Women of Color on Television

I don't have to have to tell you that there are a multitude of bad stereotypes out there concerning women of color. Those bad stereotypes are only perpetuated by what we see in the media. Just five minutes ago I turned the channel past MTV and there's somebody's daughter twerking in a pair of Daisy Dukes for the entertainment of some dread locked rapper with a gold grill. We're assaulted with those negative images on TV of the Housewives fighting over a man who isn't worth two dead flies and the ghetto girls in the videos gyrating for fame and a couple dollars. What about the toothless street urchin who can barely string two words together who seems to be a magnet for a local news microphone? Somebody finds these shows entertaining for some reason so they continue on, season after season. To me the bad behavior is cringe inducing and I can't stand it.

 I can honestly say I've never considered twerking and never will. I've never bitch slapped another woman or been asked to leave a restaurant because I'm getting loud. Getting into a hair pulling and shouting match over some trifling man just isn't in the cards for me. I've never lived in Section 8 housing or used food stamps. None of those images reflect who I am as a black woman and I know I'm not the only one who feels that way. But like in most cases, those who make the most noise get the most attention. So the Hip Hop wives and Video Vixens are thrown into the forefront, even though they don't represent the majority of us.

That's why I find some of the new women of color on television to be refreshing. It's a breath of fresh air seeing Scandal's Olivia Pope do her thing, even though she is a deeply flawed character. She's educated and about her business and I'm pretty sure twerking isn't in her agenda. This fall season we were introduced to Abby Mills the female counterpart to Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow and there's also Sasha and Michonne from The Walking Dead, who also break the popular mold. Hoping that Hollywood or whoever runs the show is paying attention, I go out of my way to watch these shows. Hopefully they'll get the point that there is more to us than cat fights and gyrating body parts.