Is This Us? An Analysis of the Representation of Black Americans in This Is Us

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Is This Us?

An analysis of the representation of

black Americans in This is Us

Name: Alexandra den Haan Student Number: 12252077 Master’s Thesis

Television and Cross-Media Culture: Professional Specialization University of Amsterdam

Supervisor: Reza Kartosen-Wong Second Reader: Sudeep Dasgupta Date of Completion: November 19, 2019

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Abstract

This research examines the way black Americans are being represented in the series This is Us. I argue This is Us uses racial discourse in combination with black stereotypes to be able to reinforce the colorblind ideology. My research focuses on Randall, who is one of the main characters of This is Us. He is a successful, affluent black American, who got adopted by white parents when he was a baby. I explain why Randall partially fits the stereotype of the utopian reversal, which is very similar to the real-life category of the black professional. When Obama started his campaign to become president, he became the representative for the class specific discourse of the ‘new politics of race’, which functions as a blue print for the category of the black professional. The black professional is a category of upper-earning black people, who believe in black personal responsibility to be able to gain white approval. Black characters, who represent the utopian reversal, are successful in their careers and embody traits perceived as prototypically white. Randall is often confronted by other black characters with his ‘white’ behavior. Since This is Us shows the existence of a separate black and white community, the series seems progressive because a lot of series show a raceless

representation of reality by leaving out racial discourse. However, I argue This is Us actually uses the difference between blackness and whiteness to reinforce the notion that the United States is now a post-racial society. First, the series uses the frame of cultural racism to explain the difference and divide between black and white Americans. I argue the series therefore becomes a white savior narrative as the series shows the positive influence of having white parents on Randall’s life. Second, the series makes it seem the reason why Randall is so successful is, because he embodies traits perceived as white. In contrast, the other black characters represent novelistic versions of the earliest stereotypes created by white people. I argue Randall is represented as their ‘white’ savior, because he is the exceptional black person who is able to change their lives. Third, the series uses the stereotype of the career-minded black woman to show black women are not as feminine as white women and are therefore never able to have a successful relationship. By examining the black characters of This is Us, this research concludes white people remain in the superordinate position, because black characters still represent negative stereotypes unless they embody respectable traits, which are associated with whiteness.

Keywords

Colorblind ideology, colorblind racism, post-racial society, racial stereotypes, blackness, whiteness, social class, race, racism, American television, representation, critical discourse analysis.

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Introduction

“Throughout the majority of my career I have been afflicted from colorblind casting, which means: hey let’s throw a brother in this role. It’s always really cool. But Dan Fogelman, you wrote a role for a black man that can only be played by a black man. And so, what I

appreciate so much by this thing is that I am being seen for who I am and being appreciated for who I am and it makes it that much more difficult to dismiss me or dismiss anybody who looks like me. So, thank you Dan.”1

This is an excerpt from the speech Sterling K. Brown gave when he won the Golden Globe in 2018 for ‘best performance by an actor in a television series’ for his role playing Randall in This is Us. He thanked creator and showrunner Dan Fogelman for writing a role that truly shows what life is like as a black man. Next to Brown’s praise, a lot of positive articles have been written about the supposed ‘accurate’ and ‘realistic’ way This is Us represents black Americans. This is Us is a drama series, which tells the story of the Pearson family. When Rebecca and Jack lose one of their three babies at birth, they decide to adopt a black baby and name him Randall. The story follows the three children Kevin, Kate and Randall in the present with flashbacks to the past. This is Us is produced by 20th Century Fox Television in cooperation with Rhode Island Ave. Productions and Zaftig Films. The first season of This is Us premiered on NBC on September 20, 2016 in the United States of America.

Since This is Us has gotten such positive feedback about the representation of black

Americans, I was very curious to see if This is Us really is as progressive as most people are saying or if This is Us reinforces the subtle colorblind ideology and only seems to represent black Americans in a more positive way. The colorblind ideology came into existence in the 1970s as the new ideology to reproduce racial inequality.2 Since the time of colonialism, white people have always had the superordinate position, because they created the hierarchical ranking system and the category of the other.3 White people ascribed negative characteristics to blackness, which is why some people have racist prejudices towards black people.4 During the period of the Jim Crow, racism was very overt, because it was based on violence and segregation.5 The civil rights movement made an end to Jim Crow racism, but this did not mean the end of racism in the United States. Jim Crow racism was

1_{NBC, “Sterling K. Brown Wins Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama at the 2018 Golden Globes,” YouTube Video,} January 8, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kGJTWzPABA.

2_{Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, “The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind, “Post-Racial” America,” American Behavioral} Scientist 59 no. 11 (2015): 1362.

3_{Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era (Boulder, London: Lynne} Rienner Publishers, 2001), 40-41.

4_{Rone Shavers, “Fear of a Performative Planet. Troubling the Concept of “Post-Blackness”,” in The Trouble} with Post-Blackness, ed. Houston A. Baker and K. Merinda Simmons (New York: Columbia University Press, 2015), 90.

5_{Douglas J. Ficker, “From Roberts to Plessy: Educational Segregation and the" Separate but Equal" Doctrine,”} The Journal of Negro History 84 no. 4 (1999): 314.

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replaced by the new or colorblind racism, which is very subtle, slippery and seemingly non-racial.6 The reason why colorblind racism is so inconspicuous is because it relies mostly on discourse, which makes the reproduction of racial inequality hard to notice. Discourse is about the production of knowledge and defines the way people talk and think about certain subjects.7 Knowledge has the power to make itself true, which means colorblind racism is being reproduced by seemingly natural and acceptable text and talk.8 Dutch linguist Teun van Dijk therefore argues that colorblind racism is even more effective than Jim Crow racism as discourse reproduces inequality through the influence on people’s minds.9

According to van Dijk, a critical discourse analysis focuses on the power abuse of the superordinate group, who are able to form a discourse and therefore knowledge about the subordinate group, which results in the maintenance of inequality.10 So, just like van Dijk, I will conduct my own critical discourse analysis to be able to analyze if This is Us reinforces or challenges the colorblind ideology. What is special about This is Us, in comparison to other series with black characters, is that it is a series about transracial adoption, because Randall is adopted by white parents. It has been done before with the ABC series Webster, but Webster was broadcast from 1983 to 1987. During that time films and series often did not have a racial discourse and Webster was no exception.11 It is therefore interesting to analyze if the contemporary television series This is Us challenges the colorblind ideology and shows Rebecca and Jack are not able to raise Randall by themselves, because they are white and therefore do not know everything about blackness and racism. Or if This is Us is the same as Webster, which means the series does not have a racial discourse and reinforces the colorblind ideology. In addition to this, because This is Us shows the lives of the characters in different time periods, I will also be able to analyze if This is Us shows the influence on Randall’s life of being raised by white parents.

