior to the television premier. Clearly, the producers set the “actors” up. As an example, they told the white actors to “talk like black people”, and when the white actors used terms they thought were acceptable black terms, they offended some of the black people and then things got hot. Obviously, the producers knew they wouldn’t have a very interesting show if everyone walked on eggshells and they knew this would happen.
I doubt you could call this show a documentary…it was made to make money and ratings television, pure and simple.
Comment by dianne — 03.15.06 @ 9:06 am
I thought it would be a different twist on things, but it wasnt…
I’d do a reality show like this:
Have a black guy wearing a confederate flag t-shirt and hat saying “good ‘ol boy” go into one of those deep south country bars and see what happens or maybe a nascar race with a beautiful white woman on his side. (my younger brother did this as a joke some years ago and was just about run outta there) Then go to a black establishment and get the reaction of black women (same result).
Have a white guy go to a nascar race with a beautiful black woman on his side. Then go to a black establishment, maybe an HBCU, and see what the single black men say and do.
Something that exposes racism on both sides equally.
MTV did something similar to the latter some years ago and that was very entertaining..
Oh and please do a post on black women in customer service sometime soon.
Comment by lukeNC — 03.15.06 @ 9:17 am
In the meantime, LaShawn gives her 2 cents, and TruthDig gives the real scoop behind this show. Here is an excerpt of their article:
Pingback by BlackInformant.com — 03.15.06 @ 9:22 am
I was intrigued by the concept of the show and one of the clips I saw (where the black guy dressed in whiteface was at the lunch counter and the real white guy behind the counter made the ‘neighborhood’ comment) gave me the impression that there would actually be some real depth to the show.
I haven’t hit the archives yet, but did you happen to check out Crash ?
Comment by BlackCalvinist — 03.15.06 @ 10:05 am
Yep, saw “Crash.” Overrated.
Comment by La Shawn — 03.15.06 @ 10:09 am
Ho hum. Let’s see. FX sells advertising as a business and the more viewers they get, the more the advertising costs. FX tries the tired, old skin reversal formula in hopes of landing big revenue.
Well, here is the formula they need. Stay away from cerebral, touchy-feely Oprah style introspection manure and go straight for the jugular. Hire Jerry Springer and Maury Povich to produce this monster.
Of course this series is a dud. How does any “black” family get to be the stand in for all “black” families and how does any “white” family get to be the stand in for all “white” families?
I would rather watch Jessie Jackson and Jerry Falwell Jello wrestle.
Comment by Heliotrope — 03.15.06 @ 10:51 am
LaShawn, I caught a little bit of the premiere episode. When I surfed into it, the girl’s poetry class was being featured. Frankly, I was bored.
What are we supposed to learn from the show, anyway? Yes, there are racist people still out there. In other news, the sky is blue, too.
I don’t need a dumb reality show to tell me that in order to get along, you need to treat other people…any and all of them….with respect.
A little bit of that goes a long way.
Comment by Alex Nunez — 03.15.06 @ 11:00 am
I haven’t seen the show. BTW, I’m a white woman raised in the South and I’ve never been to an etiquette class. They’re ridiculous.
Comment by RepJ — 03.15.06 @ 11:10 am
As an interesting contrast, I happened to see “wife-swap” this week. It paired a black family with a white family - but NONE of the issues were about race. The white family was a home-schooling family, but they also had stringent restrictions on non-familial contacts (and an odd family hobby). The children had almost no contact with people outside their family.
The black mother came in and insisted that the daughter develop friendships, in part by having a friend over for dinner occasionally and she was given a cell phone and was taught some phone etiquette.
The black mother is a very driven women who works in a restaurant. When the white mother comes in, she insists on spending more time with the kids, and the kids respond well. Apparently, the black mom cuts back on her hours at the restaurant to spend more time with her kids.
Not a big fan of the show (I don’t watch all the time) but I was impressed that they treated this as two families and not two races.
NED
Comment by NewEnglandDevil — 03.15.06 @ 11:19 am
I didn’t watch it and don’t care to watch it.
Everyone who watches it will get out of it what they want to get out of it.
Next slide…
Comment by DarkStar — 03.15.06 @ 11:25 am
“What are we supposed to learn from the show, anyway? Yes, there are racist people still out there. In other news, the sky is blue, too.”
