Some 1990s black TV programs did more for race relations in the United States than some modern "activists" like Colin Kaepernick will ever do.
Now, I was fortunate to grow up with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Family Matters, so when Kaepernick claimed they catered to white people with characters like Steve Urkel and Carlton Banks, I listened up.
But for me, the first thing that comes to mind is that these shows were wildly successful, and most people considered them wholesome television.
And they did it while black families on television were still a relatively new thing.
With the advent of TV in the 1950s, Americans could only tune into shows with primarily white casts like The Andy Griffith Show or The Lone Ranger.
However, we saw more diversity on the silver screen as time progressed.
Classics like The Jefferson's, Sanford and Son, and What's Happening!! Gained popularity through the 1970s as pioneers of black TV.
At the end of the 1980s, black and white kids saw more of each other than ever before.
But some modern "activists" like Colin Kaepernick don't see the positivity of these classic programs.
In fact, in Kaepernick's Netflix Series Colin in Black & White, Kaepernick claims these shows created characters based on white personality traits.
But let's look into what Colin has to say in his latest attempt at attention through race-baiting.
"Acceptable Negroes" in 1990s Black TV
Kaepernick claims Family Matters and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air use "archetypal black characters" like Carlton Banks and Steve Urkel as "acceptable negroes."
Why?
Because according to Kaepernick, characters like Banks and Urkel have white characteristics which make white viewers more comfortable.
"White people love these dudes"-Colin Kaepernick.
As a white kid watching these episodes, I did love these dudes.
But it's not because they had "white characteristics" or they made me "feel comfortable."
Urkel and Banks were archetypes like most television characters, but not "white archetypes."
What are "white characteristics," anyway?
For example, if we look at Steve Urkel, he's a nerd.
A loveable nerd, but a nerd.
He's intelligent, awkward, and polite. Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory is a more recent TV nerd, but Cooper was rude and selfish.
We also saw this with Mark on Step-by-Step or Screech on Saved by the Bell.
Sure, these characters weren't the coolest in school, but they say we should be nice to them as we'll likely work for one.
How are those traits "white?"
Are characters on these 1990s black TV shows not allowed to portray an identity based on their individuality as humans instead of their race?
To say being intelligent and successful are synonymous with being white is something a white supremacist would say.
"Unacceptable" Negroes?
But what about the rest of the cast?
If Banks and Urkel are "acceptable negroes", what does that say about everyone else?
Archetypes come from the Greek words' original' and 'type' used in psychology to describe generalized behavioral patterns.
Theater, film, and television all use archetypes to create a storyline and entertaining dialogue. A few examples are "The Ruler," "The Jester," and "The Outlaw."
Creators write these personalities to create friction for the show and make it more interesting.
If they made a show about a family where everyone is the same, nobody would watch it.
Both Carlton Banks and Steve Urkel were "The Nerds."
When these nerds interact with others, such as Will Smith, "The Cool Guy," we see Will's high-risk behavior conflicting with Carlton's tendency to be overly careful.
The same thing happened between Urkel and Eddie Winslow, "The Jock," who mainly was into cars, girls, and sports.
As many teen boys are.
If Carlton Banks and Steve Urkel were "white archetypes," what does that say about everyone else?
Will Smith and Eddie Winslow weren't saints by any means, but they weren't exactly candidates for the Gangster Disciples, either.
Same goes for DJ Jazzy Jeff and Waldo Faldo.
Even for the racist whites watching, do you really think this guy intimidated anyone?
Other characters had their quirks and unique traits, like Hillary Banks, "The Brat." Or Phillip Banks, "The Patriarch."
There's no such thing as a "white archetype."
Carlton and Urkel were nerds, and other characters originated with human characteristics, not racial stereotypes.
Race vs. Class
Let's take a brief walk through the Winslow residence in Chicago, IL. If you can recall the narrow multi-level house from the opening credits, you'll remember that you could almost jump from roof to roof.
At least the house on the right, the condos on the left didn't exist during the Winslow heyday.
Side note, they demolished the Winslow residence in 2012 and built more condos.
Anyway, both Mr. and Mrs. Winslow worked full-time, and the kids had their part-time jobs at Aunt Rachel's diner.
Mr. Winslow or Officer Winslow (later promoted to Sergeant) was a Chicago police officer, and Harriet, his wife, worked at a newspaper company.
That's pretty middle-class, which was the point.
Now let's head over to the Banks residence. If you watched the show, you'd remember how to get there since you rode with Will in his cab.
But do you recall seeing any neighbors at the Bel-Aire residence?
Nope.
We went from playing basketball in the inner city to a private gated community in about 15 seconds.
Again, that was the intent of the writers, to contrast class.
Class is the Basis of the Show
Every television show has a basic premise, whether it's 1990s black tv or otherwise, and the Fresh Prince's basis is clear from the opening credits.
It's about mixing Will's inner-city experiences with his wealthy relatives.
But while the Banks enjoyed more financial freedom and a higher spot on the totem pole than the Winslow's, both programs appealed to middle-class American kids.
Kaepernick says "white archetypes" like Carlton Banks made white viewers feel "more comfortable," but most found more common ground with Will.
Now, I didn't grow up in West Philadelphia, or any major city for that matter.