Further, I will analyze if the black characters, including Randall, are represented in a stereotypical way. Besides race, social class also plays an important role when analyzing black stereotypes. The concept of intersectionality becomes useful here, because it is used to research how people are affected by their different competing identities.12 Upper middle class black people, who fall under the category of the black professional, are treated better by some people, because

6_{Bonilla-Silva, “The Structure of Racism,” 1364.}

7_{Stuart Hall, “The Work of Representation,” in Representation. Second Edition, ed. Stuart Hall, Jessica Evans} and Sean Nixon (Milton Keynes: The Open University, 2013), 29.

8_{Teun A. van Dijk, "New(s) Racism: A Discourse Analytical Approach," Ethnic Minorities and the Media 37} (2000): 34.

9_{Teun A. van Dijk, "Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis," Discourse & Society 4 no. 2 (1993): 254.} 10_{van Dijk, "Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis," 252.}

11_{Melbourne S. Cummings, "The Changing Image of the Black Family on Television," Journal of Popular Culture} 22 no. 2 (1988): 80.

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they are seen as racially different from the average black person.13 Robert Entman and Andrew Rojecki write about the representation of the black professional in films and series and call this the utopian reversal. These black characters occupy a professional or management position, embody traits perceived as prototypically white and are often outsiders.14 The stereotype of the utopian reversal is thus as much connected to race as to class. The other black stereotypes are on the

opposite of the social ladder and have existed since the early days of film. Black characters are being represented as being lazy, unintelligent, inferior and untrustworthy.15 These characters are part of the lower class and are either criminals, servants or drug addicts.16

Since Randall is a black successful and affluent character, I will analyze if he fits the

stereotype of the utopian reversal. Randall’s father William, on the other hand, lives in a lower class neighborhood of Philadelphia. I will therefore analyze if William and the people who live in his neighborhood represent the other stereotype of the criminal and drug addict. Because social class affects the way people perceive each other, I will not only analyze if the black characters are represented in a stereotypical way, but also if the black characters represent a variety of social classes. I will look at how the black characters representing certain social classes are being treated by white, but also by other black characters. However, even if This is Us represents the upper and lower class in a non-stereotypical way, This is Us can still be more progressive as the series has not included the black middle class. My analysis will therefore delve into the reason why the black middle class is missing and the consequences of that choice for the series. In the last section of my thesis, I will elaborate further on the identity of gender when analyzing black stereotypes in connection with interracial relationships.

My hypothesis is that This is Us is more progressive than other series, but that the series will sometimes (maybe unknowingly) reinforce the colorblind ideology. My contribution to existing literature on representation of black people in American films and series is the emphasis on the importance of social class when analyzing black characters. Additionally, I have combined

sociological and media research to be able to analyze the black characters, because This is Us tries to represent reality. An example of this, which I will elaborate on in my theoretical framework, is the comparison between the black professional and the utopian reversal.

13_{Enid Logan, "Barack Obama, The New Politics of Race, and Classed Constructions of Racial Blackness,” in} The Sociological Quarterly 55 no. 4 (2014): 660.

14_{Robert M. Entman and Andrew Rojecki, The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America} (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), 152-160.

15_{Donald Bogle, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American} Films. Fifth Edition (New York, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016), 2-11.

16_{David Atkin, “An Analysis of Television Series with Minority-Lead Characters,” in Critical Studies in Mass} Communications 9 no. 4 (1992): 338-339.

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Theoretical Framework

Race and colorblind racism

The concept of race was created by white people during the time of colonialism. Race has therefore never been an innocent or neutral term. Consequently, we shall never be able to return to racial innocence, because racial groups have always had a certain placement in the racial hierarchy.17 We are, however, able to analyze race and racism and point out inequalities between different racial groups. By doing that we become aware of inequality and are able to make changes with the ultimate goal of treating everybody as an equal. There have been a lot of different critical perspectives on racism developed by social scholars, but for this research Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s perspective on racism will be used. According to Bonilla-Silva racism is a structure:

“Actors in superordinate positions (dominant race) develop a set of social practices (a racial praxis if you will) and an ideology to maintain the advantages they receive based on their racial classification, that is, they develop a structure to reproduce their systemic

advantages.”18

White people gave meaning to different groups of people and created the category of the other, which was being deemed as lesser than white. The process of racializing was thus socially invented, because the association and identity of a certain race is not based on people’s biological attributes. After the association with a race became institutionalized, it became a real category that started to affect the lives of the members of the race. The reason for creating the hierarchical ranking systems was for white people to be able to justify colonization for themselves.19 However, the racial structure is able to change through racial contestation, which is the struggle of a racial group to change their position.20 An example of racial contestation is when black people wanted to dissociate their race with slavery.21

Even with the racial contestation white people still have the superordinate position today, which is mostly because white people started the racial structure.22 Whiteness is therefore less clearly marked and most often described as normative and neutral, because throughout the history

17_{Ruth Frankenberg, “The Mirage of an Unmarked Whiteness,” in The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness, ed.} Birgit Brander Rasmussen, Eric Klinenberg, Irene J. Nexica, and Matt Wray (Durham: Duke University Press, 2001), 83.

18_{Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era, 22.} 19_{Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy, 40-41.}

20_{Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy, 43.} 21_{Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy, 42.} 22_{Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy, 40.}

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it has only been used to define the not-otherness.23 According to Richard Dyer white people are non-raced, whereas other people always speak for their race. This is why white people have such a powerful position, because they are able to speak for the entire human race.24 Blackness, on the other hand, does have specific characteristics (which will be discussed in the second part of the theoretical framework as it elaborates on black stereotypes) and is often seen in a negative way because of racist assumptions.25 The reason why whiteness is still seen as neutral to this day, is because whiteness has always been analyzed in relation to other races. Dyer states that the only way to diminish white power is to make whiteness a visible category. Whiteness can be made visible by analyzing the category by itself without comparing whiteness to another race. By doing this, whiteness will also get specific characteristics, just like blackness.26

