One Tree Hill gets biracial
by guest contributor Karen Gilmore
Ernest Waddell’s (Derek) portrayal of the tough as nails Marine with a big heart is the best addition to the series. On the good side, this shows that the American television audience is ready to embrace the fact that multi-ethnic families do exist and that they are growing in numbers. This new turn gracefully counters the “you can only pick one” line of thinking.
On the bad side, what took Hollywood so long to do an episode like this? And better yet, why aren’t there more shows with this kind of content? One Tree Hill may have an abundance of teen angst melodrama but this storyline is a true diamond in the rough.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
naina wrote:
Hi Karen,
I love OTH and I think it’s very addictive. However, I’m not ready to give them any kudos just yet. The show centers around a high school basketball team in North Carolina, and for the longest time they did have a single regular who was a person of color. Only recently have they introduced people of color as secondary characters. But they do tackle gender and class issues quite nicely. When a person of color plays the lead on the show I’ll be happy.
Posted 30 Nov 2006 at 11:53 am ¶
naina wrote:
oops sorry i meant to say “they did NOT have a single regular who was a person of color.”
Posted 30 Nov 2006 at 11:54 am ¶
Rob wrote:
Call me back when a non-black minority is part of a cast rather than blacks, who are the only over-represented minority demographic in the media.
It’s only a tad more “revolutionary” than an full black character because this character is biracial. If they really wanted to “revolutionary,” they’ll add the demographics which are grossly underrepresented in American media: Latinos, Asians, Arabs, and Native Americans.
Diversity doesn’t mean “add a token black person.”
Posted 30 Nov 2006 at 1:06 pm ¶
Meg wrote:
excuse my ignorance but i thought it was odd that in a show about young ppl there were so few ‘people of colour’ around. Maybe where it’s set is a white place so it’s not surprising? And i have to agree with Rob that “diversity doesn’t mean add a token black person”
Posted 30 Nov 2006 at 6:53 pm ¶
M wrote:
We have to fight for more racial diversity!! WE NEED more influence in the media, as sad as it is, but more and more people watch television in our society. The only way to gain acceptance is adding every race in the media as it is the COLLECTIVE representation of our country now.
Posted 12 Dec 2006 at 9:13 pm ¶
tirah wrote:
I’m sorry but isn’t Skills an African-American? He’s considered as one of the main characters.
Posted 03 Jul 2007 at 1:01 am ¶
Syl wrote:
I can’t say I’m a regular viewer of One Tree Hill, but my room mate has it playing about 24/7. I’d venture to say that it is indirectly racist. The one black character is so outrageously caricatured that you can’t take him seriously, especially since he is the only black face in a sea of white kids. It bothers me.
Posted 08 Oct 2009 at 1:04 am ¶