I spent some time watching the TV show “Blackish” this week. I have to say, I think this TV show is an interesting portrayal of an African American family. It isn’t what some might consider a “typical black family,” which is what I think makes it so unique.
For those that haven’t watched this show, the basic premise is that the main family is a black family who is rich (father is an advertising executive and mother is a doctor) and lives in a predominantly white neighborhood. It is interesting to see this family, even though they are immersed in a very privileged lifestyle, still have to worry and deal with the same struggles that all black people deal with every day. It was a great way to show viewers that the circumstances don’t change the inherent discrimination rooted in society for black people.
From the very first episode of the show, you as the viewer are given the same wake-up call that Andre (the main character) is given. The pilot episode centers on Andre being up for a promotion at his job as an ad executive. He talks to his wife about how excited he is, and how much he has worked for it. When the scene comes where his boss is announcing his promotion, he tells Andre that he is being promoted to Senior Vice President, Urban Division. This floors Andre, and is designed to floor the viewer, because the impression now exists that Andre only received the promotion because of the fact that his blackness will allow him to relate to this content better. Talking to his wife, she can’t seem to understand why he’s upset; he still got the promotion, he should be happy, right? Andre views it as lesser though, because he wasn’t promoted to Senior Vice President solely based on his merit. There was a consideration of his race in that decision. When watching this, I definitely had my eyes opened to what someone of color has to constantly think about when they are promoted in a job or given any type of leg up in the world: “Was this truly earned, or am I being treated differently/put into a group because of my race?” Does Andre’s company only think he can be successful with typically “black” culture (like the urban division)? I have never really had to deal with that. I do have a small taste of it by being a woman, always having to fight extra hard to be taken seriously. But, nothing I have experienced was so blatantly targeted like it was for Andre. It is a different kind of glass ceiling that Andre has to navigate through. Ultimately, he decides to accept the promotion and do the best he can in the position, because he realizes that his role still provides some representation in leadership, and he can use it to build his own reputation. I thought the pilot was a great introductory episode to the show, because it gives you a taste of the issues that the show will address, while also allowing you to laugh along with Andre as he hilariously reacts to his circumstances. It is a good balance of seriousness and comedy that we need to truly embrace talking about these systemic issues.
The second episode of the show toned it down a bit when it comes to highlighting the day to day black experience. It wasn’t exactly a controversial topic or issue or racism that needed to be solved. Instead, this episode covered the topic of how the family deals with openly communicating with each other over serious topics, particularly the sex talk. Andre finds out that he hasn’t been in the loop for his son, Andre Jr., when it comes to his knowledge and education on the sexual experiences a teenager might be exploring. You learn about how Andre never received the talk from his father, and he is very stunted when it comes to his ability to talk with Jr. about uncomfortable things. The basic point here is that the environment that Andre was brought up in directly effects how he is with his own children. It is mentioned in the episode that Andre’s father, Pops, never had the talk with him or really ever communicated with him. They have a conversation at the end of the episode about how Pops’s priority at the time was providing for his family. There wasn’t a lot of time for open communication with his kids because he was working hard to give them a better life. This conversation touches on what I think is the whole theme of the episode when it comes to understanding the black experience: generations before those today were so focused on creating a better future for their kids, that some aspects of their relationships were put on the back burner. I think this speaks to a large population of the elder African-American generation. They had to scratch and claw for every little thing they earned, and they wanted nothing more than to shield their children from that. It creates this universal value in the Black population, especially the males, that they needed to provide and build a better future for their kids. I think this episode did a great job of giving you that value without throwing it in your face, but allowing you to enjoy the comedy of how it effects Andre’s current life with his own children.
The third episode I watched of this show really dove into the concept of black identity and what it means to be part of that unique community. The episode starts with Andre and Jr. carrying a school project into his building one day. While walking in the courtyard, they pass another black student and his father. Andre and the father give each other “The Nod,” a way of acknowledging that they see each other and are in solidarity with one another. Jr. and the other boy, however don’t do this. This sends Andre on a mission to show Jr. why it is important to stand in solidarity with other black people, and tries to get him some more black friends so that he can have a sense of community with them. Ultimately, at the end of the episode, Andre realizes that Jr.’s tribe isn’t just black people, but it is nerds, and Jr. does “The Nod” with all of the nerds in the courtyard. He still picks up on some of his black identity, however, bonding with his dad and Pops along the way. This episode really made me think about the notion of identity, and how everyone has their own community. Andre spends the episode trying to give Jr. some of the identity that he is lacking in his daily life. With the kids going to private school, he doesn’t have too many black people to relate to. This lacking stresses the importance to the audience that self-identity is so important. Yes, being treated as equals in society is a goal of the Black population, but they still have the pride in being Black and standing with their community. That sense is something that I as a white person really don’t (and can’t) understand. I feel a strong sense of community with my ethnicity and the Serbian community I am a part of, but the universal feeling of holding true to your racial identity is a notion that white people can never truly be a part of. The show does a great job of explaining this idea, by including the nerd community at the end. It gives those of us watching who are not black a way to relate the feeling of what it means to be in the black community with something we might understand.
I chose to watch this show because I am very much not aware of the black experience. I grew up completely in a white family and I didn’t have much diversity around me either. How could I possibly know this experience?
You can talk about it, explain it all you want, but I know that I will never really understand it. Even watching this show didn’t make me understand the experience, but the portrayal made things a bit more realistic. The creators made the struggles a bit more comical than some other portrayals, and I think that is the genius of the show. Most people today want to focus on the negative and make things so serious, but this show is a way of still showing you the daily struggles of a black family by still being entertaining. It is also an easier pill to swallow, and that might make me sound like I am making light of their struggles by saying it’s difficult for me, a white woman, to accept, but it’s the truth. If this show helps me to better see and understand their struggles, I might just be able to do something about it.
I really enjoyed watching this show this week, and I think I might continue to do so, simply to continue understanding the day to day struggles that a black family goes through.
