How to watch 'Black in America 2: Solutions'

Tonight many of you throughout the United States will be watching CNN’s second documentary “Black in America 2: Solutions” the follow up to last year’s Black in America documentary.

Tonight many of you throughout the United States will be watching CNN’s second documentary "Black in America 2: Solutions" the follow up to last year’s "Black in America" documentary. I will state up front that I believed last year’s documentary was sincerely created, well intentioned and a reflection of the passion that Soledad O’Brian and other producers and reporters at CNN had about telling the story of African-Americans. I will also say that it was one of the worst television experiences I’ve ever suffered through, not quite "Homeboys in Outer Space" bad but almost as offensive. So tonight, as many Americans will again tune in to see what CNN has to offer, I have a few suggestions about what things you might want to consider about this documentary while you’re viewing with friends and family.

The problem with the first "Black In America" wasn’t that it was intentionally racist or insulting. It was simply misinterpreted as a documentary for all Americans about African-Americans when it really wasn’t. "Black in America" 2008 was clearly targeted on the vast swath of white Americans who were coming to the realization that there might be a Black man running the country in a few months and maybe they needed a refresher curse on the brown people they’d be sharing a nation with for the last 300 years. Most Black people, and whites, Asians, Latinos and Arabs that had any social or business relations with African-Americans didn’t learn a thing. The second "Black in America" really doesn’t correct this problem.

It still smacks of the “Gee Whiz” voyeurism of the first documentary, but at least this time attempts to be more positive by focusing on African-American success stories instead of the interracial marriages and failure that made up the bulk of the last documentary. Hooray for progress.

The largest problem with the second documentary is the lack of proper context that is given to events that are presented. One of the preview stories for "Black in America 2" focuses on the rift between Africans and African-Americans. Instead of providing a real discussion as to how and why our education system and American culture are different thus leading to misconceptions and stereotypes from each group, the story devolves into the classic model minority trope. Africans are hardworking and disciplined while American Blacks are lazy and obsessed with hip-hop.

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