Justice

'Black-Ish' Is Getting Major Praise for How It Just Tackled the Trump Issue

January 12th 2017

"Black-ish," the ABC sitcom unafraid to dive into serious social and political issues like police brutality, is getting another round of praise for an episode aired on Wednesday about the election of Donald Trump.

Viewers were left "speechless."

Blackish twitter reactionsTwitter - twitter.com

The scene

Most of the episode takes place within the weeks after Donald Trump's presidential upset. In this particular scene that's circulating through Twitter, Anthony Anderson's character, Andre 'Dre' Johnson, is accused by a white coworker of not caring about his country due to his muted response to the presidential race.

Dre, simmering with anger and passion, tells his coworker why he's wrong, as Nina Simone sings "Strange Fruit" in the back ground over a photo montage of segregation in America. "For most black people, this system has never worked for us," he explains.

"You think I'm not sad that Hillary didn't win? That I'm not terrified about what Trump's about to do? I'm used to things not going my way," he adds.

The reaction

Twitter is praising the show for once again tackling issues that most sitcoms wouldn't dare touch, and for doing so in a way that feels authentic to the black American experience.

The reactions are reminiscent of those to a popular Saturday Night Live sketch that aired the weekend after the election. In this sketch, Dave Chappelle plays a character attending an election night party hosted by white liberals.

Unlike his white friends, his mind isn't blown when Trump wins.

Chris Rock makes a guest appearance. The two of them share a hearty laugh when their crestfallen white neighbor (played by SNL's Beck Bennett) declares electing Trump president is, "the most shameful thing America has ever done."

As ATTN:'s Danielle DeCourcey wrote at the time, "The sketch showed the stunning revelations many urban white liberals were forced to grapple with: racism still exists in America and urban liberals probably don't understand the working class too well."

This is a similar notion that was expressed in the "Black-ish" episode, but with a decidedly more dramatic turn. Though "Black-ish" is primarily a comedy, they've always made room for dramatic storylines. Considering the last two years have been saturated by stories of police killing unarmed black men, it makes sense that a show about living as a black family in America would reflect both comedy and drama.

"I love this country, as much, if not more than you do," Dre tells his coworker, "and don't you ever forget that."

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