Bonilla-Silva calls his approach to racism the racialized social system. He uses this approach to write about societies, like the United States, who are partially structured by the placement of people in racial categories.27 The racial ideology within the society helps the dominant group, white people, to maintain their position, but also to account for the existence of racial inequality. During the 1960s black people were kept in a subordinate position in the United States, because of the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were based on the separate but equal doctrine and started racial segregation in the South. Separate was never equal for black people since the white majority had all the power. White people believed black people did not have the same abilities and qualifications, which is why they were not treated equally and did not get the same quality in education.28

From the 1920 until 1940, the Northern United States expanded its industrialization at a very fast paste, especially after World War II. Eventually the Northern industry moved to the South, because of lower production costs. This led to a demise in agricultural jobs, which started the great migration of black people away from the rural south. However, they did not only migrate because of job opportunities, but also because it was an opportunity to escape the violence of Jim Crow.29 By the 1960s and 1970s the civil rights movement and other forms of mass protest by black people took place, which resulted in the end of the Jim Crow system. Neoconservative politicians then argued that with the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 racial

inequalities did not exist any longer. Any remaining racial inequalities could not be blamed on social policy, but were due to individual racism. Consequently, affirmative action policies were seen as

23_{Frankenberg, “The Mirage of an Unmarked Whiteness,” 84.}

24_{Richard Dyer, White: Twentieth Anniversary Edition (New York: Routledge, 2017), 1-2.} 25_{Shavers, “Fear of a Performative Planet,” 90.}

26_{Dyer, White, 13-14.}

27_{Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy, 37.} 28_{Ficker, “From Roberts to Plessy,” 314.}

29_{Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in} America (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006), 21.

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anti-ethical to the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.30 Black people were therefore no longer able to use race to explain their situation or get help from the government.31

Some scholars agreed that racism has significantly decreased since then, but according to Bonilla-Silva, they only looked at the old-fashioned Jim Crow racism. He thinks we should not research if racism has declined, but rather if there has been a transformation in the racial structure of the United States.32 The demise of Jim Crow did not mean the end of racism in the United States, because it has been replaced by a new racial structure, named colorblind racism. With this new racism racial inequality continues to persist.33 The new racism comes with a new dominant racial ideology called colorblind racism. The ideology of colorblind racism is so subtle, slippery and

seemingly non-racial, that it makes it hard to notice the reproduction of racial inequality. The reason for this is that some people use liberalism to explain racial matters in a raceless way.34

At the core of the colorblind ideology are four central frames, which are used by some people to explain racial matters. Abstract liberalism is the most important frame, as it is the foundation of colorblind racism. The frame of abstract liberalism is based on the two liberal principles of equal opportunity and individualism. People are using the principle of equal

opportunity to oppose affirmative-action policies, because minorities should not be favored. The principle of individual choice is used to explain they have a right to choose where they would like to live even if it is a segregated neighborhood. By using these liberal frames in an abstract matter people do not sound racist, whilst ignoring the fact that segregation has a negative influence on the lives of black people and that they need affirmative action because of racism.35 The frame of

naturalization is used to explain that segregation is natural, because people of the same background just gravitate towards each other. This is supposedly not a racist explanation, because, according to some people, it is a biological given and minority groups do it too.36 Cultural racism is a frame in which people use culturally based arguments to explain why black people are less successful. For example, the perception that black people start having a lot of babies at an early age.37 Minimization of racism is a frame that suggests discrimination is no longer affecting the lives of black people. When using this frame people often accuse black people of playing the race card.38

30_{Sarah Nilsen and Sarah E. Turner, “Introduction,” in The Colorblind Screen: Television in Post-Racial America,} ed. Sarah Nilsen and Sarah E. Turner (New York: New York University Press, 2014), 9.

31_{Roopali Mukherjee, “Rhyme & Reason: “Post-Race” and the Politics of Colorblind Racism,” in The Colorblind} Screen: Television in Post-Racial America, ed. Sarah Nilsen and Sarah E. Turner (New York: New York University Press, 2014), 57.

32_{Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, 18.} 33_{Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, 53.} 34_{Bonilla-Silva, “The Structure of Racism,” 1364.} 35_{Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, 54-56.} 36_{Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, 56.} 37_{Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, 56-57.} 38_{Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, 57.}

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Next to the central frames, there are two additional components of colorblind racism. The first one is the style of the colorblind ideology, which shows the slippery and subtle language of some people. People try to avoid racist utterances and use semantic moves to avoid discussions about race or to be judged a racist.39 Bonilla-Silva uses several examples in his book, but the

comments most often used are ‘I am not a racist’ or ‘some of my best friends are black’ when people try to avoid seeming racist.40 The second component are the racial stories people tell to each other to make sense of racial matters. By telling these stories to each other people are able to justify why the world is the way it currently is. These racial stories can be very general with a lot of stereotypes or they can be testimonies about a personal experience with a black person.41

Contrary to Bonilla-Silva, Ashley Doane states people are using a combination of Jim Crow racism and colorblind racism and that the two ideologies cannot be separated that easily. What has changed in comparison to the Jim Crow era is that people have become politically correct and are only using the more overt racist comments within private settings with other people.42 Next to this, Doane does not agree with Bonilla-Silva about the cultural racism frame and the frame of

naturalization fitting in with the colorblind ideology, because these frames focus on the more traditional ways of looking at racial differences.43 She thinks the frames and storylines will constantly evolve, which is why she chose to focus on the way the colorblind ideology downplays structural racism and racial inequality by focusing on individuals.44 Only ignorant and isolated individuals are still racist according to the colorblind ideology, which is why racism is seen as an individual prejudice or discrimination.45 In addition to this, minority racism or reverse racism has been called into existence as an argument against structural racism. Some people argue structural racism is a thing of the past in the United States, because minorities are now also racist.46

To summarize, during the period of colonialism white people created the racial structure, in which they had the superordinate position and black people (and other minorities) had the subordinate position. In the United Sates white people remain in the superordinate position, because the country has a racialized social system. The reason for this is that whiteness was first created to mean ‘not the other’, which is why whiteness is nowadays still less clearly marked. Until the 1960s the Jim Crow

39_{Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, 77-78.} 40_{Bonilla-Silva, “The Structure of Racism,” 1365.} 41_{Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, 96-97.}

42_{Ashley Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness: Rethinking Racial Ideology in the United States,” in The Colorblind} Screen: Television in Post-Racial America, ed. Sarah Nilsen and Sarah E. Turner (New York: New York University Press, 2014), 31.

43_{Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness,” 30.} 44_{Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness,” 22.} 45_{Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness,” 25.} 46_{Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness,” 30.}

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laws were in place in the United States and black people were being treated in an overt racist way, but the civil rights movement made an end to the Jim Crow system. After this, the new racism or colorblind racism started to make its first appearance, which is very subtle, slippery and seemingly non-racial. Because colorblind racism is not as overt, a lot of Americans think they live in a post-racial country, in which structural racism no longer exists.

