Love In Technicolor: Interracial Families On Television
In Parenthood, Dax Shepard plays Crosby, whose wife, Jasmine, is played by Joy Bryant. Their son is Jabbar (Tyree Brown).
I Love Lucy was one of the most popular shows in the history of television. Its stars, redheaded Lucille Ball and her Cuban-American husband Desi Arnaz, became TV icons — but they almost didn't get on TV.
Kathleen Brady is the author of Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball. She says the network that wanted Ball to star in her own sitcom was not interested in her husband.
"CBS and its sponsor, Philip Morris cigarettes, were adamantly opposed to this," says Brady. "They said that the American public would not accept Desi as the husband of a red-blooded American girl."
Ball told the network flatly that they'd have both of them or neither, and eventually CBS gave in, despite its reservations about Arnaz's Cuban heritage and his strong accent. The show was a hit for six years, and more than 50 years later it still runs in syndication, where viewers can delight in signature lines such as the popular, "Lucy — I'm home!"
By the '70s, television got a little grittier when All In The Family debuted with a blue-collar, armchair philosopher named Archie Bunker. By that time, the war for civil rights had been waged, segregation was illegal and several cities were in turmoil.
In the show, Archie was having a hard time keeping up with the rapidly changing times. The Supreme Court had declared anti-miscegenation laws illegal when it decided Loving v. Virginia, and Archie, like a lot of America, was worried about a multiracial future. In one episode he complains that "this mixing" of the races would lead to no good.
Archie: "This mixing the colors, before you know it, the world's gonna be just one color!"
Edith: "Well, what's wrong with that, Archie?"
Archie: "Can't you use your head? How the hell are we gonna tell each other apart?!"
That sentiment wasn't a one-way street. Archie's black neighbor, George Jefferson, became the star of a spinoff from All in the Family. In one episode of The Jeffersons, George learns his son Lionel's fiancée has a white father:
George: "I don't want no white in-laws in my family!"
Lionel: "But they're going to be my in-laws, not yours!"
George: "But think, son, think — what about the children? What are they going to be?"
American actor Lucille Ball and Cuban-born actor Desi Arnaz star as a married couple in the television series, I Love Lucy in 1956. The pair were also married in real life.
Lionel: "Boys and girls, I hope ..."
Sofia Vergara and Ed O'Neill play an interracial couple on ABC's Modern Family.
Shows like this were helping America sort through its conflicted emotions and anxieties about our changing demographics. Showing an interracial couple on the All in the Family spinoff, The Jeffersons was considered daring in the early '70s. A few decades later, interracial couples are, if not common on TV, at least no big deal.
On ABC's popular drama Grey's Anatomy, the WASPy lead couple fell in love with an Ethiopian orphan who came to their Seattle hospital for treatment. So, even though George Jefferson would have been appalled, little Zola was adopted and joined the Sheppard household.
Another family on the series has a Latina mom, whose wife is white, and has a half-Latina daughter from a previous union. No big deal.
The comedy Modern Family features a gay couple with an adopted Vietnamese daughter, and a blended family that has white, Latino and multi-ethnic members. Although here, race and ethnicity are usually used as a throwaway line.
"I shouldn't be so angry — but I am Latin, and I get to feel whatever I want," says Gloria, Sophia Vergara's character, in one episode.
And by the way: nobody's complaining about Ms. Vergara's accent.
Marcia Dawkins teaches about how race impacts society at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication. She says seeing these different family configurations reflected in popular culture is a good thing for Americans.
"Research certainly indicates that these types of images can sensitize audiences to the fact that these kind of families exist," says Dawkins.
And it can sensitize them to some of the complicated challenges they face.
In Parenthood, Jasmine and Crosby Braverman try to figure out how to tell their 8-year-old son, Jabbar, the meaning of a racial slur. Jasmine insists on taking the lead in the discussion. Crosby is irritated:
Crosby: "Because you're black, I feel like you've pulled rank."
Jasmine: "Baby, you have to respect the fact that I have an understanding of the word that you don't. And that word means something different to Jabbar, because he's black."
Or, technically, biracial, which — as Jasmine points out — won't do much to protect him from bias.
Having more visibility for interracial and inter-ethnic families is important, Dawkins says, but the way in which they're shown is just as significant.
"It's not just seeing these families that makes them believable, right?" she says. "It's seeing how they interact with each other every day, what they're dealing with in society; what possibilities they have, what special challenges they have as a family."
All things that make them, at bottom, very much like the families watching them from the other side of the TV screen.
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Transcript
(SOUNDBITE OF "I LOVE LUCY" THEME MUSIC)
KAREN GRIGSBY BATES, BYLINE: I'm Karen Grigsby Bates and that, of course, is the theme song to "I Love Lucy," one of the most popular shows in the history of television. Its stars, redheaded Lucille Ball and her Cuban-American husband, Desi Arnaz, became TV icons. But they almost didn't get on TV.
