This is an excerpt of an episode of television in which a lower-middle-class black family in Baltimore discusses the 1992 presidential election. It comes from a show called Roc, which was, for my money, one of the most accurate portrayals of black Americans ever to air on television. As you’ll see, Roc and his family aren’t drug dealers or wealthy gynecologists; they’re just people with the same needs and interests as any other American trying to carve out a nice life. They laugh and have disagreements about politics—one of the characters in this episode is even a black female Republican who can intelligently back up her conservative stances! Imagine, a show that actually gives you a sense of the breadth of the black experience, the normalcy of the whole thing.
Watch this, compare it to the other ways blacks are treated on TV, and see if you can believe this program aired almost 20 fucking years ago to the day.
Roc was cancelled after three seasons, the same amount of time Homeboys in Outer Space stayed on the air.
(via youngmanhattanite)
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jrichmanesq reblogged this from andrewtsks and added:
man, I used to love Roc the thought that this is 20 years old is blowing my mind right now
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andrewtsks reblogged this from nickminichino and added:
I remember this show quite well—this was before Fox had entirely assimilated itself into the world of network...
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How did I not know about this show?
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SUMMER OF MEGADETH FALL 2112 MUST SEA VD LINEUP CUMMING THIS THURSDAY ITS RERUNS OF ROCK FOLLOWED BY DR. DIAMOND DAVE PI...
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jasencomstock reblogged this from youngmanhattanite and added:
they did a few live episodes too.
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andyhutchins reblogged this from cordjefferson and added:
This is very funny! Here are part 2 and part 3.
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