Tokenism on TV

This week in class, Doc 'OC and Mr. Bolos asked us to watch network TV dramas and keep an eye out for racial tokenism. For the most part, I found what I expected to find, African-American characters who were not at the center of the storyline, and mostly playing "the best friend" part for the main characters. One thing that struck me, though, was that in the 3 shows I watched this week, all of the black characters were portrayed as smart, rich, and well adjusted.

In the medical drama, "House", Dr. Foreman is an extremely intelligent and high-ranking doctor. In "Greek", Calvin is the member of the top fraternity at his school, and in "Gossip Girl", Raina is the pretty daughter of a wealthy CEO. Of course I'm not saying that African-Americans are incapable of these affluent positions, but the characters in these shows seem expertly placed to show the public that the show is not racist. The characters would be more believable if there were more African-Americans in general, and if every single one was not well-adjusted and seemingly perfect.

Even if this is racial tokenism, is it bad? Sure, the TV producers aren't accurately portraying real life, (on average, white people have higher incomes than black people), but I think that portraying African-Americans in a good light is always needed, even if it isn't exactly accurate. There is still racism and stereotyping in America, and any attempt to get the public to accept African-Americans in positions of power should be welcomed.