But most white middle-class kids related more to Will than his family due to class.
Isn't it obvious?
Young viewers, especially young boys, find Will a role model. He's into sports, rap, girls, and typical teenage mischief.
Now consider Carlton.
Let's see. Carlton plays tennis, is a country club member, has aspirations for Ivey League schools, and shudders at the thought of breaking a rule.
Does that sound like it resonates with the standard middle-class C students that put homework off so they could watch Fresh Prince?
We see Will's friends in Philly during the opening credits are black. The cop that hassles him for graffiti is black, and the guys that beat him up were black.
Black people have a human right to be different people with different identities.
To say only whites can be conservative, nerds, or police officers, is to say blacks should strive to make stereotypes a reality.
Most of our relationships and problems stem from class, not race, and 1990s black television did well to illustrate that.
Tackling Racism, and Others
Family Matters and The Fresh Prince's acting made these shows successful, but so did the episode topics.
Some of this stuff was pretty heavy, especially for 5th and 6th-grade students.
But we have to learn sometime.
When we watched the weekly highs and lows of the Bank's and Winslow families, they didn't let us forget that racism existed.
In the episode "Mistaken Identity," Carlton had a rude awakening when the police stopped him and Will for suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle. The idea here is that the cops assumed the Bank's boys couldn't afford the luxury car because they were black,
The Winslow's didn't shy away from the issue either.
During the 1994 episode "Good Cop, Bad Cop," Carl Winslow confronts two white officers for assuming Eddie didn't belong in a white neighborhood.
These moments taught us about people, but more importantly, they showed us that evil exists in the world and to prepare for it.
And it wasn't just racial problems.
Other Social Issues
The Fresh Prince addresses sexism in "Boxing Helena," where Will takes on a woman in the ring and loses.
Will and the audience learned that women could beat men up.
Both The Fresh Prince and Family Matters shine a light on gang violence, an issue that continues to claim black lives week in and week out to this day.
So far in 2021, Chicago gang violence claimed 678 murders at the time of this writing.
These sitcoms were invaluable. Because when the white kids tuned in, they didn't look at it as observing how black people live.
We saw the characters as people, with many of the same problems we all have.
And for those we couldn't relate to, we learned about them.
For that, I think the Banks and Winslow families did far more for race relations than some "activists" like Colin Kaepernick will ever do.
I hope he proves me wrong.
Other 1990s Black TV Programs
Family Matters and The Fresh Prince are not edge cases.
When these programs hit the air, it wasn't the first time white kids learned a lesson from black people.
Before Steve Urkel ever asked the Winslows if they had any cheese, white kids had tuned in regularly to Reading Rainbow for years with Lamar Burton.
Of course, this was a children's show with a target audience of 6, but white kids learned new things from a black man.
But we didn't think of him as "the black man."
And for many kids like myself, we just knew him as the Reading Rainbow guy.
This would not be OK for many whites just a few years prior.
Was Burton "acting white?" to make white kids feel more comfortable?
Or was he talking the way adult people talk to kids?
What about Martin or Living Single?
Tommy, from Martin was intelligent, Cole, not so much.
Same with Maxine and Synclair from Living Single, respectively.
Stop telling black people they can’t be human.
In Pursuit of Money
To say characters like Steve Urkel and Carlton Banks had "white characteristics" say only white kids can be nerds, and only white kids can have conservative beliefs, be awkward, or aspire for higher learning.
Banks and Urkel didn't make white people "feel comfortable."
They earned permanent spots on the show because they were funny and added value.
Viewers got plenty of intimidation from Uncle Phil and Harriet Winslow as respectable parents, not as "scary black people."
Not only did the acting keep it real, but again, the content did too.
When we tuned in to Family Matters or The Fresh Prince, they didn't serve us a false view of the world where social issues don't exist.
Did Family Matters and The Fresh Prince eradicate racism by attacking it early?
No, and I'm sure some ex-fans joined the Aryan Brotherhood.
But most of us learned a few things from the Winslow and Banks families.
White kids who didn't have many blacks in their communities saw that these black families had much of the same problems.
Not all, but many-even if the families were fictional.
We didn't question how Phillip Banks could be a judge, how Carl Winslow could be a police sergeant, or why a black man taught us that we could go anywhere if we open a book.
But we can't move forward when we tell young and impressionable people to equate success and conservative values to white people.
Black people born in the United States can be nerds, conservative, get into Harvard, or be president.
Because black people are people, that have every right to be individuals and not let race hustlers jam them into categories and convince them they should feel sorry for themselves.
Kaepernick ended his video with a portion from a Langston Hughes poem.
"Negroes
Sweet and docile,
Meek, humble, and kind:
Beware the day
They change their minds!"
This first part describes how blacks kept a mild manner not to put white people off back in the day.
And it's true.
Many white people expected blacks to smile and not intimidate whites.
But Kaepernick forgot the last part:
"Wind
In the cotton fields,
Gentle breeze:
Beware the hour
It uproots trees!"
Whether through 1990s black TV, civil rights, politics, or war, many people fought and died to uproot the trees of racism.
But when race hustlers see an opportunity to make money by replanting seeds of hate, they'll take advantage.
Because Kaepernick doesn't care about "black and white."
Just green.