Black and white family switch on WifeSwap
LL
When a show’s premise is based on age-old stereotypical gender roles of the bread-winning husband and domestic housekeeping wife, there are going to be some issues. When that show is called “WifeSwap” (which to me rings too close to “swinging”) there are even more issues. In tonight’s episode, the ABC website synopsizes as best it can in a colorblind and antiseptic way: “A do-good mom who believes in teaching her children civic responsibility swaps places with a free-spending, high maintenance mother who spoils her daughters and even pampers her dog at the expense of her husband.”
Now, there were a ton (and I mean a ton) of issues in this episode involving consumerism, materialism, vanity, gendered domesticity, gender roles, parenting values, etc, but what struck me was the at times candid and at other times underhanded way in which race and specifically blackness was portrayed (as the black woman from the “black family” swapped places with the white woman from the “white family”). Immediately upon touring the house, the White woman, upon seeing an all Black cast of the Nativity scene, remarks something to the effect of “Oh it’s a black family. All the nativity characters are black. Hmm. That’s something I’m not used to seeing, that’s unique.” Then, after this woman goes to the family’s church and participates (or tries) in a dancing aerobic club, she comes home and says basically “I’m white. White people don’t have rhythm. I think just as a race, Black people have rhythm.” The black father is just stunned at hearing this but deflects the comment. Funny enough, one of the girls replies with “I don’t have rhythm” to which the white woman goes “Sure you do, I’ve seen you dance!”
The rest of the show is pretty template WifeSwap. The family rejects some changes, grows, cries together, bonds with mother, sister, whatever. But to me, the underlying tone that I got from the white woman and the editing process was that this house was “filthy” and that these children who had regular chores were practically indentured servants who couldn’t have a childhood.
TMJ wrote:
Hello! I am kinda new to your site, but really like it! I had to comment because I just saw this show—I hope it was the same one…there was a show maybe last week, where the black woman went to the rich white family and the husband STRAIGHT treated her like the maid! Had her freakin picking strawberries in the garden dude! I simply could not believe it. And the horrible way the poor white woman who was transplanted to Harlem was treated! Leaving that poor lady at the park until nighttime. I thought she was an ignorant (about race) white woman, but they didn’t have to do her like that. When she asked them who Malcom X was, instead of abandoning her at the park, or ignoring her in disbelief, they really should have put the educational smackdown on her…she would have gotten a wifeswap Black History lesson with the quickness! Okay, done ranting. I am just glad that someone other than myself has noticed these shows and how they often portray race or class in negative ways.
Posted 20 Dec 2005 at 11:38 am ¶
Dave wrote:
For a site that says it is “tracking the media representations of mixed people” there seem to be more posts recently on monoracially white-identified folks and monoracially black identified folks than to white/black mixed identified folks.
More posts on mulattos, please
-Dave
For a non-racist internet community focused on mulatto issues with over 60 active members on its discussion board, please check out:
http://www.mulatto.org
Posted 20 Dec 2005 at 11:47 am ¶
MIDCLASS wrote:
Why don’t they ever use rich Black women and poor White women on these shows? Or just Middle-Class? Cuz, fact is, the MAJORITY of BOTh Blacks and Whites are MIDDLE-CLASS.
Posted 20 Dec 2005 at 1:39 pm ¶
Luke wrote:
Dave,
I don’t speak for everybody…but I think even though MMW tracks media representations of mixed people, it is important and relevant to multiracial issues to talk about seemingly “monoracial” ones. For example, even though an interracial relationship between a monoracial black woman and monoracial white man may not immediately have anything involving “mulattos,” their portrayal and their significance is tied to mixed issues as well. Or, as another example, with the recent string of “thug/gangsta/kill whitey” parties in which kids doll up as stereotypically “black” characters, though you could argue that these kids aren’t dressing up as “mulattos,” they are projecting their image and believed characteristics of black men which in turn does have an effect on multiracial black men because that gets into someone “acting black” “or “acting white” or what not. Hopefully even if a post doesn’t immediately address mixed race black issues, there will be something significant to draw from as well as sympathize with.
Posted 20 Dec 2005 at 1:46 pm ¶
CVK & JC wrote:
Dave,
We don’t know if you’ve had the chance to check out our podcast Addicted to Race yet, but in our very first episode we laid out the core beliefs that guide the way we approach issues surrounding race and racism. Those core beliefs are applicable to Mixed Media Watch as well. For your reference, here they are:
1. Race is a social construct.
–Helping people understand that racial purity is a myth and that racial categories are not a biological reality is an important step in working towards dismantling racism.
2. Everyone has the right to self-identify however they want.
–For example, we respect your right to identify as “mulatto,” we hope that you would respect that we prefer the term “mixed.”
3. Conversations about race must go beyond black and white.
–We still talk about race in this country as if we were stuck in the 1950s. Racism does not only affect or involve black and white people. Asians, Latinos, Native Americans, Arab-Americans and so many other ethnic groups are completely left out of the conversation.
4. Mixed people are also a part of their communities of color, we shouldn’t try to separate ourselves into a separate category or “race.”
–We are certainly in favor of building community for mixed people, but we reject the notion that mixed people should try to separate themselves and create a whole separate category for ourselves. We are mixed yes, but we are also a part of our black or white or Asian or Latino or Native, etc. communities.
