Diversity?

I really find odd what some consider to be diversity in television, even in 2008. Not one person has really pointed out any considerable examples of "true" representations of African American or Queer culture on television, as demonstrated by the readings. I think that the majority of people searching for these examples and coming up with shows like "Ellen", "In Living Color", or even the entire BET Network (which by they way is now owned by Viacom I believe and therefore not really in the hands of black producers anymore) are ignoring the fact that they cannot say what are authentic representations of these minority cultures. One of my favorite terms in communications/cultural studies has to be Richard Dyer's "whiteness." This prevents people--as culturally enlightened as they assume to or aspire to be-- from totally accepting the fact that as members of the Caucasian race we are are assumed the default race by privilege. When Caucasions watch TV we fail to see how overrepresented we are. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it's human nature to immediately recognize and relate with similar types. Really "whiteness" can be replaced by "defaultness" so that it also applies to other minority cultures which we fail to recognize as well.

For those of you who think I'm full of complete BS right now, just know that I know that whites or any other mainstream cultural groups can be stereotyped or poorly represented, but honestly it just does not happen so much. Even reality shows, which are starting to have more diverse casts, typically try to find a recognizable or stereotypical character that one can easily categorize.

Don't get me wrong. I know that the aforementioned shows and others listed as "diversity promoting" shows have really made some progress in the industry. But that doesn't change the fact that they are so few and far between that I can't even think of any more than a hand full of shows that aim to represent the underrepresented. Even shows with "self representing" producer's such as "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" or "Chappele's Show" fall into a formula of previous representation--appealing to white audiences only through comedy and using comedy to touch on racial issues. Once again not always a bad thing, but it shows that after such a long time of this struggle for representation, television viewers are still assumed not to be comfortable enough to stomach "authentic" black culture without it being sugar coated with "universal comedy."

I know I'm kind of on a rant. Maybe I have white guilt. Maybe I'm a hippy liberal like my dad likes to call me. Or maybe I just realize that racism, sexism, and bigotry exists in EVERYONE no matter what. We might always and forever have certain connotations associated with all groups of others. But in regards to TV, I honestly am just wondering if we will ever see a day where we don't have to strain so hard to see a more accurate representation of the world we live in. I'm not talking about some magical rainbow of equality here. Just some realness and the recognition that race, gender, nationality, and sexuality matters a lot.