Black. White.

I don't get it. I watched the show tonight and it blew my mind. We all get it Carmen is an idiot, but I really think shes trying. She is doing anything and everything she can to be black and every time she does all she gets in return is hate. She asked for help on what to wear and she was lied to. I thought this project was supposed to be about the families showing one another and teaching one another what it is to be the opposite race. Nick and Renee are black and they don't want to be anything else. They aren't even trying. Rose went out and gave of herself and worked to try and see the other side. Nick doesn't even care enough to try. I just don't understand why everything Bruno and Carmen try is crap to the Sparks. They went to church and they enjoyed it, all Brian had to say was that it wasn't real. I don't see Bruno saying that every time Brian is white. The show doest have that much credibility to me because I feel like the Spark's came into this house with the intent to show how racist white people are. They don't care about being white, they don't want to learn what its like to be white. All they want to do is show this white family what its like to be black. Carmen is lost she has no idea what to say or do around the other family and why should she ? Anytime she tries to learn how to be black they throw her in the gutter and say "Well I learned a lot from her today" they don't try and help her they don't correct her. From my point of view the Sparks are looking for a fight, not just outside the house but in the house as well. After any experience outside the house we get this commentary from the Sparks vehicle and its always criticism about how they felt hurt by something the Wurgles have said or done. I just don't think both families are trying very hard. I believe that Rose is the only one who is really getting anything out of this experience and she had to leave the house to get it. The only people who were actually real with her are the people who had no idea. For anyone to get something from this the effort has to go both ways.

I began discussions about prejudice with my high school students, before starting to show this series. My classrooms consist of equal representation of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White races. Many of them were not aware of racism in their personal experience. Each week I've been showing the new episode of "Black, White". Each week they've been asked to write their views and comments on several questions concerning that episode. Then the next day the students are asked to share their comments, which manifests a lot of good discussion and interaction amongst the students.

Most of the students do not receive the FX Channel at home so they really look forward to each week's showing and the ensuing discussion. This lesson plan will definitely become part of my annual repertoire. I hope that this series is released on DVD, for easier setup in the future.

As a comment for further seasons, the producers could develop the racial differences between other cultural combinations (i.e.: Black and Hispanic, Gays and Straights, Jews and Gentiles, Male and Female, etc.)

...And I can honestly my jaw dropped. I just couldn't believe it. Hollywood makeup effects artist Keith VanderLaan (whose work on "Big Momma's House" and "White Chicks" has not gone unnoticed) has done the unthinkable by transforming a black family into a white family, and a white family into a black family. The Sparks, is the black family (Brian, his wife Renee, son Nick) from an Atlanta suburb and the white Wurgel-Marcotulli family (Carmen, her live-in boyfriend Bruno, Carmen's daughter Rose) from Santa Monica, California, must live together and walk and talk, as the opposite race.

Now before I heard about this show, courtesy of the rants of the many EB Soldiers at Public Enemy's official website message boards, I have to say I first met "Black. White." with great skepticism. But as I heard more about it, and even though I agree largely with the rants of the EB Soldiers, I was still enticed. I wanted to see more, and what I saw tonight was nothing short of an outstanding examination of how the black and white races interact with one another and as each other.

As a 20-year-old black male, "Black. White." not only forced to me to take into account what whites think and experience, but it also made room for me to ponder my own conceptions about myself, and my fellow brothers and sisters in America. Bruno and Carmen and Brian and Renee all attend separate black/white focus groups, in disguise, and each gets a taste of what the other race feels about the other race. Before the meetings, though, the participants gave their companions advice on how to "act" while listening to the discussion; Brian says Bruno should slouch a little bit and Bruno says Brian should keep an upright, or otherwise proper posture. We can see them nervously squirming in their seats as they all get anxious about the discussions taking place. I couldn't help but feel the heat too.

Hopefully, this show will open eyes, minds, and hearts about walking a mile in the shoes of somebody different. According to the Style section of today's Washington Post newspaper, the show's creator R.J. Cutler seems to know all about this sort of touchy reality thing. He produced "Super Size Me" (2004) filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's "30 Days" (damn, I really wanted to see that show), which frequently had similar role-swapping role-playing that included a fundamentalist Christian living with a Muslim family and a straight homophobe taking up residence in San Franciso's openly-gay Castro district.

Rapper Ice Cube, who is no stranger to politics and the racial divide in America, also did the opening theme song and is the show's co-producer and that should hopefully draw in more viewers, particularly those who pay attention to political hip-hop.

What we may see on "Black. White." may not be new to a lot of us, and I won't disagree with anyone who says otherwise. What it will do, I hope, is show what America is like from the other side for these six people. It shows much promise. The dynamics of racism, as portrayed often in the media, is sour compared to what really goes on out there. We can no longer turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to this cancerous epidemic in our country.

Now let's see what the other side says.

I am glad there's a show like this but the scenarios are shallow, in my opinion. What I mean by that is being black creates in the bearer a state of mind around different people and in different settings. Try going to an emergency room with back pain as a white guy and then as a black guy. Try getting a job anywhere you want. Send them into certain neighborhoods to rent or buy. The list goes on but I must say the show is a start and kudos to Ice. It also depends on your background, family history and geographic region. There is no monolithic black community though some things are endemic, yet many try to deny it and may have never been exposed. Changing subjects: Bruno is a real jerk. A typical bully, invalidating the experiences of others to absolve himself of realizing truth and his white privilege. Instead of saying, "here, see, here, see!", the brother needs to direct him to Tim Wise.

I thought this was a very well developed idea that works on many different levels. First, we have the two "average" families composed of two parents and a child. The white family seems a little more offbeat with the overly accepting mother and the father who doesn't seem to see the racism in anything that happens around him. The daughter seems to be the only member of the family that is learning anything somewhat valuable during the whole transition. The black family seems to be more down-to-earth and likable. The father enjoys being "treated" as a white man and using the "white" talk that is often used as a hyper reality mockery of the formal talk that dave chapelle is usually found using when imitating/mocking the way white people talk. The mother is somewhat easygoing but gets irritated when listening to the ditsy white mother imitate "black" talk. The son is just a normal, shy kid who doesn't feel like he has to "act white" because he feels like he will be accepted for who he is. The way ideas clash between the families during their ventures out into LA are very interesting and sometimes comical. This is a great show for everyone and I hope that more people take to such a good thought provoking show about racial tension in the modern day.