The Amazing Race Race Race

(Actually I just found out that it's "Survivor", not "The Amazing Race", but I like the title, so you'll have to bear with my poetic license.)

Just as I am not easily embarrassed, I'm not easily offended.

This crap offends me.

For those of you who have not heard about this, the upcoming "Survivor: Cook Islands" will not arbitrarily delineate who goes into what tribe, but will instead be divided along racial lines: African-American, Asian-American, Latino and Caucasian (apparently neither Latinos nor Caucasians are "-American").

The best line I have heard describing this debacle is "Survivor: Skin City".

I like a little bit of controversy. I think shaking people up and making them THINK once in a while is a good thing. Americans have become far too complacent, self-centered and whiny. If you exist in a world where breaking a fingernail is the thing that keeps you up at night, you have more problems than you realize. Whether we "want" to or not, we all have a duty to be aware of and aid our fellow man. This doesn't necessarily mean joining the Peace Corps. It could be mentoring a child or reading books to the blind or providing pro bono services to people who otherwise couldn't afford them. If we all did a little bit, it would turn into a lot. And we'd all be better off for it.

What we do NOT need is a return to the days before Brown v. The Board of Education. It is my firm belief that human beings are innately predisposed to find external ways to assert superiority to one another. (See e.g., Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches.) But it is also my firm belief that because we are sentient beings with the capacity to reason, we can overcome those prejudices. Am I deluding myself into believing that Americans are a true melting pot of cultures who work hand-in-hand without discord? No way. We've got a long, long way to go before we get anywhere close to that. However, whipping out The Race Card does nothing but a serious disservice to everyone. This "Survivor" essentially forces its viewers (of which I will not be one) to align themselves along racial lines, and not necessarily in the ways one would immediately think of. Just as I can see certain groups screaming, "White Power!", I can just as vividly hear the chorus of "Of course the Blacks are going to win, they were bred to be athletes" or "You know how those Mexicans are, they're all sneaky" or "The Asians can't win...there's no math or science involved."

Unlike the world premiere of "Roots", this show will do nothing but tear out fledgling roots of camaraderie and increase insularity. It is an insult to our intelligence, and a dramatic step back in the progress of race relations. I applaud the sponsors withdrawing their advertising, although I do wish they had the balls to admit the reason they were doing it instead of claiming one had nothing to do with the other. I condemn Mark Burnett for being a callous attention hog who is only interested in stirring up controversy to raise viewership, consequences be damned. I think CBS should fire him, make public apology for ever even considering the format, and donate a sh*tload of money to some 501(c)(3) dedicated to increasing racial tolerance. But that won't happen because that would mean they'd have to admit they were WRONG. And that's a fate worse than dusting off segregation and putting it on TV for fun and profit.

This is especially contumelious in this year of the 5th anniversary of September 11th, when race WAS forgotten for a time and we banded together for the first time as Americans instead of
"-Americans." I shudder to think what Mark Burnett or his ilk come up with for the 10th anniversary. I fervently hope that we will be a nation completely intolerant of such primitive attempts to "entertain", but if this show opens up new rifts, we may never have the chance to advance that far.

Thanks, Mark. We'll be sure to put you down in the history books as the Brit who reintegrated segregation back into America.