I will give this show another chance but if it's going to be all about the family being black then I will probably pass on the show. The grandfather seems to be the only good actor on the show.


And hearing a Obama reference in this episode was definitely a strike for me.

It also wasn't that funny, I may watch one more episode and see if it gets better. I liked Anthony Anderson in his previous show Guys with Kids, he was pretty funny in that one.

I didn't think it was funny, but I liked Laurence Fisburne's performance.

I didn't think it was funny, but I liked Laurence Fisburne's performance.


Yes so did I, Fisburne was cool. But I just want to get away from all the black talk and just let it be a sitcom that happens to be a cast of black people

But I just want to get away from all the black talk and just let it be a sitcom that happens to be a cast of black people

I would like that too, but I'm not sure that's what the creator is going for.

I would like that too, but I'm not sure that's what the creator is going for.


Even the Jeffersons got away from all that talk eventually lol

This show is obviously going to be about a family that tries to maintain its' black culture, traditions and customs as it also attains the American Dream which takes them further away from most of the people in their own race. Look forward to episodes of friends and family visiting and proclaiming that they are not "as black" as they used to be. YAWN.

Even the Jeffersons got away from all that talk eventually lol

Some insight from Kenya Barris, the creator:

"Instead of calling it "The Burbs" or "New Rules" or something like that, we wanted to reflect that this is the world we are living in. I feel like my kids are a little bit of a lesser version of what I remember the ideology of what black was. At the same time, all of their friends - who are mostly non-black kids - are a little bit more black than I remember. They're sort of black-ish, all their little friends, and my kids are sort of black-ish. We're living in a world where Asian culture has influenced us and Latino culture has influenced us, and youth culture is so homogenized to a point where, if you look from our main character's point of view, he sees the world as sort of black-ish - everyone is a little bit of a layering of each other."

A half hour TV show, it is loosely based on Kenya Barris, own life as an upwardly mobile black man. As for its gist, the writer in an interview with Indie Wire said, "I decided to do this project when I looked up and realized that everywhere I go I'm constantly the fly in buttermilk... I'm usually THE Black guy at work. We're THE Black family in the neighborhood. My kids are basically THE Black kids at school. I think it's kind of a situation of be careful what you wish for. It's almost in like moving on up, I've sort of priced myself "out" of being Black."

Source: http://www.hallels.com/articles/7392/20140926/story-behind-black-ish-abc-s-newest-tv-series.htm

Dude has issues.

I'll still give it a try.

I will give this show another chance but if it's going to be all about the family being black then I will probably pass on the show. The grandfather seems to be the only good actor on the show.


I seen the show and I agree with you, fortunately they do have time to improve on the show. Fingers crossed. I'll give it a few more views.

Who would have figured a show named "Black-ish" would be about being black? I thought it was about being white, or Asian or Latin or maybe even Indian; but BLACK? Naw. . . .I never saw that coming . . . .

The father on this show is a real jackass. I can't stand the way all he does is whine and complain. I also wanted to deck him when he started defending O.J. Freaking idiot. :rolleyes:

The father on this show is a real jackass. I can't stand the way all he does is whine and complain. I also wanted to deck him when he started defending O.J. Freaking idiot. :rolleyes:


The nauseating moment is when Obama was mentioned

The nauseating moment is when Obama was mentioned

One thing that was weird about that is that the dad considered Obama black, but he didn't think of his wife as being black. They are both biracial.

One thing that was weird about that is that the dad considered Obama black, but he didn't think of his wife as being black. They are both biracial.
Good point. He calls his wife "mixed" so why does he call Obama black when he is obviously "mixed."?
That father is such a hypocrite.
He also pissed me off when he got mad at his two youngest kids for talking about the girl with the strange backpack that they call a turkey burger or something. The dad was outraged that his kids didn't call her "the black girl." What a freaking idiot! And that ridiculous spectacle he put on at his work? He's lucky his ass didn't get fired!

This show is obviously going to be about a family that tries to maintain its' black culture, traditions and customs as it also attains the American Dream which takes them further away from most of the people in their own race. Look forward to episodes of friends and family visiting and proclaiming that they are not "as black" as they used to be. YAWN.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2Ffrances-cudjoe-waters%2Fblackish-horrible-parody-_b_5882622.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFpvZUyFMBvZ78JFRvUSLQDCYtdVw

'Black-ish' (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.arts.tv/gClwHpvCfGY): Horrible Parody of Black Family Life
by Frances Cudjoe Waters

I cringed when I saw the name and promos for Black-ish. But, I tried
to reserve judgment until I saw it. And sure enough, its premise and
the actual show is as offensive as its name.

