Did the “Touched By an Angel” blackface episode have good intentions? In all probability, seeing because the overarching message is that racism is unhealthy. Nonetheless, the way in which it goes about it was all improper, as many individuals on-line are declaring. The episode title seemingly derives its title from the 1961 e book “Black Like Me” by John Howard Griffin, a journalist who wore blackface within the Deep South to chronicle the Black expertise. An identical course of was performed by Sam Forster, who launched “Seven Shoulders” this yr. White individuals need not fake to be Black to grasp a prejudiced society; there are quite a few accounts from precise Black individuals detailing such struggles, so it might be finest to easily hearken to them.
What makes “Black Like Monica” all of the stranger is that it features a cameo look from the real-life Rosa Parks, who might not have been conscious of the episode’s extra controversial elements. The story concludes with Tess, performed by the late, nice Della Reese, telling Monica, “You may’t go on preaching in opposition to the darkness till you possibly can see it in your self. And there aren’t too many politically right methods to try this.” It is an odd assertion, nearly as if the present is waving away the problematic nature of getting a white actor use blackface as a substitute of simply having a Black actor play Monica if this was actually the story they needed to inform.
The episode lives on within the worst approach, with individuals declaring loads of issues that do not add up. Take this commentary from @dhoodson on X (previously often called Twitter): “Discover how she prayed to be white once more & to not finish racism.”