It’s obvious that with the rise of reality television, the image of the African American family in media has been tarnished. With the premiere of ABC’s new show, black-ish, the show’s creator Kenya Barris hoping to change that.
In the cover story for the September issue of JET, Barris says that he hopes to diversify television programming with Black-ish and show Black families from a more positive perspective.
“Around the time of President Obama’s presidency, it seems like there was a switch toward the reality representation of Black families,” Barris told JET. “Now you have Love & Hip Hop or Hollywood Exes that show Black families as a lot more disrupted.”
The show, which premieres on September 24th, is about a African American family living in a predominately white neighborhood who try to assimilate into the culture of where they live but also maintain their cultural awareness. Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross star in Black-ish as the married couple Andre and Rainbow Johnson.
There have been many shows that show families of color in a positive light like My Wife and Kids and Family Matters but most famously The Cosby Show, which Black-ish has been receiving comparisons to.
“I think it’s a lovely thing that we’re being compared to something as great as The Cosby Show was at its time, but we’re not trying to emulate them,” Anderson expressed to JET.
You can read the full cover story by downloading the latest digital issue of JET on Google Play, Amazon or Apple.
Photo Credit: JET