Following are eight false visions about black people that are shown on TV.
- Almost all shows starring black people are comedies. We are serious people with serious lives.
- There are few successfully married black couples. There are interracial couples with black men with white women. You even see white men with black women coupling. As for successful black couples, outside of the Obamas – nothing.
- All black women are not video hoes. All black men are not athletes. All black women are not struggling single mothers and all black children are not in gangs.
- Thin is not in. Most sistas I know are knocking on the door of size 14. I’ll admit, some of them need to push away from the table. Even if they do, they will never look like the hungry women on TV. Size zero is not our birthright.
- Have you ever noticed that there are lots of beautiful and talented black actresses that get very little time on TV or in the movies? What this means is that there is little hope for young black women who want to be actresses.
- Note: Denzel, Will Smith and Samuel Jackson are not the only good black actors in the world.
- There are a lot of mixed-race people in advertisements and commercials to represent black people. Newsflash! Black people come in a beautiful array of hues from white to beige to brown to jet black.
- Oprah, Jordan and Magic are NOT the only successful black entrepreneurs. Check out Black Enterprise to learn about more.
This list is not all inclusive. I wonder what would happen if such stereotypes were created about white people and they somehow turned into “truth.” Hmmmm…. Something to think about.