Comment by Alex Nunez — 03.15.06 @ 11:00 am
That comment is too funny. Thank you.
Comment by Ellen — 03.15.06 @ 11:30 am
La Shawn When you get an hour in your busy schedule I’d like your take on Charles Barkley’s new book ‘Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man’ a book regarding racism in America.
Comment by jack — 03.15.06 @ 11:40 am
I’m a black female. I’ve never seen the show. But I’d like to. (I don’t have cable.) Overall, I think Black.White. could potentially be a very interesting social/media experiment. True, it could have been undertaken more seriously. But that’s another point entirely…
Comment by neofundamental — 03.15.06 @ 11:49 am
A more serious effort was “Black Like Me” by John Howard Griffin who assumed the identity of an itinerant black man by chemically altering his skin color and shaving his head, and visited several racially segregated states during a six-week period of 1959.
Comment by nobody important — 03.15.06 @ 12:15 pm
My husband and I watched the show and had exactly the same reaction you did. The show is seething with stereotypes, which makes for good television. My husband, who is black, thought it was typical that they would make the white family feel guilty for their stereotypes but give the black family a pass when they would say something equally offensive.
We will not be watching this show again.
Comment by CaliforniaConservative — 03.15.06 @ 12:36 pm
I haven’t seen the show yet, but I want to because I think the concept is interesting. The concept has great potential, but from your post and the comments it sounds like that potential is being wasted. Guess I’ll see for myself soon enough.
Comment by Thomas — 03.15.06 @ 12:51 pm
Shows like this simply reinforce bigotry and the assumption that having different physical features makes you different people.
Comment by Christopher Taylor — 03.15.06 @ 1:07 pm
“Andy, Andy, dis is da Kingfish Andy… Andy, do ya hear me boy??”
It wasn’t even that funny back then…
These so-called reality shows MUST be the most pathetic effort television has ever undertaken…
Take em apart La Shawn, you are just the one to do it too…
Comment by TexasFred — 03.15.06 @ 1:14 pm
Although what I found pretty interesting was some of the mis-information on the behalf of some of the people in the focus groups who were NOT the “main characters” in this show.
I think one of them said something like, “It’s a White world out there …”
I think it was maybe 8th grade when one of my teachers said, “Yes, in the United States it’s about 10:1 White to Black, but don’t forget, in the rest of the world it’s something like 3:1 BLACK TO WHITE!”
Comment by Axinar — 03.15.06 @ 1:22 pm
Your teacher needs to take some math, it’s 3:1 non-white to white but blacks aren’t a majority worldwide. Asians are.
Comment by Christopher Taylor — 03.15.06 @ 1:57 pm
I saw the show and was not impressed. I had similar reactions to yours. I missed the opening and didn’t realize that Bruno was shacking up with the mom. As a Black person, I’m always amazed at what constitutes “Black culture/ things.” I guess I missed the memo because I didn’t know that I was supposed to slouch when I sit, etc.
I didn’t know that curiosity is a bad thing and that all White people are nosy. Renee was going off about how White people are always getting in your business. I had an immediate flash back to my beauty shop experiences where I had asked NO questions and yet found out who was sleeping with who, heard about yeast infections and other bodily functions, and was once asked by a hair dresser if she should abort her baby cause the daddy’s crazy. OMG! Too much information…
Etiquette class? What was that all about…
The poetry class was an embarrassment to everybody. Rose used big words. The teacher said that she didn’t know what the words meant. Her advice as I understood it: know that your audience is stupid, use smaller words and dumb yourself down. The perfect liberal response. I can’t get over the fact that an ADULT / TEACHER said admitted this on television WITHOUT SHAME or HUMILIATION. No wonder the schools are such failures.
I’m sure the rest of the series will be full of similar tripe. They’ll all have a kumbaya moment and agree to hate whitey forever.
Comment by BlackRedneck — 03.15.06 @ 2:16 pm
My wife and I saw the preview on Oprah and watched the first episode. We recently adopted three biracial children, so we thought this show would be very interesting.
To give a little background, we live in the Dallas area, and were born in 1979. We grew up Catholic, lower middle class, and went to public schools. We’re too young to have experienced segregation, and we’re not in the Old South. There are as many Latinos around here as there are blacks or whites, and the food is great. We don’t “get” hip-hop culture, but we loved the Cosby Show. We just don’t care about skin color. We have had friends of all races. Most of them are white because, well, most people around here are white, and we go to a fairly homogenous and wealthy parish. But we don’t avoid anyone on purpose. We may be guilty of making judgments and generalizations based on the way people carry themselves. Act, speak, and dress like a tramp or a thug, and you should expect to be treated like one, regardless of your race.
