Black. White. have you seen it?

Have you seen this show on FX Network? It's about two families - one black and one white and they basically switch places...airbrushed skin and hair all wigged out to further push the envelope.

It is a very interesting show to say the least. For the most part both families, well the adults, really tend to generalize in issues of race. For instance, the "white" mother (Renee) called the "black" mother (Carmen) a bitch and says she "meant nothing by it." She justified herself by saying something like 'I thought you people used that as a term of endearment.' What really was interesting was that Renee seemed to have no clue with what was wrong with what she said. What I realized was that BOTH families tend to generalize races alot, and mostly to their own misadventure.

The black dad thinks racism is everywhere all the time, and is suspect of almost all white people. He has had some negative experiences, but he is clearly jaded.

The white dad (Bruno) thinks everybody is alright, but not in a "happy go lucky" way. More like a "I've scoped it out, and my calculations say it's going to be ok." He seems to be one of those guys that would hear a strange noise and say "What was that? Lets investigate." and get killed in the movie.

Renee shares a similar view to her husband, AND she seemes to be infatuated with "blackness" like its an exotic new fragrance. I think this because she was active in civil rights in the 60's and she has a mini afro in her "black" identity. So it appears to me she wants to be black for it's mystique.

In another segment, Carmen (wearing no makeup) went to a bar and was asking a white guy about blacks moving into the area. This guy just started talking his head off. One thing he said was that blacks think school is dumb, or being smart (ie. going to college) is bad. Carmen said she thought this guy was an idiot. I think otherwise.
I know when I was in school, some of my friends ostracized me for being smart. Many friends in college would tell me about going home , seeing "the boys" are still home, never left. Chris Rock said best..."Come home, witcha college degree thinkin you got it goin on. See your boy and he laugh at ya. 'So what n*gga you got a degree, but can ya whup my azz?'" Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu has written volumes on the issue of "To Be Cool or Smart" I did find it interesting that the white guy was so honest and open. But it does make you wonder if he summarized all black people that look a certain way to be about nothing. Sad but true.


Later in the episode, the white parents have to go to a black church. So picking a wardrobe, Renee decides to pick up, of all things, a Dashiki for herself and her husband. That further reinforced my thoughts that she was fascinated and enchanted by getting to be black. It also reinforced my thought that they (the families on black. white.) generalize. So every facet of black culture and stereotypes they know - from dashikis and african names to hip hop to welfare and low-income stereotypes to sports/athleticism and bling is a part of every black person. Renee is in a giant "facets of black culture mall" shopping spree, doing every black thing she always wanted to do but never could...before now. Then Renee, after listening to a black poetry group (that recently learned the identity of the "white" daughter) called one of them a "beautiful black creature" clearly alienating herself from the group, and again was clueless as to what was wrong with her word choices.

Where I feel communication fails between the 2 families is that they don't address the issue from the standpoint that simple things like word choice can slant people's perception. For instance Carmen, while talking to that white guy in the bar asked (talking about black people) "if ONE was to move into the area, would THEY have have any problems" again alienating her own race.

One thing that is clearly not addresses is socioeconomic class. The 2 families appear to be be in the same income bracket, so even though there are some differences, I think the class issue is an oversight.

The (white) daughter joined a poetry group, and was totally astounded by the depth and imagery of the other members. She felt hers was not strong enough. So I got to thinking. If you are middle class white america, there probably isn't much drama in your life. So unless you make it up, there is no emotional stimuli to create poetry...and further, why would you dream about what its like to have to eat government cheese and wake up to roached crawling on bathroom sink? Anyway, the daughter read her piece, and it was like a speech (about black and white being really a bunch of grays/unclear), totally different rhythm and context than the others.

So this show is intruiging to say the least. There will be more entries on this show fo' sho. One more thing I realized after watching this show...my wife and I are too smart to be on reality tv. :-)