When researching This is Us, Bonilla Silva’s theory about the frames will be used. However, his work will be combined with Doane’s work, who writes about the frames, styles and storylines constantly evolving, because people change the way they speak to prevent coming across racist. For this reason, my research will analyze if This is Us reinforces the colorblind ideology instead of just focusing on the specific ways characters might use colorblind racism. Moreover, Bonilla Silva’s theory also lacks other factors, next to race, which might influence the way people are being treated. Doane, on the other hand, does mention successful black people are being treated better by some people. The next section will therefore focus on the other factors as several scholars, next to Doane, have written more in depth about additional factors that influence racism or

discrimination.

The intersecting roles of race and class

The colorblind ideology not only focuses on (ignorant) individuals when looking at racism, but also on successful individuals when it comes to colorblind diversity. People see diverse casts, black athletes and entertainers in the media and accept successful black people as part of the social mainstream.47 Doane thinks the partial acceptance of (only successful) black people will make it even harder to detect colorblind racism, because black people representing certain social classes will be treated in a different way. The partial acceptance has also led to a change from exceptionalism to reverse exceptionalism. In the past, a successful black person was seen as the exception to his race, but now it is the other way around as black people who are not successful will be seen as a discredit to their race and be viewed as lazy.48 Reverse exceptionalism fits in with the core believe of the colorblind ideology, which is the believe that the United States is a meritocracy.49 According to Charles Gallagher, who writes about some people believing the United States is a meritocracy, those same people claim that being successful is an individual choice. It is all about working hard,

discipline and motivation.50 According to the colorblind ideology, the racial hierarchy is disregarded

47_{Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness,” 24.} 48_{Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness,” 35-36.} 49_{Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness,” 34.}

50_{Charles A. Gallagher, "Color-Blind Privilege: The Social and Political Functions of Erasing the Color Line in} Post Race America," in Race, Gender & Class 10, no. 4 (2003): 26.

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and race is nothing more than a cultural signifier, which can only be seen through individual choices in music, food or clothes.51 Successful black people serve as prove the United States is now a post-race, colorblind society. One of the successful black people used often as an example by people is the first ‘black’ president of the United States, Barack Obama.52

When Obama was elected president, he became a symbol of hope for black people, because they thought he would change a lot when it came to matters of race.53 However, as stated by Enid Logan, Obama ended up downplaying the significance of racism and became an argument some people used to claim racism was a thing of the past. The reason Obama downplayed racism was because he did not want to alienate white people.54 During his campaign and his presidency, Obama also started to focus on black personal responsibility. In 2013, Obama gave the commencement address at the all-male historically black Morehouse College where he made his stance on black personal responsibility very clear.55 While he did acknowledge racism still exists and that there are a lot of troubled neighborhoods with black residents, who do not get as many chances in life, he said: “Barriers have come tumbling down and new doors of opportunities have swung open, and laws and hearts and minds have been changed to the point where someone who looks just like you somehow come to service as president of the United States of America.” After this, Obama made the

following statement: “Your generation is uniquely poised for success unlike any other generation of African Americans that have come before you.”56 The message Obama wants to get across is that the United States has become more progressive over the years. It is therefore just a matter of black personal responsibility, because black people are now able to achieve anything if they just work hard enough.

According to Logan, Obama downplaying racism and focusing on black personal responsibility were part of a set of guidelines he had to follow to be able to maintain his white voters. These set of guidelines formed the new politics of race with Obama as representative.57 Logan came up with the new politics of race to emphasize the importance of social class within the contemporary racial discourse as it is a class-specific discourse of race.58 The class-specific discourse of race is part of the concept of intersectionality, which was first introduced by Kimberlé Crenshaw to be able to write about the inequality’s black women experience. Intersectionality can be used to

51_{Gallagher, “Color-Blind Privilege,” 25-26.} 52_{Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness,” 36.} 53_{Bonilla-Silva, Racism without Racists, 212.} 54_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 663.}

55_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 668.}

56_{The Obama White House, “President Obama Delivers Morehouse College Commencement Address,”} YouTube Video, May 20, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e50Tt9qJRQk.

57_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 653.} 58_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 655.}

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research how people are affected by their different competing identities. Because each person is a member of many groups, such as gender, race and social class, we experience inequality in different ways as the total of all of our identities shape how we are seen and judged by society. Whiteness is always considered superior to other identities, but it is also important to research how other factors influence people’s lives.59

The new politics of race works as a blueprint for the category of the black professional, which is a group of upper-earning black people who are a lot more integrated into the white mainstream than poorer black people.60 Logan argues that the black professional as a group have not gotten enough attention, even though they are ideologically distinct from the rest of the black upwardly mobile.61 Just like Obama, the black professional uses the rhetoric of personal

responsibility to gain white approval by acknowledging the progress the country has already made when it comes to equality and by rejecting the poor who are playing victims.62 The rhetoric of personal responsibility is not used to motivate poor black people, but to create a clear separation to signal to white people that the black professional is different from them. Hence, successful black people are aligned against poor black people within the new politics of race.63 According to Logan, the black professional should not be seen as exceptional individuals, which Doane writes about (when she compares it to reverse exceptionalism), but as a model minority. The reason for this is that the black professional has existed as a separate category for a while, which has resulted in some people seeing the black professional as racially different from the ‘average’ black person and

treating them better than they would an average black person.64

The black professional might be seen as racially different than the average black person by some people, but they will never be seen as an equal to white people. Rone Shavers writes about this misconception of the black elite, who sometimes even call themselves post-black.65 The reason some of the black elite think of themselves as post-black is, because next to being perceived as different than the average black person by some people, they do not represent the collective struggle of the black majority, who have a hard time getting a job, are constantly insulted and live shorter lives.66 However, even though black professionals do not experience the same struggle, they are not able to erase their blackness completely since racism is a structure, which categorizes

59_{Bhopal, White Privilege, 47-48.} 60_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 659.} 61_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 657.} 62_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 654.} 63_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 670.} 64_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 660.}

65_{Shavers, “Fear of a Performative Planet,” 87.}

66_{Houston A. Baker, “Conclusion: Why the Lega Mask Has Many Mouths and Multiple Eyes,” in The Trouble} with Post-Blackness, ed. Houston A. Baker and K. Merinda Simmons (New York: Columbia University Press, 2015), 246.

