ABC’s Black-ish has been praised for depicting a realistic and loving middle-class African American family on broadcast television. Although, Black-ish creator, Kenya Barris, has commented that he is tired of tackling the diversity topic on his hit show.
During the Television Critic’s Association Summer Press tour, or TCA press, he stated that he feels the Black-ish focus on race relations and diversity has overshadowed the overall artistic expression of the show. He also commented that he wishes “diversity” wasn’t an important word and one day every character on TV will be seen as just people, not African American individuals or other minority characters.
Barris has been invited with the Black-ish production crew and acting cast to the TCA awards, which has been nominated for three Emmys since its 2014 premiere on ABC. When a reporter at the TCA press tour asked what percentage of African American viewers watched the show, Barris exploded into a rant about the topic of diversity.
He stated that it doesn’t matter who is watching the show, but that people in general are watching the TV show and loving it. He also stated that every press panel he is bombarded with questions about diversity and he is sick of it.
Barris also ranted about how the cast and production crew isn’t being bombarded with questions about race and diversity. He claims that these talks of diversity are crowding the TV shows conversations.
Kanya Barris concluded that he wants to have viewers see that Black-ish is a good family show. He wants viewers to see the cast of Black-ish has a relatable family dynamic between all cultures and races, not just a show centered around African American viewers and relations. He also wants Black-ish to be a respected show globally.
So is diversity a non-sensical topic to discuss? Who else is there to discuss diversity than the individuals who create long lasting images of minority characters? We don’t need discuss African American viewership numbers and how it effects Black-ish, but we do need to discuss how to correctly represent minority characters on TV without any lingering stereotypes.
