Fox TV's Bizarre New Cartoon Comedy Is a Minstrel Show, Pure and Simple

By Jasmyne Cannick, New America Media. Posted September 30, 2009.

It could be because for the first time America has a black president and the First Lady is a sista, and together with their two beautiful black daughters overnight improved the international image of black people, let alone Americans. But leave it to the diabolical minds at Fox Networks to pick up where BET left off with the debut of their newest show “The Cleveland Show,” where in just 22 minutes they managed to portray black mothers as unmarried promiscuous sexual objects, black teenage girls as headed down the same path as their mothers, young black boys as sexual deviants, and black people period as being unable to speak anything other than Ebonics — all in the name of comedy.

Just like with the character Shirley Q. Liquor, a black unmarried welfare mother who guzzles malt liquor, drives a Caddy, and has 19 “chirrun” some of whom are named Cheeto, Orangello, Chlamydia, and Kmartina, who is routinely performed by a white man in blackface, there’s nothing funny about an animated television series that seeks to legitimize and reinforce every negative stereotype about black people during primetime to the delight of white audiences from coast to coast.

When President Barack Obama was sworn into office, it signaled a new beginning for American politics and the end of mainstream media news reporting as we knew it because every day for the next four years, at least, a black man was going to be the lead story on the evening newscast, and not for committing a crime, dunking a ball, or singing a song. In return, the news media sought to find balance by quietly, yet intentionally, removing black anchors and reporters from newscasts around the country. I guess they figured one Negro making news on a daily basis was enough without having to hear about from one as well.

All black or majority-black casts on television are a rare commodity. Blacks almost all but disappeared from broadcast television years ago, putting black actors and actresses on the endangered species list with their news media counterparts.

Even in today’s economy and with the status of blacks on television, be it entertainment or news, Fox is willing to capitalize off the continued objectification of black women by using animation to over-sexualize their physical characteristics. (At least if the show weren’t animated, a black woman would be getting paid cash money for being objectified on screen, and a lot more than she would for just doing a voiceover, if you know what I’m saying.)

Just like BET knew they were pushing the envelope when they tried to go there with “We Can Do Better,” Fox knows it’s pushing something with “The Cleveland Show,” and it isn’t an envelope. Fox is making an attempt to capitalize off of the negative stereotypes of blacks and laughing all the way to the bank.

Don’t think so? How much do you think companies paid to advertise during a show that featured an overweight, recently divorced black man and his overweight, developmentally challenged black son, who go down south where the father hooks up with his black, overly voluptuous yet promiscuous high school crush only to play father to her delinquent black children—all while speaking whites people’s version of black Ebonics? I’m just saying.

It never ceases to amaze me what’s not off limits when it comes to black people. I say that because I know that had “The Cleveland Show” been pitched as the “The Weismans” or “The Hernandezes” — with the same characters — we’d probably have been watching re-runs of something else Sunday night.

I wonder about the black people who did bother to tune into “The Cleveland Show” debut. Were we so busy laughing that we failed to realize the joke was on us? It’s happened before. Just look at the misogynistic lyrics in rap music recited by black men, financed by white, and bought by both races that continue to portray black women as nothing more than sexual objects to the point where some of us are so confused that we’ve gladly taken on the role.

After the election of a president who is black, but neither divorced nor overweight, and a First Lady who is black but married and raising her two children — children who aren’t having sex prematurely or showing signs of early criminal activity — Fox’s debut of the “The Cleveland Show” is nothing more than a desperate and stealth attempt to work against the improved international image of black people. Fox says it’s animation domination but it’s more like animation demonization—of black people.

And before you ask, “What about ‘The Family Guy?’” – consider this. While “The Family Guy’s” father, son, and daughter may be on the chubby side, remember that the parents are married, the kids attend school regularly, and they all speak pretty good English.

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Jasmyne Cannick is a critic and commentator based in Los Angeles who writes about the worlds of pop culture, race, class, sexuality, and politics as it relates to the African-American community. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times and Ebony Magazine. A regular contributor to NPR’s ‘News and Notes,’ she was chosen as one Essence Magazine’s 25 Women Shaping the World.

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