YOU WOULD think with Barack Obama's ascendancy that network television, often a barometer of where the culture is, would have its share of leading black men and women. Yet, if you scan a week's worth of shows on CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox, you might think the networks are locked in a pre-"Cosby Show" mindset from a quarter century ago.
Only one drama or comedy in a recent week starred a strong black leader - CBS's "The Unit" with Dennis Haysbert. For the most part, African-Americans were on the sidelines. Didn't the suits get the memo? Don't they watch the news?
Well, don't call Jesse Jackson to organize a boycott just yet. Take a closer look at network television - not something I'd advise on an empty stomach, given the quality - and you begin to see a world that more closely resembles the one we live in.
While the majority of black faces aren't stars of network shows, almost all regular series have prominent African-American members of the cast, and few of them are in the stereotypical sidekick roles of yesteryear, like Mr. T on "The A-Team." Some, while not the main characters, are nevertheless leaders - Tamara Taylor's Dr. Camille Saroyan on "Bones," James Pickens Jr.'s Dr. Richard Webber on "Grey's Anatomy." You could throw in Vanessa Williams on "Ugly Betty" too, even if she isn't exactly a role model for how leaders should behave. If Obama does become president, you could argue that President Palmer on "24" - played, again, by Haysbert - would have gotten the country ready for a nonwhite president.
And if you can stand to watch game shows and reality shows, the picture becomes even less pale. At least three are hosted by African-Americans - "Last Comic Standing" with Bill Bellamy, "
The contestants on all these shows reflect an even more diverse country, going to show that all Americans have the right to be stupid, self-obsessed, or greedy. That aside, in many cases you would be hard-pressed to identify the contestants as black or white, Asian or Latino. In fact, the above-mentioned Taylor on "Bones" is, like Obama, biracial. Her mother is white, her father is black.
So does it make any sense to talk about ethnicity at all? It's still hard not to. As any number of commentators have said this election season, we're not living in a colorblind society. All the references to Obama as black or African-American instead of biracial are evidence enough.
There's another story, here, beyond numbers. If you look at these shows as a totality, the racial subtext is assimilationist rather than separatist, which is also the subtext of Obama's campaign. The African-Americans who get ahead professionally on these shows - be they dramas or reality shows - don't pronounce "that" as "dat," often are more conventionally dressed than their counterparts, and generally have little or nothing to do with hip-hop culture. One would think their iPods are as integrated as Obama's - Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and the Rolling Stones, along with Jay-Z and Stevie Wonder. In fact, on at least two shows - "The Mole" and "CSI: NY" - white characters are more likely to reflect hip-hop culture than the black characters.
This is not good news, of course, for antiassimilationists who think a unique culture is getting watered down. But even if that's true, join the crowd. Even the Brits - Hugh Laurie in "House" - have to be assimilated Americans to get a good job.
So is America ready for a biracial president? Obviously, some doors are still closed to African-Americans. A black contestant on "Nashville Star" was dismissed by a judge, John Rich, with a curt "You're not a country singer, brother."
But there are more doors opening than closing on network television for black Americans, particularly those who look and sound like Obama. That has enormous implications for America, no matter who the next president is.
Ed Siegel is former television and theater critic for the Globe.
