Why Won’t Television Say the Word Black

With the rise of social awareness around anti-Black racism and the emphasised importance of why representation should be implemented in television - the industry is still missing the mark. Many television shows, just in the last year, have made facing and overcoming adversity the centre point of their plot. Yet a trend has progressed that is hard to miss if you're a Black audience member: These shows that are supposedly a commentary on diversity and inclusion are expressly refraining from discussing anti-Black discrimination specifically, while simultaneously showing graphic racism or brutality towards their Black characters. 

In Wednesday, a show revolving around the maltreatment of magical outcasts (an obvious allegory for our current world) introduces the three most prominent Black characters as the show’s antagonists. Bianca is the mean-spirited jealous ex-girlfriend, Lucas is the ‘normie’ that discriminates against the outcasts, and Lucas’ dad is the corrupt Mayor Noble Walker. The decision to specifically introduce these characters as villainous further perpetuates the already established racist notion that Blackness is equatable to evil. 

Many have combated this critique as simply the outcome of blind casting - assigning parts without taking an actor’s race into consideration - but there is no ‘colour blindness’ in the racist and diverse society watching Wednesday. The audience doesn’t live in the vacuumed universe these characters are set in. While the show does establish a redemption arc for Bianca and Lucas as they begin to change their ways and gain a fondness for one another, bonding over the weight of town pressures. Still, this was a missed opportunity to discuss race and how part of their bond could correlate to it, as many Black people have to succumb to the pressures of assimilation in a predominately White environment.

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The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself plays into the myth of colorblindness as well. The show centres Nathan, a Black teen who is ostracised for the assumption he may be a Blood Witch (a persecuted race of witches who are stereotyped as evil) and for his father massacring Fairborn Witches (the dominant witch race who are stereotyped as good). Throughout the series Nathan is tortured because of his Blood Witch status, primarily by his White family member and peers. The times he defends himself are chalked up as him “giving in” to his inherently violent nature - which the show also portrays as true. The series never mentions race but is another clear allegory for it. 

Show creators need to realise that if their allegory for real world oppression features an actor who is oppressed in the real world, scenes must account for that actor's identity in order to ensure their series isn’t propagating racist stereotypes or being culturally insensitive. 

What makes season five of The Handmaid’s Tale so disappointing is that there are no mythical elements - no magical outcasts and no witches - but the show has still failed to acknowledge racial dynamics despite the show’s similarities to our reality. The season depicts June’s (the main character) husband Luke experiencing police brutality, once when the couple is captured by the show’s totalitarian government and Luke is beaten by guards to the point of unresponsiveness. Another time at the end of the season, Luke is arrested for murder despite it being self-defence and despite June, a White woman, getting alleviated for the same crime earlier in the season. The show implies that Luke is experiencing injustice due to his race and immigration status, as the Black women in the show inform him that he should be more worried than he is. But, the season never says Black, never outwardly has the conversation about anti-Black police brutality, and never openly discusses White supremacy or racism yet has candid dialogue for other forms of discrimination like misogyny. 

It’s ironic that a show - and the book it is adapted from - is heavily based on the real life marginalisation of women and other subjugated groups, but fails to depict meaningful conversations about race and anti-Blackness. It is incredulous that The Handmaid’s Tale so readily uses Black trauma as plot development to further advance a White protagonist.  

“Having Black diversity throughout all levels of TV, from actors and show makers to Academy voting members, is what will help eradicate anti-Blackness in the television industry - which would have a direct impact on the quality of representation we see on screen.” 

This trend of not recognising the race of Black characters yet allowing them to exist within racist stereotypes or only alluding to their marginalised identity with allegories and metaphors, is racist within itself. This trend is essentially using Black actors and characters for praise on half-baked social critiques on inclusivity, with no actual care or goal to unpack their identity in relation to their world - mythical, dystopian or real. Too many show creators are okay with broadcasting Black brutalization as the extent of their racial commentary, prioritising trauma porn over conversation. This omits many aspects of the Black experience, which is the internal dialogue and interpersonal conversations Black people have about their racial positioning.    

Racism is a prevalent, systemic issue within television and media outside of what we see on our screens:

The Golden Globes was not broadcasted in 2022 due to protests and public scrutiny about the corruption and the lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association- the organisation had no Black members for the past 20 years.

“Emmys So White” trended across social media in 2021 due to no person of colour winning major categories despite a diverse nominee lineup. 

There tends to be a large emphasis on solely the representation of actors in television, which tends to overlook the importance of diversity behind the camera: 

“Overall, people of color directed 27.3 percent of digital scripted episodes in 2020-2021,” UCLA’s Hollywood Diversity Report states. “Only 3.3 out of 10 credited writers in digital scripted TV are people of color.” 

According to the same report, Black show creators account for 4.6% of broadcast, 12.7% of digital, and 18.35% of cable television.   

Having Black diversity throughout all levels of TV, from actors and show makers to Academy voting members, is what will help eradicate anti-Blackness in the television industry - which would have a direct impact on the quality of representation we see on screen. 

A perfect example of great Black representation in television is Abbott Elementary. The comedy tackles subjects like race and class in public schools without trivialising racism and with no reliance on Black trauma for plot development or shock value. This, in large part, can be credited to the showrunner, Quinta Brunson, being a Black woman writing and producing from her experience and the diversity of the show’s writers. It is simply not enough to show Black faces on screen: Shows must be prioritising the Black experience, acknowledging how racism is a part of that experience, and employing people who can truthfully share the experience. No one should be championed for their faux earnest depictions of inclusivity if they can’t even say Black.

Words: Luna Danielle