First, the idea that there is only one essential way of being "black"
is incredibly problematic. The sad thing is that they think of
themselves and bill themselves as a modern day Cosby Show.

The amazing thing that shows like the Cosby Show and A Different World
was that they showed the incredible diversity of African Americans.
They showed our humanity and how just like every other group of human
beings, we are influenced in our personal development by not only our
racial identifiers, but also by our socio-economic, educational,
geographic, religious and familial realities. That's how you got
diverse characters like Whitley, Duane, Kimberly Reece, Freddie
Brooks, Lena James and sidekick, Ron - all totally different, all
undeniably black.

What Black-ish misses and what those shows embraced, is that one of
the primary things that unite black people is this country is that
regardless of socio-economic status, skin complexion and other life
choices, black folks in America have a shared history and current
reality of struggling against stereotypes, institutional and
legislative racism, and continued barriers precisely because we
continue to be judged by the color of our skin, more than by the
content of our character and the uniqueness of our journey.

Black-ish serves to validate the stereotypes that "keeping it real"
means that all black people play the same sports, live in one type of
neighborhood or that "fried, fried chicken" is a "black thing," rather
than perhaps a southern thing. It questions whether the bi-racial
mother is "really black" at all. Who gets to decide that?

The sad thing is that the producers, writers and actors seem to miss
is that it is not fried chicken or playing basketball that defines who
10 million diverse black people are. If there is an essential black
culture, it must involve knowing the history and struggle, triumphs
and major milestones of these people you seek to portray.

Black children not knowing the implications and historical relevance
of President Obama's election is not funny. Too many people marched,
fought, bled, died, legislated, were beaten, brutalized for any
American not to understand the importance of his election. Perhaps the
problem is not where this imaginary family lives, but that these
imaginary black parents have not taken the time to discuss the
important and real challenges and victories of African American life
today.

The show ends with what is supposed to be a heartwarming, comic ending
of the black son having a "bro mitzvah," where the whole black family
dresses up in Run DMC '80s rapper gear and they break dance and take
pictures indicating that that is the black version of a bar mitzvah.

The son says he is happy to convert to Judaism and forsake his own
religion (whatever that is), in order to have a bar mitzvah party.
There is a subsequent scene where they mock the idea of an African
rites of passage.

The juxtaposition of the pride taken in Jewish culture with the
complete lack of context for the historical place of true African
rites of passage programs that are far richer than the joke Black-ish
makes them out to be or the historical place of the black church which
has produced voices such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is striking.
When the son is asked if he would give up his religion and convert for
a bar mitvah party, he eagerly replies yes. This diminishes and
undermines both the important religious and cultural significance of
the Jewish experience and the historical and cultural experience of
African Americans in this country while mocking African heritage and
pride, all in one fell swoop.

Sadly, these uniformed writers, create a father character whose deep
concern about his children understanding their black heritage centers
on things like his son playing basketball, while having a complete
lack of focus on historical and cultural markers that make many
African Americans proud of the common heritage we share. There is no
sophisticated analysis or understanding of how the paradigm set up by
this show is the exact stereotype many of us are fighting against.

The father rails against his son playing field hockey because it is
thought to be a white sport and he doesn't want his son to become a
"white boy." Well, before Arthur Ashe and the Williams sisters, tennis
was thought to be a "white" sport. Before Tiger Woods, golf was just
seen as a "white" sport. And I could go on. The history of black
people in America is making the point that, "We, too, sing America,"
and we are capable of playing any sport and participating in any field
we want - just like every other person.

I once heard a Chicago preacher named Sean McMillan, say in his sermon
that, "Every black mother and father is a freedom fighter, fighting
for the psychic, emotional and physical space for their children to
truly be free." That is the core of the African American experience.

By highlighting the beauty and richness and proud heritage of African
Americans by wearing HBCU shirts and talking about their rich
heritage, showcasing black art and music, having the whole family sit
and watch Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream Speech" - all
within the context of everyday life, The Cosby Show showed what it
really meant to be a black family in America. They never had to yell,
"We are black-ish!"

They were just a family whose pride of heritage was interwoven in
everything they did. And they were fighting, as many of us are still
fighting, to create a world where our children can be anything they
want to be while always remembering who they are, where they come from
and the unique bond that African Americans still share as we continue
to struggle against being made out as the joke and minstrel of
America; and who somehow, in spite of shows like Black-ish, find ways
to maintain our dignity, honor our elders, show our children that they
don't have to take on and parody someone else's heritage and readily
give up their own religion, history and faith in an effort to gain
ratings while betraying all that we are and have been as black people
in America.