Our general opinion is that nowadays racism is a two-way street. There are still a few white supremacists out there, but there are also a lot of overly suspicious blacks that go out expecting hatred, and nurturing that fear and suspicion in others. But now we are in the 21st century. Anyone who works hard, takes responsibility for their actions, and saves sex for marriage will have a successful life and a good career. Racism exists, but it is subtle, and it’s not a legitimate excuse for your own personal failures. Asians are an excellent example. By and large, their work ethic and family values have made them successful in America. Nobody is afraid of them. Black people could be the same way if they would reject the “gangsta†culture, stay in school, and strengthen their marriages and families. (The government cannot do this for them, by the way.)
Back to the show, we were pretty disappointed overall. Bruno is certainly naive and over-confident. I would have liked to see the black Bruno on a NEW car lot rather than used cars; maybe there would be a different experience for him looking at a new Lexus versus a used SUV. But Brian is much too negative. He reads racism into other people’s reactions. Don’t assume every lack of eye contact is racism. Maybe they’re just not polite. It is L.A., after all. Carmen is hippy-dippy and says stupid things, but Renee is much too sensitive. The children’s experience we have enjoyed. Rose doesn’t have much experience with blacks, but she’s impressed by their culture (when it is positive). Nick doesn’t really see what the big deal is at all. But overall, the scenarios are contrived. The white people are made to feel guilty, and the black people are allowed to wallow in self-pity.
We’ll keep watching just out of curiousity, but it’s probably not going to have much effect on us or how we raise our children. As I said before, at this point in time we are all Americans. We’re not always carrying on about German-Scottish-French-Cajun pride. We’re just proud 6th generation Mutt Americans, and we’re okay with that. Sure we’ve gotten some looks from strangers when we’re out with our brown kids. Our boys are less than a year apart in age, so they must think some black man has got her barefoot and pregnant - and her daddy must be furious! But we don’t notice much any more. We get attention everywhere we go. I don’t know if it’s because we look funny, or if it’s just because they’re so damn cute and charming - and I don’t really care.
Sure, we wonder what kind of experience our biracial sons will have. Are we too optimistic and “privileged†to even notice their experiences of racism? Will they resent us one day for denying a part of their heritage and “raising them white?†I won’t give my whole thesis on interracial adoption here, but suffice it to say if we’re missing something and fail to prepare our sons for racism, well then that’s just the cross they’ll have to bear. We all have one, don’t we? My parents were divorced, her dad was handicapped, we didn’t have a lot of money, and we put ourselves through school. At least our boys have two parents and a nice home now. They live in the greatest country in the world, so they have every opportunity and no excuses. Maybe they’ll turn out so confident and mature that they can deal with, or don’t even notice, the subtle racism that still exists.
Comment by Andrew — 03.15.06 @ 2:47 pm
Bah, read a book. Certainly read a book instead of watching Oprah :/
Comment by Christopher Taylor — 03.15.06 @ 3:39 pm
I don’t have a tv so I had never even heard of the show until today, but I wonder if a better way to learn about people’s experiences of racism would be to, well, ask them.
You could just rent a black friend and ask away. (La Shawn posted the web address back in January. Act now before prices go up!)
jenney
Comment by jenney — 03.15.06 @ 4:20 pm
I actually think the white teenage girl had the best outlook on this. I think the men set a bad example because each was set out to prove their point. It’s entertaining enough but seriously flawed if it is trying to educate the public on race.
Andrew, I would prepare them for it. I knew a black girl from Indiana that was raised by a white family and when she moved to Chicago and had to actually face racism, she had no idea what heck was going on. It took her six years to figure it out and for a time was bitter about it. Maybe if they never leave your neck of the woods they’ll be ok. But race plays out differently in different parts of the country so just be real. Just because they know racism exist doesn’t mean the end of the world.
Back to the show. I’ll watch for the entertainment but I can’t take it seriously. I wasn’t crazy about the ‘big words, know your audience’ statement either. I understood what she was saying. But there is a difference between poetry in the classical sense and Slam.
