On the Fence | Despite antics, “Black.White.” looks at victimhood

Ian Saxine Columnist

Normally I’m not a big fan of reality TV. But when I saw a commercial for a modern “black like me” conceptual show set in present-day Los Angeles, I was intrigued. The show, “Black.White.,” on FX, featured two middle-class, three-person families, one black, one white, living together in L.A. for six weeks. With the help of sophisticated theater makeup, they were able to “trade races” and experience day-to-day life from a completely different perspective. I watched the first episode of the six-part series mostly out of curiosity, wondering what the families would look like in their makeup.

The show turned out to be interesting enough to keep me watching for the entire six weeks it ran. It wasn’t typical reality TV, where a bunch of idiots and misfits yell at each other in between hookups. In this case, both families entered the project voluntarily, hoping to learn something. The outcome was unscripted, and, if not the most inspiring, it ended on a note of hope.

Personalities clashed, with the most friction occurring between the two sets of parents. This was mostly the fault of the white parents, with the father stubbornly clinging to his belief that individuals—not groups—were all that mattered. His wife was painfully, annoyingly naïve, displaying a sort of well-intentioned ignorance that was like nails on a chalkboard to pretty much everyone who met her. (While in black makeup, she went to a black beauty salon and proceeded to tell one woman that her hair “reminds me of Halloween” and asked if she could touch it.) In the end, many of the participants walked away with a different perspective on race in America.

Obviously, there were a lot of things a show like that couldn’t cover, but all things considered, “Black.White.” was one of the smarter shows on TV. At first, I thought it was a shame that the show focused, as much of America does when it talks about race, on the black/white divide, with little heed to Asians, Latinos, and Native Americans. But then again, those three groups, for reasons of history and white ignorance, have never presented the same challenge to the image of America (in the minds of most whites, anyway) as a place of equality and happiness. Asians and Latinos can be stereotyped, however erroneously, as recent immigrants, and so any poverty or inequality they experience is part of their not yet being fully assimilated. Native Americans, nearly exterminated and but a tiny minority of the population, can be forgotten or dismissed as unfortunate victims of manifest destiny, but unable to be helped now.

Following this logic, only African Americans remain as a constant reminder of the unsavory aspects of America’s past and present, unassimilated, and still living with the aftershocks of slavery and segregation. Racist or ignorant whites, like the white father on “Black.White.” can try to reason away that bald fact by denying the longevity of the effects of racism on African Americans, and by waving the banner of the individual as a supreme, perfectly independent entity capable of single-handedly triumphing over the effects of nearly 400 years of slavery and segregation. At least discussions like those on “Black.White.” helped to illuminate some of that reality for viewers.

I would also add that the participants in the project in “Black.White.” managed to have this discussion without reverting to the painfully unhelpful game of dividing everyone into victims or perpetrators. The black family participating wasn’t claiming victimhood as they tried to educate the white family about how things are in America today. And, refreshingly, nobody in the white family tried to claim victimhood either. This is in marked contrast to tendencies in discussions and “dialogues” on our campus, which I stopped attending for two main reasons: 1) Whiny or angry white students claiming victim status, and 2) Whiny or angry minority students claiming victim status.

According to the logic often employed around here, if you’re a victim, then you’re not prejudiced. It isn’t enough to just be either a victim or a villain. This leads to the inevitable white student at one of these talks saying “my grandpa was Irish and wasn’t able to get the job he wanted, etc.” and implying that this is somehow the same as slavery or generations of racial discrimination. Sorry kid, but that doesn’t make you a victim. It doesn’t necessarily make you prejudiced either, even if the angry person sitting next to you assumes you are. And the minority students sitting in those same groups are also not victims. Calm down now. Yes, they experience discrimination and racism, sometimes on a daily basis, off campus and on it, too. But nobody who attends a highly selective, $40,000 per year institution has been beaten by the system.

In any case, if you can catch the reruns, I would highly recommend watching “Black.White.” If nothing else, it’s one of the few shows on TV right now where nobody in the cast has an eating disorder.