Among all the insults about Trump and his voters, there were at least a couple of savvy insights.

After a vigorous day of science and political punditry, I usually unwind with situation comedy shows.

Wednesday nights, ABC’s The Goldbergs, Speechless, and Modern Family are my usual fare. Generally, I will turn it off before Black-ish airs, as the social justice messaging offered in the series about a black family man struggling with cultural identity while living in a predominantly white, upper-middle-class neighborhood tends to be more than I can bear.

However, because it features Laurence Fishburne, I do sometimes sneak a peak.

Last week, the advertisements trumped that “Black-ish will tackle Trump” in an emotionally-charged episode. Normally, that would be enough for me to switch the channel. However, my cat-like curiosity compelled me to watch.

The theme of the show is the progressive struggle to understand why Donald Trump won. Needless to say, the episode missed most of the reasons for the victory.

However, due to a few elements I observed, there were subtle hints that some of the creative team may have had a small clue. So, out of the goodness of my heart, I am going to analyze the show from the perspective of the “white woman Trump voter” who caused the show so much consternation.

First of all, I would like to dispense with the notion that Anthony Anderson’s character, Dre Johnson, was particularly brave or meaningful when he gave the “I love America despite all its flaws” speech near the episode’s conclusion. Here is a sample:

You think I’m not sad that Hillary didn’t win? That I’m not terrified about what Trump’s about to do? I’m used to things not going my way. I’m sorry that you’re not and it’s blowing your mind, so excuse me if I get a little offended because I didn’t see all of this outrage when everything was happening to all of my people since we were stuffed on boats in chains. I love this country as much — if not more — than you do. And don’t you ever forget that.

Spewing statements about your victim status as a black person in Hollywood is neither courageous or innovative. It actually is fairly standard social justice fare. A braver script would comment on the videotaped torture of the white teen in Chicago at the hand of black thugs, the brutal Murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom by black criminals, or the beating that a Trump supporter got during his hijacking by blacks in a gang-infested neighborhood.

Let’s spend a moment discussing black-on-white violence, which I assert this episode encouraged…at least if the white in question is a Trump supporter. How? The character of Daphne (co-owner of the ad business and played by Wanda Sykes) had to be restrained from attacking Lucy, the white co-worker who voted for Trump.

Not. Funny.

A major bone I have to pick is the episode offers mere caricatures demonstrating how progressives think Trump voters behave. At one point, Dre Johnson’s son flashes back to a white schoolmate taunting a Latino substitute about being forced to “go back”. Given the fact that I was worried about my son wearing a Trump button to school, a friend of his was not allowed to wear his Trump t-shirt to school over safety, and a 15-year old Trump supporter was beaten during a march, I found this particular scene galling.

Most of the episode’s material was based on “fake news” and seemed to be nothing more than an excuse to insult Trump and his supporters under the veneer of comedy. For example, at one point the Daphne character proclaims, “Fine, as long as she knows that a vote for Trump is a vote for racism.”

If the Black-ish creative team had bothered to do a modicum of research, they would have uncovered that Donald Trump has never been racist nor are a vast majority of his supporters.

Some discussion of the video above would have wonderful. And if the creators of this comedy series really wanted to understand why white women voted for Donald Trump, then they should have read my detailed analysis reviewing the myriad of reasons I did so.

But, I must give kudos to the libertarian or independent on the staff who did insert a few critical remarks about Barack Obama. At one point, Deon Cole’s character of Charlie Telphy, one of the black office mates, questions whether Obama was Democratic or Republican (difficult to ascertain, given the state of the Democratic Party today).

Additionally, the creative team did allow the Trump voter to give a powerful, anti-Obama message.

“I’m not some crazy right-wing nut you guys. I voted for Obama — twice. I even got my Republican parents to vote for him. He felt different. I believed he was gonna change stuff.” “But it’s eight years later,” she continues. “My dad’s still out of work. My hometown’s about to go under. And Hillary comes out saying she’s basically going to keep everything the same. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t work for me and my family.”

However, in the end, there is only one way to go. The daughter reminds her mother that she is the next generation of voter, and they will win next time.

I would like to remind the Black-ish team that we Trump voters also have our own children, and they are not going to roll over for the progressive agenda. Given the fact that millennials have fallen way behind their parents, in terms of age equivalent economic achievement and as a result of the ultra-progressive economic policies in place since 2006, I like our future chances.

In conclusion: I will keep watching Black-ish for Laurence Fishburne. The only guilt I suffer from isn’t white guilt, it’s my guilty pleasure of enjoying watching anything that features Fishburne.