I’ve written almost-publishable poems before, so I also understood what she was saying. Still, I thought it was worth noting. I’m not a fan of “slam” poetry. - Admin
Comment by james manning — 03.15.06 @ 4:35 pm
After reading LaShawn’s review of the show I certainly will not be watching it. Just another way of perpetuating a racist double standard in America is the way I see it. Give me a freakin’ break. I am a tri-racial 21 year old woman living in NY and the only racism I’ve ever experienced in my whole life was from a Harvard “minority recruiter”. I got a 1340 on my SAT’s and gradutated high school with an average in the low 90’s. Pretty good I must admit but certainly not Harvard material…but I must have checked off the “African American” box (as well as the “caucasian and “asian” boxes) before I took the SAT’s because a kept getting calls from this “minority recruiter” at Harvard, to make a long story short I was quite offended that Harvard was pretty much lowering their standards for me. Black, White, Asian or whatever who cares everyone should just GET OVER THEMSELVES and these pointless “racial identities”. This show BLACK/WHITE is probably the worst piece of sterotypical racist trash to come out since Kanye West’s last album.
Comment by Dani — 03.15.06 @ 4:54 pm
Interpretation: if you’re looking for prejudice, you’ll surely find it. This is how some black people live. Everything, and I mean everything, is seen through a “racist†prism.
I’m white, 45 years old, and a little pudgy but not really too odious looking for my age. However, I’ve noticed that as I grow older, the cute 20-something year old girls in department stores will wait on the cute 20-something year old guys first, plus they’ll spend a lot longer time with them. Now if I were Jesse Jackson I might chalk that up to racism. But since I’m not, I have to accept the fact that young, good-looking people attract other young, good-looking people more than I do. That’s reality. It’s kind of sucky but I’m managing to deal with it.
By the way, thank you for watching the show so that I don’t have to.
Comment by Stingray — 03.15.06 @ 5:08 pm
Black. White. Well, maybe …
Similarly, here you have a “reality show” built upon a premise so utterly ridiculous the last time it was really tried was when Eddie Murphy was still on Saturday Night Live and he started strutting around Manhattan in whiteface like he had a 2X4 up …
Trackback by Axinar's — 03.15.06 @ 7:35 pm
La Shawn, I just love ya! I agree with all that I have read so far! Keep up the great posts!
Comment by Lisa — 03.15.06 @ 8:10 pm
La Shawn, great review. I think my favorite line in your whole review is “Come to think of it, in PC America, serious and honest conversations about race are rare.”
I saw bits and pieces on the Oprah show and was so intrigued by the show…desperately hoping to get some open, honest discussion about race. (Thanks for being that rare voice.)
At my office, we are reading the book “It’s the Little Things” by Lena Williams in hopes of opening up race dialog within the staff. It sounds more noble than it is, since our conversations discussing the book are as PC as they come.
Too bad, since I work with great people who really care deeply about race issues. They’ve just pigeon-holed all the issues into “injustices towards people of color” or “white privilege.” It just doesn’t do anybody justice, or move us forward very fast when a population are bombarded with the message that they don’t stand a chance because they aren’t “privileged.”
Comment by Kirsten — 03.15.06 @ 9:26 pm
Why hasn’t any reviewer discussed what is really important about this show, which is that the white people look better black, while the black people look . . . different. Maybe it is just me but as I was watching the show I kept thinking that the white daughter should just stay in blackface because she looks better that way. the black family looked albino, something was off in the pigmentation. Sure, the show is superficial and short on relevance, but I still enjoyed the episode I saw. Don’t think I would watch it again however.
Comment by TT — 03.15.06 @ 11:09 pm
My curiosity drew me in and I watched the whole show, but I agree it was pretty shallow and silly, especially the etiquette class.
What interested me was Brian telling Bruno that people moving aside for them on the sidewalk had something to do with race. I used to be in an interracial relationship with a girl who frequently complained about people “looking” at us, but as much as I for it I never saw it. Then again, when I’m in public I frequently make eye contact with people and smile, and I’ll move aside out of courtesy no matter who it is. I suppose I could stop doing all that if it’s offensive to people.
It’s this hyper-sensitivity that often leaves people like me at a loss to know what is offensive to others, and so those of us who care how we treat people get all self-conscious and nervous, and then end up probably offending people just because of that.
