White-on-White Slavery
You Want to Remake Roots with An All-White Cast? I Say Hell Yeah
I’ll pay good money to see that on HBOMax
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“American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.”
― Toni Morrison
Black Fictional Magical Characters
As part of the ongoing debate about whether the race of a fictional character matters, I have been writing my opinion. I have clearly expressed that I think it is racist to have such a fear of a Black Game of Thrones character, or a Black elf, or a Black dwarf. The final straw came with the ridiculous reaction to the remake of the Little Mermaid with a Black Mermaid. Heads exploded, and venomous racial comments abounded.
One comment was that I would be furious at an all-White remake of Roots. I must admit I felt some kind of way, maybe bitter, maybe depressed, because who wants to see slavery reenacted with another race? But then, when I considered the remake, I thought, why not? Since Roots is based on the true story of author Alex Haley’s actual Black ancestors, it would be a little weird, but hey, this is America. Land of the free, home of the brave. How disgusting was Root’s toned-down depiction of slavery in America?
“Familiar television actors like Lorne Greene were chosen for the white, secondary roles to reassure audiences. The white actors were featured disproportionately in network previews. For the first episode, the writers created a conscience-stricken slave captain (Edward Asner), a figure who did not appear in Haley’s novel but was intended to make white audiences feel better about their historical role in the slave trade. Even the show’s consecutive-night format allegedly resulted from network apprehensions. ABC programming chief Fred Silverman hoped that the unusual schedule would cut his network’s imminent losses — and get Roots off the air before sweeps week.”
— Encyclopedia of Television, Museum of Broadcast Communications
I would love, Love, LOVE to see a remake of roots with an all-White cast. Can you imagine it?
Bro, I don’t think you thought this through.