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people. They still have the biological markers for black, which means that some people will keep having racist prejudices about them even if they are part of the category of the black professional.67 Race will continue to be the superior identity within intersectionality, which means the only way for black people to have the same hierarchical position as white people and to be seen as equal to white people is if the racial structure changes drastically or if it seizes to exist.

To summarize, a person has multiple competing identities that form him or her and influence what kind of racism or discrimination they face. So, next to race other factors, like gender and social class, become important. Logan has therefore written about a class-specific discourse of race: the new politics of race, which Obama laid the groundwork for. When Obama started campaigning to become president, he did not want to alienate his white voters and started to downplay racism and focus on black personal responsibility. The way he dealt with issues of race started to function as the blueprint for the new race politics for the black professional.68 The black professional gains white approval by alienating poor black people through the use of the rhetoric of personal responsibility.69 However, some black professionals think they are post-black, because they are seen as racially different, but they will not be able to erase their blackness and therefore will not be seen as an equal to white people.70

For the analysis, Logan’s theory in combination with Shaver’s theory about the black professional will be very useful when analyzing Randall, because he is a very successful black man living in a white community. While gender is also a major factor within intersectionality, my research will focus mostly on the way characters are being treated as a result of the two competing identities of race and social class. The reason for this is the limited scope of this research.

The role of media in the (re)production of racial stereotypes

Doane writes that colorblind theorists often overlook the role the media play in the creation and (re)production of racial stereotypes, which subconsciously influence the way we think about race.71 Dyer agrees with Doane and states that people form their opinion of a social group based on stereotypes. White people, the superordinate group, are able to create these stereotypes and have the power to enforce it.72 Stereotypes are not very different from the way people are perceived in

67_{Shavers, “Fear of a Performative Planet,” 90-91.} 68_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 653.}

69_{Logan, "Barack Obama,” 670.}

70_{Shavers, “Fear of a Performative Planet,” 90-91.} 71_{Doane, “Shades of Colorblindness,” 31.}

72_{Richard Dyer, The Matter of Images: Essays on Representations. Second Edition (New York: Routledge, 2002),} 14.

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reality as stereotypes are also based on the different competing identities of a character.73 Dyer argues that the superordinate group produces stereotypes to make a clear difference between them and the subordinate group by emphasizing the otherness of the group, especially when the

difference is invisible, for example in the case of homosexual men. The distinction created by the stereotypes ensures the hierarchy within the racial structure remains the same with white, straight, middle or upper class men in the most privileged position.74

Since stereotypes create a particular idea about a social group, they always have an implicit narrative within their representation. For film and television this means stereotypes can only be used in very specific ways and often have the same plot function. Social types, on the other hand, can be used in a much broader way. The social type can play a different role in every kind of plot, for example the hero, but also the villain. Because the superordinate group does not have a stereotype, they are not restricted by the type of role they can play in a movie. In contrast, the subordinate group is always chosen to play a specific stereotype and therefore a specific role.75 In the following section the different stereotypes for black people will be discussed.

The five basic stereotypes for black characters that dominated for half a century were first introduced in the early silent period of motion pictures. Donald Bogle identified and described the five-character types, which are Toms, coons, mulattoes, mammies and bucks. Mulattoes and mammies are stereotypes for black women. The character types were used to entertain the public by presenting black people as inferior.76 Toms were always treated very poorly, but stayed well-behaved and kind. White people found the Tom very sympathetic, because he was loyal. Coons made black people into an amusement object and black buffoon. The coon was a helper, but he did not do a good job since he was very lazy, unreliable and could not speak English very well. The third stereotype for black men was the brutal black buck. The brutal black buck can be broken into two categories: the black brutes and the black bucks. The black brute used physical violence, because he was sexually repressed. The black buck was even worse, because he was oversexed, violent and desired white women.77

When the civil rights movement became more visible and started to thrive during the 1960s, black people got a more non-stereotypical presence on television. Black characters got a higher professional status, but were whitewashed. Whitewashed can mean several things such as underrepresented (white people playing roles originally meant for minorities), misrepresented (black people playing a stereotype, which white people created), or black characters who behave

73_{Dyer, The Matter of Images, 15.} 74_{Dyer, The Matter of Images, 15-16.} 75_{Dyer, The Matter of Images, 14-15.}

76_{Bogle, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks, 1-2.} 77_{Bogle, Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks, 2-11.}

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according to white people’s standards.78 When black characters got a higher professional status, they were behaving in what white people perceive as a ‘white way’, which means ‘proper’. However, by the 1980s black people were yet again stereotyped and played criminals, servants or athletes.79 The film industry was not doing better, because they had to consider the demands of the Hollywood commercial cinema system, which only focused on entertaining a white audience.80 The arrival of The Cosby Show on television finally proved that a show about black people can be popular with a white mainstream audience. The only condition was that the black characters had to be successful.81 This is just like real-life as white people also treat the black professional better than the average black person.

The success of The Cosby Show in combination with the multichannel transition helped with the increase in the amount of black characters on television. The reason for this is that it made an end to the classical network era or mass television era, in which networks only broadcasted what they thought was inoffensive mass appeal programming. In reality, this programming was very racist and sexist and was only inoffensive to the white, straight middle or upper class men. Now, networks began to pursue groups of viewers who were passionate about particular ideas, topics or interests.82 Networks knew black people watched 40% more network programming than white people, which is why they started to increase the amount of shows that feature black people, but still appealed to white people.83 But by 1999, the amount of black people on television started to decline again. Diverse minority media advocacy organizations and the NAACP started an alliance to challenge the major networks to offer more racial diversity on their channels.84 The networks quickly responded to the criticism and social pressure by adding black people and introducing a new mode of black representation.

Entman and Rojecki call this new mode of representation the utopian reversal with over 70% of black characters occupying a professional or management position. These black characters are embodying what white people perceive as prototypically white traits. According to Entman and Rojecki, the ‘white’ traits these black characters embody are discipline, restraint, quiet competence, responsibility and industry. Because these characteristics are usually associated with white virtue,

78_{Minelle Mahtani, “Representing Minorities: Canadian Media and Minority Identities," Canadian Ethnic} Studies/Etudes Ethniques au Canada 33 no.3 (2001): 101-103.

79_{Atkin, “An Analysis of Television Series with Minority-Lead Characters,” 338-339.}

80_{Linus Abraham, “Media Stereotypes of African Americans,” In Images That Injure: Pictorial Stereotypes in the} Media, ed. Paul Martin Lester and Susan Dente Ross (Westport: Prager Publishers, 2003), 88.

