The Skin I'm In...

This week a new reality television show debuts on the FX Networks. It's called Black. White. The premise is that two families switch roles in terms of color. A white family , through the magic of technology and major makeup will go about life as black people and a black family will go through life as white people. This social experiment hopes to prove that race matters in America.. I would hope that they are doing it to seek solutions also....

I have been working with the project a little as they are advertising it on our radio station. It has evoked water cooler discussions, observations and political commentary. For me, being the deep thinker that I am, I have been analyzing this series and trying to come up with a sense of why the producers want to do this and what will it really prove... The foundation of the experiment is similar to a book my mom gave me when I was a young lad... Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. This book chronicles the experiment of Mr. Griffin as he underwent treatments to turn himself into a black man (or, negro as we were called in those days) His journey takes place in a entirely different time and culture. 1959 -1964 in the deep south was not the most friendly place for a brotha... Mr. Griffin reasoned that to really understand what the Negro was going through, one had to become a Negro. He further reasoned that a simple interview of the Negro would not reveal the truth because the Negro had learned that if he told a white man a truth that the white man did not like, it could be hazardous to his health.

Black Like Me is a poignant examination of race relations in the Deep South - the JIM CROW deep south. It was a shocking expose to my mind as we did not have Jim Crow here in California, but leave it up to my parents, they wanted me to understand what black folk were going through in other parts of the country. They wanted me to be a part of the future of hope, of success, of inspiration, succeeding in the wake of the Movement. That's why I got books given to me from Ebony, I had to read Native Son by Richard Wright....

Fast Forward to present time. I am kind of curious about this Black. White. series. Will it really show the racial idiosyncracies that exist even though our generation tries to ignore them? But then again, how can a television show really display what it's like to be in the skin I'm in?

Me, I walk with confidence. I speak well. That's sometimes a surprise to white folk as I get the ol' "Oh he speaks so well" and the ol' "he talks like a white boy" from my own people. I think I write well. I'm educated.... But, from time to time, I am reminded that I am still a black man in America. You know, like the time when you go into a Macy's to shop and suddenly you feel as though you are being followed, look around and yup, security is on you... Or when you go into the same Macy's and the sales associates pass you by to assist white customers. Or my all time black man in America adventure. I was in New York on a business trip. I stayed in the Omni in Manhattan. I had a day full of meetings and presentations with major advertising agencies. Got up, got my best suit on, went out the front door to hail a cab, and this lady who was checking into the hotel comes up to me and says, "boy, take my bags to the front desk".....

But, it's not just white folk who stumble on racist blunders, we do it to ourselves. Just the other day, I was shopping for a new shirt. I was at Bloomingdales in the Beverly Center. Had my suit on, you know, it was a work day... Sister comes up to me flustered because no one had come to help her.. "Don't you see me waiting here for assistance? I need...." I cut her off, "relax, lady, I don't work here".... Or even this past Saturday, when we were preparing for the Soul Train Awards, I was in Gelson's an upscale grocery store, buying flowers and the stuff to dress our booth with. This Gelson's was in the new Pasadena Mall, very chic, upscale... Black lady comes along in line behind me, looks at me from head to toe and instead of engaging me to ask what was going on, she asks the white clerk, "He's got a lot of fancy stuff there, what's he doing?"

I don't know what 'Black. White.' hopes to prove. All I know is that even when we would hope that we have moved away from biases, racism and prejudice, something happens that reminds us that Race Matters in America. But not just white on black. We do it to ourselves. We promote negative images that some folk are more than happy to help us get to the world stage.Our biggest cultural heroes are pimps, gangbangers, dope dealers. Cultural fashion and trends always seem to promote backwardness. We hate each other so much so that groups that are racist and hate us don't have to do anything to get rid of us, we are doing it to ourselves.
But how does Black. White. hope to solve problems? I mean my skin is my skin. God gave this to me. I can't hide it, I can't pass. Because I'm a child of God, and this is the skin he gave me, I walk proud. This is no makeup job by some hi-tech Hollywood studio, this is God's work. But when I walk in the door, or get on the elevator and the lady clutches her handbag, or bristles uncomfortably, that's real and has been apart of life all my life. Will the show demonstrate those types of life's elements or gloss it over....? I ask how can you really tell what it's like being black in a matter of weeks? It does not equate to a lifetime of moving about America as a black man. You can take that makeup off. It's an act, a game.. but being black is not a game. And then, how do we as viewers really get a sense of what the experience was like when the producers are picking and choosing what they want us to see? So the results of this social experiment are not objective conclusions, they are biased results based on what the producers think will make good television. This is not real life.

I guess we should give the producers some credit for trying to shed light on an old problem. I hope there are some redeeming solutions in thier presentation. But in the end, we are going to have to get over it and embrace ourselves as human beings, God's children. We need to love the rainbow of colors that we come in. For me, Haile Selassie said it best - "That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained...

ahhhh, the skin I'm in......