Comment by Chris — 03.16.06 @ 12:29 am
First time ever: I completely disagree with you, LaShawn.
This is bold, compelling television. All you can do is watch everything go down in flames. Great show, I love it. And whodathunkit - people being utterly fooled by MAKEUP. BRILLIANT.
(Crash, oscar winning film, however - okay, but utterly unconvincing, from someone who was born and raised in Los Angeles. It is interesting to compare and contrast Crash with Black. White.)
Comment by American Zealot — 03.16.06 @ 6:17 am
I hope Tammy Bruce treated you right–she definitely has a different point of view from yours. If she did treat you right, that’s great! She’s open-minded.
Comment by mj — 03.16.06 @ 8:58 am
Tammy Bruce treated me very well. She’s a class act.
Comment by La Shawn — 03.16.06 @ 9:17 am
I watched because it was on and I couldn’t find the remote. By the time I found it, I was interested. Interested in the concept more than the results, anyhow. I kept thinking how funny it was that I’d relate much better with the black family and there’s got to be a black family out there who would relate way better to the white family. There’s more individuality in families (and in poeple) than the show is showing us. Perhaps we’d see that were they using two or more sets of families. I mean, I sure wouldn’t like it if everyone assumed the white family is me.
I’m a white (who tans well due to some American Indian heritage, haha) conservative woman with a very poor country upbringing who moved further south (where blacks and whites are not as segregated as they are in the area of West Virginia where I grew up).
I was a single mom working in a factory with my white roomate (who was also from the same area as myself but didn’t tan nearly as well as myself) and our first (and best) friend was an older black woman with grown children.
There were soooo many things we learned about each other during that time but more than that it was really funny too. When things came up we were all laughing, we weren’t all paranoid, mad, and/or hurt. We were so honest and open with each other and felt a genuine love. She didn’t just let us laugh, she made us laugh.
To highlight just a few things:
My 3 yr old daughter yelling “Arsenio, look mommy it’s Arsenio Hall! Hi Arsenio!!!” when I was picking up my check and my not even looking but trying to run away because I was embarrased. I just knew my daughter had spotted a black man and assumed it was Arsenio Hall because he was the only black man she’d ever seen (we watched his show regularly). Turned out, it was the friend’s boyfriend (yes, a black man) and he chased me down to talk to and laugh at my reaction. Apparently she’d already met him while with my roomate and decided to name him Arsenio. He was rolling. She screamed “Arsenio!!!” and flung herself at him for a hug every time she saw him after that and he never would correct her because he thought it was just so damn funny.
There was the time my roomate and I were going shopping with Deborah and ended up on the side of the road debating whether we’d take the route through the black neighborhood or through the white neighborhood. We never drove through the black neighborhood and Deb told us black folk didn’t drive through the white neighborhood but we had to choose one or the other. We ended up laughing our way through the white neighborhood (at her exaggerated antics) just because it was shorter.
There was the time (after we’d grown extremely close, like family) that a black man we worked with asked me out (I declined), and he decided to tell everyone we worked with that I wouldn’t go out with him because he was black. He was making a real stink over it and true to my nature I was just ignoring it but getting more uncomfortable by the moment. Deb was sooo irritated by it all that she immediately had a cow and seconds after ordering me to march over to tell him “It’s not that you’re black, I just don’t like YOU!” she yelled it to him herself. lol It was the truth. I loved her so much more (and I was loving her lots already) because she didn’t even have to ask, she either already knew or didn’t care. She knew me. She saw ME through anything else that could have been perceived as racism.
There were some times that I stuck my foot in my mouth but she never tried to make me feel less of a person. She just brought it to my attention, picked on me some (let me in on the laugh too) and moved on. Double standards were also fair game and she was just as quick to laugh with us about that. This woman became much like a mother to me and changed my perception of many things (not just racial, but that too) through love and humor. Her boyfriend was not so much like a father figure (as he was lots younger than her and not lots older than me) but a very awesome friend who once told me how much he’d learned from me just by trying to help me out and being a friend. I’m not sure exactly what all was learned but there I was, a single white mom striving to survive, desperately needing help from my friends. He never let me down.
In other words, I think others (perhaps more humble) who are brought together because they honestly do like and even need each other would produce true results as opposed to what the show is all about, producing a “show”.