81_{Adilifu Nama, “More Symbol than Substance: African American Representation in Network Television} Dramas,” Race and Society 6 (2003): 23-24.

82_{Michael Curtin, “Matrix Media,” in Television Studies After TV: Understanding Television in the Post-Broadcast} Era, ed. Graeme Turner and Jinna Tay (New York: Routledge, 2009), 10-11.

83_{Atkin, “An Analysis of Television Series with Minority-Lead Characters,” 341.} 84_{Nama, “More Symbol than Substance,” 24.}

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the black characters are able to reach acceptability in prime-time television. As has been stated, Bill Cosby, who was a doctor on The Cosby Show, is actually the television version of the black

professional, because the black characters, Entman and Rojecki write about, are also not regarded as typical of their race by some people. However, by making the black character a boss, dramatic shows are able to maintain boundaries between black and white people. Bosses are usually outsiders; about which viewers do not get a lot of personal information. The reason for this is that they are only seen within the workplace, which is why the plot almost never revolves around the boss.85 So, again just like their real-life counterpart, they might be able to gain approval, but they are not well-rounded complex characters like their white counterparts, because they are not able to erase their blackness and get completely accepted by all of the viewers.

It seems film and television today have come a long way, because the most overt stereotypical portrayals are eliminated and the percentage of black characters on television is similar to the percentage of black people in the United States.86 However, media are directly involved in the production of colorblind racism, which just makes it harder to detect the five basic stereotypes, Bogle identified. Today, black actors are still cast in roles used for comedy and amusement and are therefore only subtler versions of the coon. Only light-skinned mixed-race actors are able to play characters originally written for white people, because it is not so clear to which race they belong to. Even when shows are not using the colorblind versions of these

stereotypes, they are often using the minimization of racism frame by not acknowledging the racial realities of black characters.87

The white savior narrative, which first arrived in the 1980s, also reproduces the colorblind ideology, because the white savior narrative makes it seem white people are just trying to help black people. Within the white savior movie, a messianic white character is the only one who is able to teach the dysfunctional racial other right from wrong. The racial other is able to escape his

miserable life by accepting white supremacy and being obedient to white people.88 The white savior movie is now more popular than ever, because of the believe of some people that the United States is a post-racial society.89 The white savior narrative affirms white redemption, because it shows white people are also fighting for equality. However, the white savior narrative is actually an

85_{Entman and Rojecki, The Black Image in the White Mind, 152-160.} 86_{Nama, “More Symbol than Substance,” 32.}

87_{Austin Ashe and Eduardo Bonilla Silva, “The End of Racism? Colorblind Racism and Popular Media,” in The} Colorblind Screen: Television in Post-Racial America, ed. Sarah Nilsen and Sarah E. Turner (New York: New York University Press, 2014), 75-77.

88_{Matthew W. Hughey, "Racializing Redemption, Reproducing Racism: The Odyssey of Magical Negroes and} White Saviors," Sociology Compass 6 no. 9 (2012): 760-761.

89_{Norman Denzin, "The Savior Trope and the Modern Meanings of Whiteness," in The White Savior Film:} Content, Critics, and Consumption, ed. Matthew W. Hughey (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2014), 7-8.

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important ideological tool to help repair white supremacy and paternalism. The reason for this is that media subconsciously influence people’s ideas about different racial groups and white people, as the superordinate group, have the power to produce the way racial groups are being represented. The white savior narrative is therefore able to reassure white people in a time of protest and

conflicting opinions about race and help white people maintain their privileged status.90

90_{Norman Denzin, “The Savior Trope,” 15.}

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Research method

This Is Us

This is Us is a drama series created by Dan Fogelman and is produced by 20th Century Fox Television in cooperation with Rhode Island Ave. Productions and Zaftig Films. Every season of This is Us has eighteen episodes and covers a year in the present with flashbacks in between. The first season of This is Us premiered on NBC on September 20, 2016 in the United States. In the first season it is also the year 2016. This is Us has already worked with more than twenty directors and writers, a lot of whom are white. After the third season, NBC renewed the series for three additional seasons. The first episode of the fourth season was broadcast on September 24, 2019 on NBC. In the Netherlands, three seasons were broadcast by FOX and the first two seasons are available on Amazon Prime.

For my thesis I have chosen to include the three seasons, which are already broadcast. The reason being that I think the scope of my thesis is large enough and when I watched the series I thought every season had relevant storylines and scenes, which would be useful for my analysis. Season one is about the relationship between Randall and his biological father William as he dies at the end of the first season, season two introduces Randall and Beth’s foster daughter Deja and season three shows Randall becoming councilman and the interracial relationship of his brother Kevin and Beth’s cousin Zoë. Because This is Us does not show the storylines in chronological order all three seasons show the transracial adoption and upbringing of Randall. This is another reason why I would like to write about all three seasons, because each season elaborates more on every character in different time periods.

This is Us has multiple main and supporting characters, which will be mentioned throughout the analysis. I will therefore introduce the characters and important storylines now. The story starts with Jack and Rebecca. Jack is from a poor family with an abusive father, whereas Rebecca is from an upper class family. In the 1980s, Jack and Rebecca are expecting triplets, but when Rebecca gives birth she loses one of the babies. Jack and Rebecca decide to adopt a black baby, who was brought to the hospital on the same day. They name their children Kevin, Kate and Randall. Jack dies when Kevin, Kate and Randall are seventeen as a result of the house burning down. The reason for this is that he inhaled too much smoke saving everybody, which caused him to go into cardiac arrest.

Kevin becomes the popular, attractive jock in high school, but because of an injury he is not able to play football in college. He then decides to try acting. When he gets the lead role in a sitcom called The Manny he becomes a celebrity. Kate is a very insecure girl, because she is overweight. Just like Rebecca, she loves singing but is too insecure to really go for it. When she is older, she meets her husband Toby at a meeting for people who struggle with weight. In season three, Toby

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and Kate become parents to a son, named Jack, after risky IVF treatment, because of Kate’s weight. Randall is very nerdy in high school and is the only one of the three to get a degree. During his time studying he meets his wife Beth, who used to be a really good dancer, but because competition became too tough she decided to go to college. After college, both of them become successful, which is why they are able to live in a very expensive neighborhood. They have two children, named Tess and Annie. Tess is about eight years old and Annie is about five or six years old in the first season. In season three, Randall is elected councilman in Philadelphia and Beth becomes a dance teacher.