Dave, your comment seems to imply that:
a) You are only interested in reading about issues that relate to people of mixed black and white heritage–or “mulattos,” which is your preferred term
b) You are not interested in reading about issues that affect people who don’t identify as mixed–“monoracial people”
It’s unfortunate that you feel this way. Mixed people don’t exist in a vacuum. We can’t afford to ignore the historical legacies of slavery and colonialism or ignore widespread attitudes about race and racism, because all of these directly impact the way we live today.
Posted 20 Dec 2005 at 2:15 pm ¶
E-Leech wrote:
“Dave, your comment seems to imply that:”
He is more interested in shamelessly plugging his own site on here?
Posted 20 Dec 2005 at 2:48 pm ¶
Dave wrote:
Luke,
I agree with you that it’s important for multiracial folks to track representations of monoracials. As a consumer of the site, I’m lobbying for more coverage of eurafricans/mulattos relative to monoracial black and monoracial white identified folks. One reason for this is that I believe it’s a form of informal one-droppism to engage in disproportionate or exclusive coverage of monoracial identified blacks and white, particularly along the lines of “whites have the power, and blacks are the most oppressed”. In my opinion, it becomes a way to reinforce monoracial black or white public identity in people that have a eurafrican/mulatto personal experience. I understand if you disagree, however, with either this general observation, or my lobbying for more proportionate recent coverage on eurafricans/mulattos. Anyways, thanks for your feedback on my comment.
Posted 21 Dec 2005 at 5:06 am ¶
Dave wrote:
E-Leech, I do promote the site I co-moderate and co-administer. However, not more than one plug Mixed Media article comment thread. Also, I “shamelessly plug” mixedmediawatch at our site, too, with a link to every article from our message board that I comment to. If this is unacceptable, or not sufficiently recipricol, I hope that those who run MMW will let me know. After all, I think my posts don’t appear on the site until one of them reads it and approves it’s acceptability.
Posted 21 Dec 2005 at 5:10 am ¶
Dave wrote:
CVK & JC,
Thanks for the detailed response. I think you’ve misinterpreted the key ideas of my post, and what you’re responding to seems to be more of a strawman than my actual views, but I’ll respond point by point, in your same numbering.
Point # 1. I agree completely.
Point #2: I never called you “mulatto”, so I’m not sure how requesting for more coverage of mulattos on MMW is relevant to your preferene to self-identify as “mixed”. If I’m not mistaken, CVK is also co-founder of eurasiannation.com. I think that you also have links to hapasissuesforum. I support both mixed organizing and hapas and eurasian organizing (I recognize that these are three communities, which overlap to varying degrees). To deny mulattos/eurafricans a name to organize around is, in my opinion, a bit unfair. I don’t think that you’re doing that, but I do think that is implied if one supports identifying as “mixed”, “hapa”, “eurasian”, but has a problem with “mulatto” or other terms to express a white/black mix.
Point #3: One again, we’re in complete agreement. In fact, in the post that this comment thread is based on, I believe that the conversation was strictly about monoracial blacks and monoracial whites. The site, in my opinion as a reader, recently seemed to be drifting in the direction of disproportionate posts presenting a monoracial white or black identified narrative, without critical commentary on it by the article writer. Mulattos are as left out of social awareness as every other non-monoracial blak or white identified person and community when a narrative is presented that only recognizes those two identities.
Point #4: Here I think there is room to disagree in our community. I think that if some mixed people want to try to create a separate category or “race” for mixed people, they shouldn’t be condemned or criticized for it. Same with subcategories, be they eurasian, hapa, or mulatto/eurafrican. I’m not personally working for a single mixed identity distinct from and exclusive to monoracial minority identities. However, I know folks that are (TMU seems to have folks that would like to move in that direction, as does Project RACE) and I respect their goals.
I hope that my response to your 4 points gives you a better perspective of where I’m coming from as a reader and in my comment replies to MMW posts. I haven’t had a chance to listen to your podcasts or vlogs yet, but I’m looking forward to doing so.
Now, on to your specific replies to my comments.
Nothing could be further from the truth in both points #a and #b. I have to admit, it’s hard for me to see how you could draw those conclusions from my post, which never said what I’m “only interested in” nor what I’m “not interested in”. I think my post speaks for itself. I’m simply lobbying as a reader for more posts about eurafricans/mulattos relative to monoracial black or white identified people, given that I think disproportionate coverage of monoracial blacks or whites is a way to erase mulatto/eurafrican identity in public consciousness. As you pointed out in point 3, the same concern applies to other non-monoracial black or white communities. Asking for more of one type of post is not expressing no interest in other type posts. I feel like you reduced my perspective to a bit of a strawman. I am interested in your response to my actual views on this topic, though.
As for your ending points, I agree completely that mixed folks don’t live in a vaccuum, and that colonialism, slavery, and racism all impact the way we live today. I don’t think I requested less coverage on any of those themes on MMW. Just more coverage on mulattos relative to the monoracial whites or blacks that has occured in recent posts. Just a reader expressing his preference. The request is still on the table
Thanks for a great blog, and for providing me these opportunities to air unedited feedback to your posts.
-Dave
Posted 21 Dec 2005 at 5:48 am ¶
mulatto wrote:
may be MMW can`t find in thing on mulatto/ eurafricans its hard to find article on the internet.
Posted 21 Dec 2005 at 10:19 pm ¶