Observations of Talk Show Taping

Observations from Audience Perspective:

1. Waiting! Waiting! & more waiting!

2. Taping did not start on time

3. Audience was 100% black

4. Snacks were provided (empty calorie / all junk food)

• Chips
• Sodas
• Water (Not in Bottle form) / self-serve from water cooler (what if it was tap water? What if many audience members do not drink tap water?)
• Candy (Chocolate candy bars, twizzlers, mints, etc...) (What if audience members preferred not to eat junk food?)

What if we're actually being taped while waiting? (waited for about an hour and a half before beginning the actual taping of the show)

Observations from Talk Show Crew's Perspective:

1. Let's see how many black folk show up on time.

2. Let's see how many of them become irate after waiting so long.

3. Let's see how black folk interact with one another in a controlled environment.

4. Let's feed the monkeys bananas (no other fruit was served).

5. Let's see how many choose water over soda.

6. Let's see how black people react to certain acts of patronism (if this is a word), when a guest on the show proves to be condescending.

• Have white guy come out shouting names of famous black people & how they're the best
• Have white guy come out shouting how much he "loves" black people
• Insult our (as in we African-Americans) intelligence by continuing the show without any intellectual substance...as if were only always interested in confusion, chaos, mess, or ignorant drama!!
• Furthermore, let's see how they react to racist artwork. ( I personally wouldn't even call it "artwork" b/c it was just awful!! They showed us pictures of the white guy posing with an African-American toddler. It was awful, heinous, & gruesome b/c one of the pics portrayed the white man dressed in a beekeepers suit from head to toe while the little black buy was totally covered with bees. Why would the "white guy" be protected but the little black boy NOT be protected? Many audience members found this to be very disturbing! The next picture was of a little white boy dressed as a slave master in a black suit whipping the little black boy on the ground shackled in chains dressed as a slave. Why would this particular show try & invoke or incite such angry feelings out of its 100% black audience? Were they trying to start a riot or cause confusion? Anyway, many of the audience members became so outraged at the content of the show & the direction it was going, they walked off the set....including me!!

*NOTE*

None of the audience members were informed as to what exactly the show would be about. After seeing & hearing such nonsense and walking off the set....we understood why they withheld such information from the audience, because no decent African-American in their right mind with morals would want to sit through any of that foolishness!!

- K. R. Brumfield