Black-ish took it all the way there on Wednesday night (Feb. 24), as the hit ABC series took on the racism, police brutality and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Placing the Johnson in their living room as they witness news coverage of the fictional shooting of a black teenager at the hands of police. Featuring the multi-generation reactions from Rainbow, Andre, Pops, Ruby, Zoey, Andre Jr., Diana and Jack, the episode became a trending topic on Twitter, as viewer reacted to its powerful message.
One scene, however, earned Anthony Anderson a special round of digital handclaps. Portraying Dre’s opposition to Bow’s goal to instill “hope” into their children, Anderson delivers a stirring monologue in regards to President Barack Obama’s election. Recalling his fear that his hope in an evolved America would be tragically “snatched,” the actor brought a unfortunate sentiment to national television.
“Oh, so you wanna talk about hope, ‘Bow? Obama ran on hope. Remember when he got elected? And we felt like maybe, just maybe, we got out of that bad place and made it to a good place. That the whole country was really ready to turn the corner. You remember that amazing feeling we had during the inauguration? I was sitting right next to you. We were so proud. And we saw him, get out of that limo, and walk alongside of it, and wave to that crowd. Tell me you weren’t terrified when you saw that. Tell me you weren’t worried that someone was gonna snatch that hope away from us like they always do. That is the real world, ‘Bow. And our children need to know that that’s the world they live in.”
The consensus began to flow in on Twitter, with users attesting to feeling the same way Anderson’s character did on that fateful day in 2009:
#Blackish is way to accurate tonight. I remember watching President Obama walking thinking somebody was going to assassinate him too.
— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) February 25, 2016
Still thinking about how impactful #blackish was last night. I remember having those exact fears of Obama being killed at his inauguration. — Carl Hairston (@GeeCeeJR) February 25, 2016
#Blackish presented the most powerful scene @anthonyanderson has ever been in. I truly re-lived my fear of the Obama’s 1st walk. #Kudos
— Garrett Fox (@GHASF) February 25, 2016
#Blackish‘s reflection on the impact of the Obama White House & the ’08 election was important & timely. — deray mckesson (@deray) February 25, 2016
Swear to God the first few weeks after Obama’s election I was scared somebody would kill him. That was real af. #Blackish
— Brandon E. Patterson (@myblackmindd) February 25, 2016
This episode of #Blackish….so many emotions. And yeah, I was terrified for Obama when he got out that limo. — Film Fatale NYC (@FilmFatale_NYC) February 25, 2016
Kenya Barris, show runner of Black-ish, spoke with the The New York Times about the Obama scene, sharing that the crew went hesitated about whether or not to include it.
“We went back and forth about whether to put that in. When that inauguration was going on, several newscasters commented that Obama’s suit was made out of Kevlar. Without saying it, they were saying that everyone was fearful,” he said. “A huge amount of people were like, ‘Get back in the car!’ Because we know the world we live in. Obama represented hope and change for so many people of different colors from all over the world, and we felt like losing him would destroy us.”
Black-ish airs on Wednesday nights on ABC, for those who now want to ride the wave.