Comment by JJ — 03.16.06 @ 2:47 pm
I have not seen the show, La Shawn. And based upon what I have read here, I never will.
Come to think of it, in PC America, serious and honest conversations about race are rare.
I disagree with you on this statement, La Shawn, even if only slightly. Serious and honest conversation in PC America about race does not exist - period. Only on blogs such as yours (and maybe cable news such as Fox) does any real conversation take place anymore. In the halls of academia, the studios of Hollywood, the pulpits of PC churches, and the editorial rooms of the MSM - nothing except the same dreary lies we have been hearing for 40+ years. That’s the way PC America wants it, and that probably the way that it will stay for at least the near-term future.
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi — 03.16.06 @ 5:16 pm
Sorry to eat up bandwidth again, but the producers might have made a better show by doing something like this:
Have the Sparks family take the Marcotulli-Wurgels family to some social functions (possible examples: church services, family gatherings, a party at a friend’s house, etc.) and vice-versa. In other words, let each family see how the other family really loves and lives rather than rely on Hollywood stereotypes. Plenty of chances for laughs, and they might even be honest, heart-warming laughs rather than PC sneers and snickers.
Probably too smarmy and simple-minded for the brains that run Hollywood, though.
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi — 03.16.06 @ 5:28 pm
Too bad this goofy production is supposed to be serious. If it were a satire, it might be funny. Remember Steve Martin in The Jerk thinking he was born “a poor black child?”
Navin: “It’s like I don’t fit in. It’s like I don’t belong here.”
Mother: “It’s your birthday, and it’s time you knew. Navin, you’re not our natural born child.”
Navin: “I’m not?”
Mother: “You were left on our doorstep. But we raised you like you were one of us.”
Navin: “You mean I’m going to stay this color? (Navin cries)”
Mother: “Navin, I’d love you if you were the color of a baboon’s ***.
Comment by RedBeard — 03.16.06 @ 6:08 pm
La Shawn, here’s my idea for a reality show about racial/cultural diversity: take two four member American families, one census-defined as black, the other census-defined as white, and drop them off in the middle of Mongolia! Their differences would disappear faster than I can make Yak butter!
Comment by Tom Bosee — 03.16.06 @ 6:58 pm
It is not quite as simple as that Andrew. Working hard, waiting for marriage, and learning to take responsibility all improve your chance of doing well. There are also hard working people who meet those criteria that will struggle. To maximize our chances is a good thing. Believing it will always lead to success is not. On the other hand, all of those things help us to achieve happiness even if we do not make that money.
Comment by Creative Dude — 03.16.06 @ 8:13 pm
I found one portion of the show particularly revealing. Brian and Bruno were talking about racist experiences that Brian had suffered through. He specifically cited getting poor or slow service while trying to shop. Bruno then went shopping and a salesman approached him after a short period of time. Brian then complained that this salesman was being racist by coming over so quickly. He asserted that the salesman was checking Bruno out and sizing him up. I got the impression from Brian that he sees racism everywhere. In the case of shopping if you get slow service the salesmen are racist because they don’t like black people and don’t want to serve them. If you get fast service they are racist because they are checking black people out and thinking they might steal something. It seems that no matter what the response Brian would see racism in what happened in the store.
Comment by Mark — 03.16.06 @ 9:54 pm
Frankly, I have a desire to wash my hands after touching anyone’s hands, even my own. Wish I could have gone to etiquette class, sheesh!
Comment by SickAndTired — 03.16.06 @ 10:05 pm
Tammy Bruce Rocks
As much as I disagree with Tammy on a couple of issues, I still deeply respect her courage and intellect. Here lately she has chosen to highlight two women I truly appreciate. Her willingness to bring attention to these women
Trackback by Everyday Thoughts Collected — 03.17.06 @ 11:39 am
I haven’t seen the show, one of the people i chat with tells me i should have. I thought it would be artificial and I think that simply changing the skin tone of people doesn’t quite reflect how one experiences the cultural environment.
For example, I’m a 47 year old african american married to a irish lapsed catholic from boston… One of the things my wife noticed when we first used to go out was how slow service seemed in restaurants. She asked me simply if I’ve noticed that service was slow…my response was, I don’t see any difference in service. She clued in that service may have been slowing down because of racism on the part of restaurant staff…I told her simply that may be…but that it might be due to the fact that you’re focused in on the possibility of being adversely impacted because of race. In any event I told her I was intent on enjoying my dinner with her and not worry about the issue because the worrying just made me worse off.