Kathleen Brady is the author of "Lucille: the Life of Lucille Ball." Brady says the network that wanted Ball to star in her own sitcom was not interested in her husband.
KATHLEEN BRADY: CBS and the sponsor, Philip Morris cigarettes, were adamantly opposed to this. They said that the American public would not accept Desi as the husband of a red-blooded, American girl.
BATES: Ball told the network they'd have both of them or neither and eventually, CBS gave in despite its reservations about Arnaz's Cuban heritage and, Brady says, something else.
BRADY: As we all know, Desi had a fairly strong accent.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "I LOVE LUCY")
DESI ARNAZ: (As Ricky Ricardo) What's the matter with the way I talk?
LUCILLE BALL: (As Lucy Ricardo) Well, I haven't told you this before, dear, but you speak with a slight accent.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
BATES: The show was a hit for six years, and more than a half-century later still runs in syndication, where lines like this have become famous:
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "I LOVE LUCY")
ARNAZ: (As Ricky) Lucy, I'm home.
BATES: Flash forward to the early '70s, where the war for civil rights had been waged, segregation had been abolished - on paper, anyway - and social upheaval convulsed several cities. Television got a little grittier when "All in the Family" debuted with a blue-collar philosopher named Archie Bunker. Archie was having a hard time keeping up with the country's rapid evolution. The Supreme Court had declared anti-miscegenation laws illegal when it decided Loving v. Virginia, and Archie, like a lot of America, was worried about the multihued future.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, ALL IN THE FAMILY")
CARROLL O'CONNOR: (As Archie Bunker) All this business of mixing the colors. You go on with that, the first thing you know, the whole world's going to be one color.
JEAN STAPLETON: (As Edith Bunker) Well, what's wrong with that, Archie?
O'CONNOR: (As Archie) Can't you use your head? How the hell are we going to tell each other apart?
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
BATES: And to show that sentiment wasn't a one-way street, we get Archie's black neighbor, George Jefferson. George was not a kumbaya-kind of guy. So when he learns his son Lionel's fiancee has a white father, George explodes.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, ALL IN THE FAMILY")
SHERMAN HELMSLEY: (As George Jefferson) I don't want no white in-laws in my family.
MIKE EVANS: (As Lionel Jefferson) But they're going to be my in-laws, not yours.
HELMSLEY: (As George) But think, son, think. What about your children? What they going to be?
EVANS: (As Lionel) Well, boys and girls, I hope.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
BATES: Shows like this were helping America sort through its conflicted emotions and anxieties about our changing racial profile. While showing an interracial couple on the "Jeffersons" was considered daring in the mid-'70s, today interracial couples are, if not common, no big deal on TV. The WASP-y lead couple on ABC's popular medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" fell in love with an Ethiopian orphan who came to their Seattle hospital for treatment.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "GREY'S ANATOMY")
PATRICK DEMPSEY: (As Dr. Shepherd) we've been trying so hard to start a family, and she needs one...
BATES: So although George Jefferson would have been appalled, little Zola joined the Shepherd household. Another family on the series has a Latina mom, whose wife is white, and a half-Latina daughter from a previous union. No big deal. The comedy "Modern Family" features a gay couple with an adopted Vietnamese daughter, and a blended family that has white, Latino and multiethnic members although here, race and ethnicity are usually used as a throwaway line. Here's Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, explaining why she's sulking.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MODERN FAMILY")
SOFIA VEGARA: (As Gloria Delgado-Pritchett) I shouldn't be so angry but I am Latin, so I get to feel whatever I want.
BATES: And by the way: nobody's complaining about Sophia Vegara's accent. Marcia Dawkins teaches the impact of race on society at the University of Southern California. She says seeing these different family configurations reflected in popular culture is a good thing for Americans.
MARCIA DAWKINS: Research certainly indicates that these type of images can sensitize viewing audiences to the existence of these types of families.
BATES: And sensitize them to some of the complicated challenges such families face. In NBC's drama "Parenthood," Jasmine and Crosby Braverman try to figure out how to tell their 8-year-old son, Jabbar, the meaning of a racial slur. Jasmine insists on taking the lead in the talk. Crosby is irritated, but Jasmine says in this matter, her wishes outweigh his.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, PARENTHOOD")
DAX SHEPARD: (As Crosby Braverman) Because you're black, yeah, I feel like you've pulled rank.
JOY BRYANT: (As Jasmine Braverman) Baby, you have to respect the fact that I have an understanding on the subject that you don't. And the fact is, that word means something different to Jabbar because he's black.
BATES: Or technically, biracial - which, Jasmine points out, won't do much to protect him from bias. Having more visibility for interracial and interethnic families is important, says USC's Dawkins, but how they're shown is as important as the fact that they're shown.
DAWKINS: It's not just seeing these families that makes them believable, right? It's seeing how they interact with each other every day, what they're dealing with in terms of society, what possibilities they have, what special challenges they have as a family.
BATES: All things that make these TV families, at bottom, very much like the families watching them on the other side of the screen.
Karen Grigsby Bates, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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