New CW Show All American Shows Promise of Positive Black Portrayals

All American, the new teen show on CW, features a primarily black cast. From the pilot, it is clear that this is the typical underdog story that American audiences have always loved. The story follows a high school football player from South L.A. as he transfers to Beverly Hills for better opportunities in his education and athletics. While both schools have a large black population, the class divide is evident. The main character Spencer James lives with the Beverly Hills football coach and his family in order to be in the correct district for the high school, leading Spencer to feel like he doesn’t fully belong in either world.

In class we examined many of the stereotypes black men are often forced into on television. In this show, Spencer doesn’t seem to fit one of these groups. In the first episode, he is a likable teen boy who works hard and is passionate. There are some stereotypes evident, such as Spencer’s absentee father, but other black characters are portrayed in two-parent households. The football coach, for example, is a black man with two high school children and a wife who is a lawyer. Because of the woman’s career, the family lives comfortably. Because the cast is mostly black, the small stereotypes in some characters seem to be somewhat cancelled out by other cases. That being said, there has only been one episode. Going forward, it will be important to watch for common portrayals of black culture in the media, including violence and sexual aggression.