Kenya Barris, creator of ABC’s “black-ish,” was motivated to write the comedy about an African-American family’s efforts to honor its heritage in part by the unreality of what he grew up watching on television.
“I saw ‘Friends’ and ‘Seinfeld’ and thought, ‘What part of New York is this?'” recalled Barris, who is black. “It’s not about being diverse. It’s about being true to the world.”
His show comes 15 years after civil rights groups, galvanized by a lineup of new network series almost entirely devoid of minority characters, sought and ultimately won agreements from major broadcasters to put programs on the air that better reflect the nation’s population.
An AP analysis of regular cast members of prime-time comedies and dramas on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox found progress since then in hiring black actors, but slighted other minorities. Casts at three of the four networks are still whiter than the nation as a whole.
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People who follow the issue say a key way to boost a minority presence onscreen is to step it up off-screen. But too often that isn’t part of the equation. Recent studies have shown the extent to which whites are dominant as writers and directors.
Still, Jason George, an actor who works on diversity issues for the Screen Actors Guild, said he’s seen progress with minority actors getting more well-rounded roles.
“You’re suddenly a person and not just a representative of a culture,” he said. “As an actor, that’s what you want.”