Life is too ambiguous in most instances to know if any slight is due to racism or due to something else. If you spend all your time worrying about it, then you make yourself worse off. My strategy is to be cognizant of the possibility but not a prisoner of it.
Rigel
Comment by rigel — 03.17.06 @ 2:30 pm
One question: Why did they have to pick a white family from California of all places on earth?? White people from California? They might as well have picked a French-Canadian “alternative lifestyle” family from Montreal.
Why didn’t they come to the Midwest, or somewhere where there are “normal” white humans. You know, the kind of folks who aren’t crass, arrogant, self-centered, hedonistic, obnoxious, immoral, socialist-educated examples of moonbat thinking. Just the usual uneducated, unenlightened, stereotyping rednecks.
I’ve spent too much time spent dealing with “enlightened” white people from the Peoples Paradise Republic of California. They’re almost as obnoxious as people from Madison, Wisconsin!!
The joy of being looked on as a devolved barbarian by people who are so smug in the righteousness of their own mental beauty brings up my cookies faster than a bottle of Ipacac.
They are twice as racist in their condensation than is the most reactionary redneck I have met.
The thing that amazes me is how quickly normal folks from the flyover states who move out there end up acting and thinking like this. Its like there is a moonbat virus in Cali. They move to Cali and boom, they all become Sheryl Crow. Come to think of it…Sheryl Crow was from Missouri!!!
Its insidious!!
Comment by Wayne — 03.17.06 @ 4:39 pm
You got that right, the show does nothing for racial relations, or humans. The show just looks to exploit stereotypes while flying under the guise of trying to teach us something, I ain’t buying their bull. The show stinks and so does its premise. I get more out of the cartoon channel.
Raymond B
http://www.voteswagon.com
Comment by Raymond B — 03.17.06 @ 5:24 pm
I love the way white people declare themselves to be these self-righteous,non-racist, moralistic demigods. Ever ask yourself WHY black people think racism is occurring in subtle ways? Because about 50 years ago it was a crime to ride at the front of the bus, it was a crime to drink from a water fountain, go to a school IF you were black. It took violent protests (water hoses, german shepherds…nuff said)and organized activism just to get the attention of local and federal government. Now, take into consideration that white people were so strongly against the integration of “ex-slaves” into society that they took it upon themselves to lynch and hang, murder activist leaders, murder civil rights activists and bomb their places of worship. I could go on but you get the picture. Now here’s your homework assignment (whites only) Go ask your parents, grandparents and great grandparents if they’ve ever been escorted to school by the National Gaurd. Afterwards, we can talk about how silly it is for blacks to believe racism is alive and kicking.
Comment by redkat — 03.18.06 @ 10:26 pm
I easily resisted watching this show. It actually looks like the safe race discussion talks that we are allowed to have, and those just do nothing for me.
Now if they did a show where an Aisian family and a Hispanic family switched places, that would actualy be interesting to me. That at least would be something new.
Let me ask, do you think this show is something for white liberals who long for the experience of being black?
Comment by Richard — 03.20.06 @ 1:54 am
I don’t know what was intended by the show’s producers, and though I haven’t seen it, I have seen the promo spots, and I wouldn’t waste a minute on it if I had the time, which I don’t, but at least it’s got people talking about how stupid racial stereotypes are.
Comment by Improbulus Maximus — 03.20.06 @ 7:09 am
Redkat, you must have some special powers of vision to know what hue someone’s skin is by their posts on the internet. Not to mention being bizarrely off-topic and without precedent or logic in this thread.
Comment by Christopher Taylor — 03.20.06 @ 12:54 pm
Um… redkat… white folks think that racism doesn’t exist? I must have missed the memo. Can you post a copy?
Comment by RedBeard — 03.20.06 @ 3:16 pm
“Redkat, you must have some special powers of vision to know what hue someone’s skin is by their posts on the internet. Not to mention being bizarrely off-topic and without precedent or logic in this thread.”
Spoken like a true demi-god. Who are you to claim it is without “precedent”? Since you failed to respond and chose rather to “avoid” I would say you’ve made my point for me. Thank you so very much.
Comment by redkat — 03.22.06 @ 12:42 pm