Source: Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images Entertainment / Getty
Last night’s episode of ABC’s Blackish, titled “Hope,” tackled the topic of police brutality. The episode shows the Johnson’s all hovered around the television awaiting the verdict of a court case involving an African-American teen. Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) and Dre (Anthony Anderson) try to agree on what to tell their youngest children, Jack and Diane when asked what everyone on TV is mad about.
Writer and show creator, Kenya Barris told the Washington Post in an interview, “I have never been as afraid about an episode of television that I’ve written in my life.” The episode dives into the challenges parents face with constant media exposure, and how topics such as police brutality can be difficult to talk about with young children. Barris wanted to write the episode in 2014 after his son asked him to explain what was happening in Ferguson while they were watching media coverage together.
Barris said, “I didn’t want to change or skew [my son’s] point of view because he has to grow up in this world.” He continued, “I spoke to a lot of people that I know, other parents… and friends and that was an issue that — whether it had been about police brutality or whatever — a lot of parents are having to go through right now.”
You can read more on the episode here, and if you missed it last night, you can watch it at ABC.go.com.
