It makes for a poisonous emotional atmosphere."īut not thinking about how minorities are portrayed seems almost to guarantee that they will become visible only if violence occurs. "I don't recognize the legitimacy of saying a character has to do X or Y because of their race. "Not thinking about the number of black characters is a way of not thinking racially," he added. Milch's answers Tuesday weren't encouraging. Lacking the omniscience accorded TV viewers, the community was left to sort through the mess, with two separate nights of widespread vandalism and civil unrest as unfortunate evidence of the confusion.ĭo producers such as Milch realize how their casual generalizations and unquestioning regard for the status quo of government, police and mainstream culture will play in communities that have faced down these tough questions for real? Petersburg last fall, violence erupted after the death of black motorist TyRon Lewis, a man with a criminal record who was killed by police in ambiguous circumstances. Once I watched the show, I realized the audience could infer a racial statement that was totally unintended." "The defect of the show is that I didn't think in racial categories, which is the ultimate goal of our society. "This was an instance when we weren't thinking," added Milch, conceding that the show has no black writers. Speaking to a group of TV critics here Tuesday, he said Brooklyn South's racial exclusion was unintentional and would be corrected by introducing a black patrol officer as a main character. To his credit, co-executive producer Milch knows the message his pilot sends and plans to change it before the fall TV season begins. And it has a chilling resonance for any black person who would dare suspect police of overstepping their bounds. The show sends a curious message at a time when President Clinton himself has declared race among America's most pressing issues. Because the viewer knows the cops are in the right, the implication is that all the black characters who suspect that police may have brutalized the gunman are radical, unreasoning, totally off-base reactionaries.ĭon't bother looking for Asian or Hispanic officers in Brooklyn South, either. TV once again reduces a complex subject to its simplest shades. At least some of them suspect that the cops killed their relative. All of the police officers depicted as major characters in the first episode are white.Īs the story progresses, the gunman's family _ who may or may not know why he was firing at officers _ enlists the support of black community leaders and clergy.
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