'Blackish' Pretends Criminal Issues are Racist Issues

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https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/cu...-racial-issues

By Amelia Hamilton | November 15, 2017 12:05 AM EST
Blackish is always far too willing to put social commentary ahead of actual entertainment, and the November 14 episode "Please Don't Feed the Animals" is no exception. This week's social justice topic that took the place of comedy? Issues of race and incarceration.

In this episode, Dre (Anthony Anderson) and his wife Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) argue about how much contact they want with his incarcerated godbrother, Omar. When they find out that Omar was innocent of the crime for which he is serving time and is being released, they still don't fully trust him. What if prison has changed him?

As you may know, one of my pet peeves about Blackish is the fact that they put a weird little educational video in every episode. This week, it was at the beginning, and featured statistics on incarceration in America: 2.2 million Americans are behind bars, that's a 500 percent increase in the last 40 years. Black people make up 13 percent of the American population and 35 percent of prison inmates. Things like that. Are you laughing yet? Nor am I, because this is the most confusing comedy in the world. Incarceration statistics aren't really my go-to when I need a moment of levity.

Another bizarre thing that happens in each episode is that the main character Dre (Anthony Anderson) goes to a meeting at work where they all sit around talking about the social issue on which that episode is focusing. His white co-workers are all idiots, and racist in their idiocy.