Black-ish is a television series about an upper middle class black family living in an all white neighborhood while trying to keep their black culture alive. The show follows Dre Johnson, father of four and husband, who has a high paying job as an advertising executive in a predominantly white workplace. However the show examines how Dre’s successes cause him to wonder if he and his family have adjusted to be less proud about their black culture in order to have the same opportunities as the white community.
In an episode from the series titled “Sink or Swim” Dre notices that his neighbor across the street has been hosting pool parties every weekend for the neighborhood but, the Johnson are never invited. Being the only black family in the neighborhood, Dre believes that his family is not invited because their neighbor thinks they cannot swim, following the stereotype that black people cannot swim. The neighbor shares that the real reason was that she thought Dre hated her. During their conversation, she seemed hesitant and uncomfortable to talk with him, asking who he was and telling her husband to “stand down” with his gun after Dre reminds her they are neighbors. After this conversation she then calls Dre her “homie” and begins to change her tone toward Dre and begins changing her personality to be like a “typical” black person’s.
All the while Dre’s two twin children, Jack and Diane are signed up to join Boy Scout and Girl Scouts by Dre’s mother, their grandmother. She believes that the children must learn their place and gain necessary life skills as a young woman and man. In both programs Jack is taught survival skills while Diane learns how to cook. As their grandmother is enforcing such stereotypes onto the children, Jack discovers his passion for cooking and Diane quickly understands how to tie different types of knots. This portion of the episode shows the main ideas de Beauvoir critiques in her “The Second Sex” as she defines men as the One and women as the Other. Their grandmother represents the stereotypes the audience can assume she was taught when growing up.
This episode of Black-ish displays two different forms of injustice in a modern day setting. Though, the Johnsons were not excluded because of the stereotype that they cannot swim, the neighbor still held some form of a stereotype by changing her attitude to align with how she imagined a black person’s personality would be when speaking with a friend. Also, the grandmother attempts to enforce gender stereotypes on her grandchildren because she believes this will better prepare them for life’s expectations. Though, Jack and Diane separate themselves from the One and Other as they each enjoy activities that gender traditions would not allow them to do. Such relevant situations such as these truly demonstrate that racial and gender inequality still occur in today’s setting.
