Racism 101: Are you a Racist?

Remember last week when I wrote about the new season of Louie on FX? Remember how I was excited about the fact that his Ex-Wife was going to be played by a Black woman and how happy I was that he said he chose her because she was right for the part and he didn’t care about race? Well, not everyone shared my sentiment. For the most part, people don’t understand how DNA works. It turns out, that if you have a Black Mom and a white Dad, there is NO POSSIBLE WAY to have white children. None. None at all. You guys, what about the children?

There were write ups on the Huffington Post, Jezabel and several other news outlets. Not write ups about the show itself. Write ups about the color of his ex-wife. No, not just the color, the kids and her “Power.” You know, her Black Power? The best of course was this gem from a piece in Vulture:

“The elephant in the corner of this season premiere is the expertly underplayed reveal that innumerable sitcoms would hype for weeks or build into their whole premise (looking at you, How I Met Your Mother): Louie’s ex-wife, Janet, is black. The mother of his milk-pale, straw-blonde daughters — who coincidentally also bear minimal resemblance to Louie — is a powerful, gorgeous African-American woman (Susan Kelechi Watson) effortlessly capable of detonating Louie’s masculinity.”

This was particularly interesting to me because in my post last week, I mentioned that I was concerned about the “Sapphire Syndrome” coming into play. I was happy to see that, at least in the first episode, it did not. She handled the situation in the exact way I would have. The way I believe most women in her position would have. Nothing over the top. Not “Angry Black women.” Just honest. Now, after seeing the show for myself, reading the above in the vulture piece really told me how Black women are seen, NO MATTER HOW THEY ACT. No, this isn’t news. Still, I can’t help but be frustrated at the implication that this woman immaculated Louie when she didn’t. His interaction with her was actually far less uncomfortable and emasculating than that of the white woman who broke up with him in the episode. Still, this woman, this Black woman is “Effortlessly capable of detonating Louie’s masculinity.” Oh and the kids are white guys. The kids are white…

Damn it! How could he do this to us? THE KIDS ARE WHITE!!!!!

Edit: This post is three weeks behind due to the Grey Out.

Since the date the above was written, the ex-wife has appeared on episode three as well. In episode three, she is loving and encouraging as she reminds Louie that they have been divorced for three years and that she was happy for him when she thought he may have found someone he wanted to spend time with. Haven’t seen any write ups about that interaction yet but…I’m sure I’ve just missed them all.