The results of the Multi-Ethnic Media Coalition's eighth annual diversity “report cards” came out last week and they weren't promising. The reports covered progress made in network television  during the 2007-2008 season by writers, actors and producers who were Latinos, Asians and Native Americans. Despite a rather ingratiating tone taken toward corporate TV (the nets, we are told, did the best they could in the face of the Writers Guild of America's “devastating” strike that “nearly crippled” TV), the report cards, posted on the National Hispanic Media Coalition's Web site, show that as far as Latinos were concerned, only Fox had increased its grade over last year (from a B- to a B), while ABC went down (from A- to B+).

The geography of race: San Bernardino County's Pickaninny Buttes. (Photo from Google Earth)

Asians fared worse, with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC earning, respectively,

grades of B-, C+, C+ and C+.  American Indian participation in network

programming earned the same nets, respectively, grades of C-, C, B- and

B, respectively. Sometime  this winter “A Different America on Screen,”

the Screen Actors Guild report on casting data, will be published.

It'll look at how well minorities fared over 2006-2007. SAG's previous

report noted that while Asian/Pacific Islanders' presence on TV and

film had increased, onscreen representation by African Americans,

Latinos and American Indians was down.

Many white people, if they even glance at these kind of reports,

probably figure they have no more impact on their own lives than the

latest Nielsen ratings.  Words like “multi-ethnic” and “diversity”

carry the kind of cringe charge that fat-free diets and good-posture

admonishments inspire.

Nevertheless, the MEM Coalition and SAG figures point to an industry

culture of denial — as America becomes a darker-skinned country, its

Caucasian elites are making what we see on TV and at the multiplex

paler and more suburban.  No, it's not a case of overt racism, although

it occurs against a backdrop of a country that denies race means

anything any more.

Decks of race cards were flung high into the air, of course, during the late

presidential campaign, when an explosion of bigoted invective and

“humor” aimed at Barack Obama suddenly made the chattering classes

reassess where the country stood in its racial attitudes. Then, when

Obama was elected his victory seemed, in these pundits' eyes, to

confirm that we had nothing to worry about. See, even a black man can become president. Case closed.

It's not that simple, though, as can be seen by a story reported last week by RawStory.com that

President George W. Bush is about to move into an exclusive Dallas

community that, until 2006, was a whites-only neighborhood. (Servants

were okay, though.) White tolerance — toward racism — even seems

ingrained in our geography — San Bernardino County still has peaks bearing

such names as Pickaninny Buttes and Negro Butte. (At least the latter

was changed some years ago from its original designation — Nigger

Butte.)

But back to Hollywood. One lucrative avenue for black and other

minority actors has been voice-over work — work that is typically

submitted on tape or DVD by an actor's agent. Yet law logo2x beven here sound is

not always “color deaf.” David Fennoy is one of the industry's leading

voice actors and is heard on many  commercials, animated programs and

video games. An African American, he also illustrates a series of

cartoons dealing with topical events called “Chillin With Dreadman,” which appears on Ebony magazine's Web site.

“We live in a world where racism is still here, but it's more subtle,”

Fennoy says. He recalls a moment in his career that suggests how foggy

gray an area minorities must navigate in the entertainment industry.

(David Fennoy photo from davefennoy.com)

“I was up for the role of Superman in a cartoon,” Fennoy says. “I had

done the original audition at my agent's place and we got a call-back.

When I walked in the door I saw the look on their faces. I didn't get

the part. Maybe they decided to go with someone else because they were

better.” Fennoy says it wasn't the first time he thought he had a gig

in the bag, only to be rejected once he showed up in person.

And so the surveys continue, although the man who won the presidential

audition is definitely a different kind of actor. How Obama's

presidency will effect TV and movie casting will be watched during the

next few years. Perhaps Hollywood will discover a black Superman in its

midst after all.

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