by Kalia Foote

Five minutes into Black-ish and I decided its timely and I love it. Fifteen minutes in and I was squirming in discomfort. Not because it had the same effect as powerful pieces like 12 Years a Slave or even Cops, but because it dropped a more subtle approach for a broad sitcom laugh that is bound to offend on such a delicate topic.

It’s probably a question the parents of first generation Americans have been asking themselves for decades, but has only really been an issue in the black American community in the last 30 years or so: How to keep your traditions and sense of self with all the assimilation and appropriation that comes with being a fully vested American?

Before we get into the depths of race relations in this obviously unpost-racial world, let’s talk about the show. Starring Anthony Anderson (fat funny guy in all black movies, Law & Order), booty and hair-licious mixed race Tracy Ellis-Ross (Girlfriends), Laurence Fishburne (everything they needed a classy Sam Jackson for, The Matrix), and four adorable black children who are obviously (to me) not related, and whose names I don’t care to know yet. Anthony’s character, Andre, is every mid-30’s upwardly mobile black professional who struggles to maintain this sense of self that was prominent in our youth. Tracy is his doctor wife, Rainbow, who’s presence denotes another perspective of the “black” experience.

Laurence is “Pops” the old school common sense voice in a world of culture amalgamation. He’s all one liners and snide comments. He reminds me of my father, who longs for the days of real meat, white bread, and FRIED fried chicken. And the kids are, what appears to me, to be everything kids are now: blind to many of the things we have taken for granted. It’s frustrating and energizing, all at the same time.

Andre gets promoted at his job to senior VP, but a moment of celebration is muted when they decide to make him the spokesperson for the “urban” division – basically all things black. I relate to his introductory walk into his office, where he greats all the black people in no position of power and salutes his “honorary” brother – his white assistant. At dinner, his youngest didn’t know that Obama was the first black president because Obama is the only president the six year old knows of. Understandable.

His oldest son is called Andy (his name is Andre, Jr) by his white classmates, which is troublesome for Dre. I recall in high school, the majority white student population really wanted to call me KiKi, because Kuh-LEE-uh is so very hard to pronounce.*blank stare* His twins are trying to avoid a play date with Liza Jackson. To Dre, she’s the only other black girl in their class, but to his kids, she smells like turkey burgers. So far I liked where this was going, but it took a turn into broad sitcom supposed hilarity, and I couldn’t take it.

“Andy” makes the field hockey team and drops the bomb that’s been in all the promos: he wants to convert to Judaism so he can have a bar mitzvah. And Dre calls a meeting to KEEP IT REAL. This is going to go so wrong. The trick that needs to happen is one that Dave Chappelle and Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor would have executed so well

The African Rites of Passage Ceremony. It’s a little insulting that this was a go to solution to this problem. And a little left field for a family that is so completely Western to decide to have some random Rites of Passage ceremony with kente cloth and drums. Humph. This is a 22 minute sitcom, on ABC, so I’m not sure what I expected. At the end, Andre Jr. gets a BRO Mitzvah, which could be considered a great compromise on the Rites of Passage except for the fact a bunch of 13 year olds are dressed like Run DMC.

I want to give this show a chance. I also want to know how many black writers are on staff, because this will totally affect the tone. And the tone will decide whether this is the next Chappelle Show or whether it will be written in the annals of “Who Approved This??” ex: The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer.

 

Let’s hope for the former. Til next time!

 

2.5 stars