From left to right: Randall, Beth, Jack, Rebecca, Kevin, Kate & Toby

Next to the main characters, there are some important supporting characters in This is Us. William is one of the first supporting characters introduced in the series. William is Randall’s biological father. When he is young he has to take care of his sick mother. After his mother dies, William and his girlfriend become drug addicts. His girlfriend dies when giving birth to Randall. William cannot take care of Randall and brings him to a fire station. Years later, Randall finds William with the help of a private detective. He takes William in, because he only has a short time to live due to gastric cancer (stomach cancer). Randall eventually finds out about Rebecca already knowing William and gets very angry but is able to forgive her.

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Deja is introduced in the second season. She is the foster daughter of Randall and Beth. Deja’s mother, Shauna, is not able to take care of Deja, because she continues to make bad decisions and goes to jail. Deja is therefore already very grown up as she has to take care of herself and help her mother. Deja is eventually placed with Randall and Beth after Child Protective Service finds out Shauna is not taking good care of her. When Shauna sees Deja has a way better life with Randall and Beth she decides to give up her parental rights. Deja is officially adopted by Randall and Beth in season three.

Miguel is Jack’s best friend. They work together. Miguel is married to Shelly, but they get a divorce when their two children are still very young. After Jack dies, Miguel starts helping out Rebecca with little chores. Years later when Randall and Beth just had Tess, Rebecca makes a Facebook profile and gets back in touch with Miguel. Not long after they get back in touch, they start dating and stay together throughout the series. Tess and Annie therefore see Miguel as their grandfather.

Yvette is introduced in the first season when the Pearsons go to the public pool. At the pool there is a clear divide between white and black people. Randall is very curious and starts playing with the black children. Rebecca comes to get him and gets advice from a black woman, named Yvette. Rebecca is annoyed at first, but realizes she could use the help of a black person raising Randall. She asks if Randall could play with Yvette’s son Keith. Randall and Keith become best friends and Keith introduces Randall to Howard University.

Zoë is introduced at the end of the second season. She is Beth’s niece and Beth and her are really close. Zoë moved in with Beth’s family when she was young, because her mother could not take care of her anymore and her father was not in the picture. Zoë later explains her father sexually abused her. Zoë is a photographer and documentary maker. When Zoë is hired as a photographer at Kate and Toby’s wedding she meets Kevin. They date from the beginning until the end of season three when Zoë breaks up with Kevin.

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Yvette Keith (on the left) & young Randall

Kevin & Zoë Miguel

Critical discourse analysis

To be able to write about the way black Americans are represented in the series and if This is Us reinforces or challenges the colorblind ideology, I am going to conduct my own critical discourse analysis. According to Michel Foucault, discourse is about the production of knowledge. We can only have knowledge of things if they have meaning. So, discourse defines, but also rules out, the way people talk and think about certain subjects.91 In his later work, Foucault made the link between knowledge and power, because it has the status of the truth.92 Unlike Foucault, who never wanted to identify specific groups in control over the power, critical discourse analysis is a method created to do just that and be able to make visible the power abuse of the superordinate group.93 The superordinate group is able to form a discourse and is therefore in control over the way people think about the subordinate group, which results in the maintenance of inequality. 94

As I have stated before in my theoretical framework, in the western world white people are the superordinate group, which means they have control over public discourse. Dutch linguist van

91_{Hall, “The Work of Representation,” 29.} 92_{Hall, “The Work of Representation,” 33.}

93_{Stuart Hall, “The Spectacle of the Other,” in Representation. Second Edition, ed. Stuart Hall, Jessica Evans} and Sean Nixon (Milton Keynes: The Open University, 2013), 250.

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Dijk focuses on the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ relationship and argues new racism might be even more effective than Jim Crow racism as it relies mostly on discourse. New racism is being expressed, reproduced and confirmed by seemingly natural and acceptable text and talk, such as conversations, interviews or textbooks.95 The texts and talk seem so normal, because knowledge has the power to make itself true. For this reason, discourse is the main source of people’s racist beliefs.96 As a result, new racism is much harder to detect than Jim Crow racism, because it relies on seemingly neutral discourse instead of violence and segregation.97 A critical discourse analysis therefore functions to show the way discourse reproduces inequality through the influence on people’s minds.98

For a long time, scholars believed media were not influential, because they reinforced the values and norms, which had already achieved consensus.99 But later on, they realized the values and norms were not neutral and actually reinforced the public discourse produced by the

superordinate group. Media did not merely reproduce reality, but represented the world in a specific way and actively contributed to the production of meaning.100 Van Dijk even calls media discourse the most important source of people’s knowledge and ideologies.101 He uses a critical discourse analysis when analyzing a news report to write about the role of public discourse in the reproduction of new racism.102 As I have explained in my theoretical framework, new racism comes with a new dominant racial ideology called the colorblind ideology. Nowadays, some people believe we are living in a post-racial society, in which structural racism no longer exists.103

For my thesis, I will use a critical discourse analysis to be able to analyze the way black Americans are being represented in This is Us. I will analyze the black characters, with a focus on main character Randall, to be able to conclude if they are represented in a stereotypical way. Next to this, I will analyze if This is Us reinforces or challenges the colorblind/post-racial ideology. As I have argued in my theoretical framework, social class is a very important factor when analyzing

inequality. I will therefore also analyze which social classes the black characters represent and how the black characters representing these different social classes are being treated by white, but also by other black characters. At the end of my thesis, I will also elaborate on gender, because it is as important as race and social class. My hypothesis is that This is Us represents black Americans in a

95_{van Dijk, "New(s) Racism,” 34.} 96_{van Dijk, "New(s) Racism,” 36.} 97_{van Dijk, "New(s) Racism,” 34.}

98_{van Dijk, "Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis,” 254.}

99_{Stuart Hall, "The Rediscovery of ‘Ideology’: Return of the Repressed in Media Studies," in Culture, Society} and the Media, ed. Michael Gurevitch, Tony Bennett, James Curran and Janet Woollacott (London: Methuen, 1982), 61.

100_{Hall, “The Rediscovery of ‘Ideology,” 64.} 101_{van Dijk, "New(s) Racism,” 36.}

102_{van Dijk, "New(s) Racism,” 42.} 103_{Nilsen and Turner, “Introduction,” 9.}

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more ‘realistic’, less stereotypical way than other series. I also think This is Us shows racial inequality and thus challenges the colorblind ideology. However, because the colorblind ideology is very subtle, I do think This is Us will sometimes (maybe unknowingly) reinforce the colorblind ideology.

