{"id":458,"date":"2014-10-14T00:27:42","date_gmt":"2014-10-14T00:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=458"},"modified":"2015-10-13T19:03:15","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T19:03:15","slug":"back-in-living-color-diversity-on-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2014\/10\/14\/back-in-living-color-diversity-on-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Back In Living Color? Diversity on TV"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new season of TV programing is sporting a decidedly more \u2018colorful\u2019 look<\/a>, with non-white creators, producers, and\/or lead characters being featured on a number of recently launched series. Among all the major networks, ABC appears to be contributing the most to this trend toward diversity<\/a>. Not only are they signed on for another new series by famed African American producer\/director\/writer Shonda Rhimes, titled How to Get Away With Murder<\/i>, they are also credited with reviving the TV presence of the non-white middle-class family, with new shows about African (Black-ish<\/i>), Latino- (Cristela<\/i>), and Asian- (Fresh off the Boat<\/i>) American families. Most critics, though welcoming of this change, are hesitant to mark this as \u201cprogress.\u201d<\/a> What might social scientists think about this?<\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s been a few years, shows like Black-ish, Cristela, <\/i>and Fresh off the Boat<\/i> aren\u2019t the first we\u2019re seeing of non-white middle class families on TV. Herman Gray has written extensively, and critically, about television’s discourse on\u00a0\u201cdiversity\u201d and \u201cblackness\u201d and the role played by artists of color in the production process.<\/h5>\n