Black.White. Episode #3

I never did get to see Black.White. Episode #2 because my cable company had some problem with that channel every time I tried to watch the replays. The “previously on…” segment at the beginning of this episode indicated that I missed a lot of gaffes from Carmen especially the whole “beautiful black creature” fiasco. Bruno defended the “creature” phrase by saying he’s heard the phrase “gorgeous creature” his whole life. Well, Google yielded a mere 58k results for that phrase, the first three of which were about a transsexual, a baby, and a cat, respectively. No women. But I’ll give Bruno the benefit of the doubt and props for defending his wife. As Brian pointed out, adding “black” to the phrase was a large part of what made it offensive. The dehumanizing aspect of being called a creature, combined with “black” when for a fair amount of our national history, blacks were not considered human beings, was over the top. It certainly emphasized a “separateness” between Carmen and the young woman. A rather weird way of describing people of different races occurred in the John Grisham book, A Time to Kill. One character, in the same conversation referred to a “white male” and a “male black.” The character was not explicitly racist or portrayed as a bad guy, he was generally a good character, but it was a dehumanizing way to describe someone. I’ve noticed that on a few other occasions but only in the south. Things have improved a great deal, but every once in a while you notice things like that. Using black as a descriptor usually only makes sense when that person is not present or their skin color is pertinent for some reason. Describing my obstetrician to my gynecologist: “Dr. Jones, over at West Jeff. hospital,” was met with a blank look so I added, “tall black guy built like a football player, about 50 years old now?”

Next, hapless Carmen decides she needs a black friend to help her learn about the black community. (Isn’t that why she’s living in the same house with Renee and Brian?) Enter Deanna, with whom for some reason Carmen assumes a hick accent. Deanna is interesting, and seems to be a good influence on Carmen, but she makes no visible headway with Bruno. Carmen and Bruno do experience racism when Carmen is not made up and Bruno is, and Deanna takes them through a black neighborhood and park.

Nicholas claims to not experience racism. I’m not sure what to think about that but it looks like the next episode will have more on that. Rose summed him up perfectly: he’s living the stereotype of the young black man – rap videos, baggy clothes, inarticulate and proud of it. I hope we get to know more about Nicholas because there’s got to be more to him than this. Interestingly, Brian said he’s spent all this time trying to get Bruno and Carmen to understand what racism is all about, when he should have been teaching Nicholas. I don’t understand why it needs to be taught. If it’s something both external and ongoing, Nicholas can hardly avoid it. Frankly, a 16 year old 8th grader who has been expelled for being caught with a knife has more pressing issues than a lack of understanding of racism!

Brian did try to explain white privilege to Nick, and I wish the show had spent more time on that. Overall, I’m still fascinated by the show, and still recommend it wholeheartedly.

Black.White.