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Every time I watch a Hollywood movie, I am reminded of how necessary it is for the makers to drop in a few black people. Doesn’t matter if the insertion of the characters looks deliberate or even forced — sometimes there is just one character whose only purpose is to maintain a semblance of ‘diversity’. If the lead actors aren’t black, let’s find a black jailer, a black policewoman, a black lawyer, a black-somebody!
America is predominantly white (more than 72% of the population), and it should have been okay with run a series or a movie entirely with white people. But no, you simply can’t have an all-white anything. It’s forbidden by an unwritten law.
The practice is everywhere — in advertisements, video campaigns, web series, posters, and surprisingly, in animated movies too. To an outsider, this looks odd, even funny. As if the country is trying too hard to hide something. As if there must be a spattering of black to show all is well.
Well, looks like it isn’t.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s brutal daylight murder by policemen, the make-believe facade seems to be coming apart, as it did during the terrible 60s. Racism in America suddenly seems to have a permanent home in the heads, if not in overt public conversation.