Because I am going to write about different subjects, which are all connected to race and racial ideology, I am going to divide my thesis into three sections with smaller sub-sections. The first section will be about transracial adoption, because Randall is being raised by white parents Rebecca and Jack. I am going to analyze the way Jack and Rebecca are raising Randall, because according to Ravinder Barn some white parents choose to give their black children a colorblind upbringing and some parents are very involved in teaching their children about their racial background.104 Rebecca and Jack could be choosing a colorblind upbringing, in which case I will analyze if This is Us

challenges the colorblind upbringing by showing the negative consequences it has for Randall or if This is Us has no racial discourse and does not represent Randall as racially different from Kevin and Kate. If Rebecca and Jack, however, do choose to teach Randall about his racial background I am going to pay attention to the way they are trying to make sure Randall has a ‘healthy’ racial identity. At the end of the section, I will be able to conclude if This is Us is a white savior narrative, in which Randall is being saved by white parents or if This is Us shows Rebecca and Jack need help from black people raising Randall.

The second section will elaborate on the black characters and the variety of socials classes they represent. The first sub-section will be about the black upper middle class. I will analyze if Randall fits the stereotype of the utopian reversal Entman and Rojecki write about since Randall is a black affluent and successful character within the series. The second sub-section will be about the representation of the black lower class as films and series often use the stereotype of the criminal or drug addict when representing black people. The third sub-section will compare the black upper middle class to the lower class, because according to the concept of intersectionality, Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced, people experience inequality in different ways due to the combination of their competing identities.105 I will therefore analyze if the white characters treat upper middle class black characters better to be able to conclude if This is Us reinforces the notion of the exceptional black person. I will also analyze if upper middle class black characters, for example Randall, treat lower class black characters with less respect, because of what Logan writes about the black professional aligning himself against the lower class black people. The fourth sub-section will be about Randall’s decision to become the new councilman in Philadelphia. I will use literature on the representation of

104_{Ravinder Barn, “‘Doing the Right Thing’: Transracial Adoption in the USA,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 36 no.} 8 (2013): 1286-1287.

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the ‘ghetto’ in films and series to conclude if Randall is being represented as an exceptional black person or even the white savior of the black lower class in Philadelphia.

The first four sub-sections of the second section will compare the representation of black upper middle class to the lower class to be able to conclude if This is Us reinforces or challenges the colorblind ideology. Because the black middle class is not represented in the series, I will write about the reason why the black middle class does not get represented and what the consequences of the missing black middle class are for showing inequality in the series. Since white characters are not restricted by stereotypes, I will also analyze if there is a difference between the variety of social classes represented by shortly elaborating on the social classes the white characters represent in This is Us.

For the sixth and last sub-section, I will analyze structural racism in school by focusing on Randall and Deja’s experience. They are both one of the few black people at their primarily white school. I will analyze if This is Us shows they experience racism in school to be able to conclude if the series challenges the post-racial society. I will also compare the racism they might experience, because Randall and Deja have attended schools in different time periods. For this reason, I expect Randall will experience more Jim Crow racism and Deja more colorblind racism, which would be harder to detect.

The third section will be about the interracial relationships in This is Us, in which gender will play an important role. According to Linsay M. Cramer most series leave out the racial discourse, which results in interracial couples not experiencing any struggles due to racial difference.106 I will analyze if This is Us also leaves out the racial discourse or if they do show struggles the interracial couples experience. Next to this, Sharon Bramlett-Solomon argues interracial relationships in films and series often do not last as long as same race couples.107 Zoë and Kevin’s relationship also only lasts one season. I will therefore analyze why they eventually break up and if the reason for their break up has to do with the stereotype of the career-minded black woman. The section will focus on Kevin and Zoë, but I will also write about the other interracial relationships and I will compare the relationships of the black women to the white women to conclude if the women are represented in a different way and if this has influence on their relationships.

106_{Linsay M. Cramer, “The Whitening of Greys Anatomy,” Communication Studies 67 no. 4 (2016): 478.} 107_{Sharon Bramlett-Solomon, "Interracial Love on Television: What’s Taboo Still," in Critical Thinking about} Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media: Media Literacy Applications, ed. Mary-Lou Galician and Debra L. Merskin (Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007), 89-90.

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Transracial Adoption: white parents’ ability to raise a black child

Randall’s colorblind upbringing

This is Us starts in 1980 when Jack and Rebecca are expecting triplets, but lose one child at birth. At the same time William brings Randall to a fire station, because he cannot raise Randall.

Coincidentally, the firefighter, who finds Randall, brings him to the same hospital Rebecca is giving birth at. Jack and the firefighter meet and have a conversation, in which the firefighter explains he has brought a baby to the hospital, who was found outside the fire station. Jack sees this as a sign and convinces Rebecca to adopt Randall.108 To be able to officially adopt Randall, Jack and Rebecca have to go to court. However, this does not go the way they expected it as the black judge on their case does not think a black child should have white parents. When Rebecca and Jack ask why, the judge tells them about the first time he was called the n-word. His dad did not sympathize or feel sorry for him, because he understood all the pain that word elicits.109 By giving this example the judge tries to explain that while they might have good intentions, as white people, who have the superordinate position, they will never be able to truly understand the experience of somebody in the subordinate position.110 The judge therefore thinks Randall would be better off with black parents, who understand his position and are able to explain what life is like as a black person. By showing a black judge, who goes against the adoption based on a race argument, This is Us challenges the colorblind ideology. Because if This is Us showed the United States is a post-race country, the adoption of a black child by white parents would not have been a point of discussion.

Having said that, eventually the judge recuses himself of the case and the adoption gets finalized by a female black judge. As a result, the concerns of the previous judge might come across as an individual stance, because the new judge is also black and does not have any concerns about Rebecca and Jack being white. The reason the judge recuses himself is, because of a letter written by Rebecca, in which she states that some things might be harder for them as a family, but that they will keep at it and that Randall is her son, whether the judge signs a paper or not.111 The letter does not actually provide a counterargument to what the judge was saying about race and racism. The reason for this is probably, because Rebecca and Jack are both white and have therefore never had

108_{This is Us, “Introduction,” Season 1; episode 1, directed by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, written by Dan} Fogelman, NBC, September 20,2016.

109_{This is Us, “The Most Disappointed Man,” Season 2; episode 7, directed by Chris Koch, written by Dan} Fogelman, Kay Oyegun and Jas Waters, NBC, November 7, 2017.

110_{Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy, 40.} 111_{This is Us, “The Most Disappointed Man.”}