One of the reasons I don't watch TV (infact the main reason) is cause it's OVERWHELMINGLY white!
I mean, I wonder sometimes. Black people enjoy this shyt as entertainment, but how is it entertaining is something when you can't see yourself in any of the characters?
Growing up I watched Family Matters with my family...I got called "Urkel" cause I was black and wear glasses.
but atleast that was a character that I looked like that I could relate to.
How can black people enjoy looking at shows and commercials filled with people that don't look like you?
That hate you. and your race.
Representation matters.
I mean, with all this talk about Black Panther we finally have a superhero movie that black families can take their kids to see and they can see themselves as heros! I hope to see more of that.
Cause let's face it...when you're black in America, representation matters. Seeing a black man/woman that looks like you do something you want to do inspires you to do the same cause then you can see people looking like you making it. Seeing black families in lead television shows gives humanity to blackness and depth. We can see these characters not only as black people, but as people with multifaceted interests, dreams, hopes, emotions, triumphs, tribulations, etc. We see them as three dimensional entities and not stereotypes designed to cater to the prejudices of the dominant society or as burdens to it.
Roseanne saying that stuff is "insignificant" not only speaks to her privilege but her disdain towards people of color.
She can look at any TV show or commercial at any time and see people that look like her.
She can go to any TV station or network and the people running the show look like her.
She can do a comedy show and the majority of the crowd will look like her.
She can go to a sporting event and the majority of the people look like her.
She can go to any city, any neighborhood, any other damn place in this country and be SURROUNDED by people who look like her!
So who the fukk is she to shyt on the experiences of black people in television?
Especially when we got nothing close to equal representation on Television.
The majority of black images on TV are negative
I know the coli love to do that "television shows every race is fukked up" yes...but there is more disproportionately more dysfunction and negativity shown when it comes to black people than any other group period...and that's because we barely own anything in TV!
So yes, that shyt is beyond significant.