"When hope becomes a four-letter word: What's missing from today's TV shows that deal with race."

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Shag carpeting. Eight-track tapes. Missing an important phone call because you weren’t home to hear the phone ring.

There are few anachronisms from the 1970s that most Americans from that era will not miss. It was a time of long gas station lines, itchy polyester double-knit suits and TV options limited to three networks that signed off each night with a warbled recording of the Star-Spangled Banner.

But as a Black child of the 1970s who grew up on shows such as “The Jeffersons,” I miss one storytelling element from that era that seems to be missing from contemporary Black TV series: hope. Not a naïve hope, but a muscular type of hope that maintained that though racism was persistent, America would eventually transcend its racial divisions.

Watching clips from popular 1970s shows like “Room 222” and “The White Shadow” is like stepping into an alternative universe. White and non-White characters tackled racial issues with a boldness and nuance that wouldn’t be allowed today. They strived together to create integrated neighborhoods and schools. They thought people could change, and so could America.

Much more: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/16/entertainment/black-tv-series-blake-cec/index.html

[David__77]

1. The current ideological climate is very cynical across the board.

…

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2. Indeed

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3. Kick

[leftstreet]

4. DURec

[Boomerproud]

5. I loved Room 222. I wanted to be a high school history teacher just like the character

played by Lloyd Haines. I was in high school at the time and it just spoke to me.

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6. I remember "Welcome Back Kotter" better