European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Turned off by foxes axing of Black to shows Clarence Page imagine for a moment the Public outcry if the networks were to announce that in the new fall season Blossom amp and married. With children will be the Only prime time network to programs that would portray the lives of White people in America. Right. It happen. Audiences would not tolerate such a narrow portrayal of White people. The Public would demand More diversity a More dramas More docudrama More action More soaps More stories of love More stories of hate More Triumph More tragedy More of a reflection of real life As we know it. If you can imagine How upset White to viewers would be by a steady diet of narrow depictions of their lives perhaps you can understand Why so Many Black to viewers Are upset to hear news reports that the Fox television network has decided to drop Roc sinbad and South Central from their fall lineup. Perhaps you can understand Why 29 members of the congressional Black caucus which usually concerns itself with weightier matters sent a letter composed by rep. Adolphus towns d-n.y., to Fox owner Rupert Murdoch asking for a reprieve for Roc which depicts the lives of a Baltimore trash col Lector and his wife a nurse and their family. Other viewers particularly Black ones Are sending letters and passing petitions in defense of All three programs. A. Fox sinbad starring sinbad Erin Davis and Willie Norwood is scheduled for sleep by the fail season. Why the fuss its a question of Quality not Quantity. Members of Congress Are not shedding Public tears Over the loss of in living color another Black comedy Fox is dropping in the fall. But Roc sinbad and South Central Are different. All three arc notable for their efforts to sneak in in Between the. Laughs a few of the serious problems faced by real life Black americans. Roc plots have tackled homelessness a neighbourhood drug dealer and a drive by shooting. Sinbad casts the comedian sinbad As a footloose computer Programmer whose lifestyle is sobered by the responsibilities of raising two adopted children. South Central offers the flip Side of the old Cosby show with a Low income los Angeles ghetto family caught Between the insanities of fearing Street gangs on one hand and overzealous cops on the other. Roc Star Charles Dutton in an angry National Public radio interview called the show a victim of a new racial segregation that says Quot no Blacks latins or dogs need apply after 9 that a the time network programmers tend to Reserve for their serious dramas. Like Dutton i am less upset by what the networks choose to air than by what they choose to leave off the air. It is curious to me that in this Day and age White audiences feel most comfortable with Black images on the air that Are the most Buffo Onish. While shows like Roc that try even in stealth fashion to be serious die full blown brain Candy like Martin and living single arc two of the seasons hottest shows with Black and w Hite audiences. Shows live or die by ratings and the sad truth is that most Whites and Blacks done to watch the same shows. The differences speak volumes about differences in culture taste experience and conscience along racial lines. The top 10 television shows among Black viewers Are completely different from those of the general population according to studies by the major and Agency Bado last month and in april of last year. Roc for example was no. 2 in last years ratings among Blacks but fell Well below the lop 10 for general viewers. In fact i chose Bossom and married with children for my examples above because those arc the Only two predominantly White programs that wound up in the top 10 among Black viewers according to by do a second annual Survey of Black is. White viewing habits. In other words Blacks like Whites love to see Whites cavort in silly situation comedies. That Sok. The marketplace works Best when it offers choices. Comedy thrives on stereotypes. But life thrives on variety. In the absence of any other images stereotypes become a form of real life tragedy. Some observers have found it encouraging to note that Black White viewer differences fade among younger viewers. But it is no compliment to the networks to confirm that their programming decisions Cater primarily to teen agers in search of brain Candy. The result is programming that like water seeks the lowest Point and inevitably sucks Public sensibilities Down the Drain. Of Well. Its Only to i Tell myself its not life. Its Only life As some would like it to be. A big barrel of laughs. Chicago Tribune our Freedom thanks to a Day Andy Rooney two weeks before the 50th anniversary of a Day i received in the mail a compact disc with a grab bag of military and world War ii music on it that some record company was pushing. The disc was accompanied by a press handout extolling its Virtues and a packet of trinkets including an adjustable baseball style Cap with a Day 50th anniversary embroidered above the Peak. On the Back just above the adjustable band also embroidered was the name of the record company. Congress can to pass a Law demanding Good taste or decency from anyone. Bad taste can to be proscribed. You can to make it illegal for photographers to hound the Ken Nedys on the occasion of the death of Jac quest no Kennedy Onassis you can to Fine companies that set out to make a Buck by Selling cheap a Day souvenirs or inhibit record companies from trying to Cash in on the heroism of men who died on Omaha Beach 50 years ago. Too bad you can to but you can t. Most of this a Day Celebration has been carried out in a dignified Way. The television broadcasts about it have been Good even though we see the same few pictures Over and Over again. The fact is no photographer waded in first and then turned to take pictures of the fighting men being shot and killed As they came ashore. I see pictures being used that purport to bed Day on Omaha Beach that i know from firsthand experience show Utah Beach several Days later. Some familiar footage used for a Day is i suspect earlier footage taken during the British Canadian disaster at Dunkirk. Even so the news coverage of a Day has been very Good. In a a Little worried that some people even maybe including myself Are basking in the glory of the men who actually fought a Day. While i Don t like to see anyone trying to Cash in on the event i do believe that by the time All the Celebration is Over Young people Are going to know a lot More about a significant Day and time in the history of the world than they did before. Its important that succeeding generations of americans know that what they have in the United states a personal Freedom relative Prosperity National Independence a Are things that were fought for. There was a time during we ii when the Clear possibility existed that we could lose some of our Freedom and Independence. No one can guess what would have happened to us As a nation if the germans had pushed us Back off the continent on a Day and subsequently invaded and conquered the British Isles. Not out of the question at the time. And then what would have happened if simultaneously we had been beaten by the japanese and forced to surrender our Pacific Fleet its unlikely but still possible. Or imagine a third scenario the germans who were working on it come up with the first nuclear bomb. They either drop one on new York City or Washington , or they threaten to do it if we done to completely surrender to them. It was a Day and the subsequent drive across France and into Germany that eliminated these possibilities. Young people ought to know about it. That a Why this a Day Celebration has been Good and important. Over the centuries parts of Europe were always being overrun by foreign conquerors. When France was conquered by the germans it was not the first time France had been invaded. The United states has never been invaded. Its difficult for any of us to imagine our cities being bombed into rubble but look at the world and you know a cataclysmic event is always possible. Remembering a Day helps us appreciate what we have and makes us aware of what could happen. A Tribune Media services Andy Rooney la a Torr Tor stars and stripes reporter. June 19,1994 sunday Page 9
