Interracial couple on Wheel of Fortune: does it matter?
KT (a returning MMW contributor!)
Last night I was stuck at home with the flu, which is my excuse for actually watching Wheel Of Fortune. It’s “Sweethearts Week” and one of the competing couples was interracial. I began thinking about how Wheel of Fortune may very well be one of the best representations of mainstream American values. Here was an interracial couple kissing and hugging every few minutes, smiling as their wedding photo was beamed to millions of viewers. I wondered if any of those millions of viewers cared if the happy couple who just won $132,000 was interracial. I doubt that they cared nearly as much as the angry mobs outside of the 1967 premiere of “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” I began to think that maybe things were getting better. But then I realized that I cared about that couple being interracial. I was watching a show that I never watch just to see how they did. And if I cared, then it follows then others out there cared for any number of positive or negative reasons. Maybe we still aren’t as colorblind as we should be. The lucky couple, Robert and Natasha, was married on the fourth of July.
Philip Arthur Moore wrote:
You know, I’ve been grappling with this for some time. Just last night, I had to do reading for an African Americans in Society course that I’m taking at Rice, and my professor had us go to blackpeopleloveus.com. While the site totally extreme, it got me thinking: will we ever get past looking for race? Not merely looking at race, but looking for race.
I’m biracial. When I go places, even if I try not to, I make a point of noticing the demographic makeup of wherever I am at. That’s life, and we will always do it. I do not believe being colorblind is being race-blind. That is to say, while we may strive to get to a point where we see each other as equals based on color, physical shape, etc., we will never be able to stop looking for that which separates us as a people.
I probably would have watched Wheel of Fortune for a few minutes before realizing that I still don’t like the show, but the few minutes spent watching it would have most likely been just like yours: watching the biracial couple. I see my parents in that. I see a new history in that. I see the changing face of society in that. But, should I?
I think I should. I will never be color blind. I don’t want to be color blind. I want to notice our differences. Only then will I embrace the fact that while we are different, we are very much the same when it comes to living. Differences are okay. We need to stop acting like they are a bad thing to have. Let us lighten up a bit and begin to appreciate them.
Posted 08 Feb 2006 at 1:07 pm ¶
Ben wrote:
Human nature shows us that we’ll never actually be colorblind… we’re drawn to faces, and faces have all sorts of distinguishing features.
What we can unlearn, though, are the implicit associations we have with those features. Differences are great, but assumed differences are not (such as assumption that black people and white people are so different that any romantic relationship must be about something other than true love).
Posted 08 Feb 2006 at 4:16 pm ¶