Kenya Barris released some promotional photos for his new show on Netflix called “Black Excellence” and it left fans wondering-‘where are the Black people?’.

The family sitcom stars Barris himself as the dad and Rashida Jones as the mom of this Black family.  Fans called out Barris on colorism for once again writing shows about Black families that cast actors who are mixed or lighter-skinned.

Jones is the daughter of music legend Quincy Jones and “Mod Squad” star Peggy Lipton-a blonde-haired beauty who moved from the runway of the 60s to movies and TV.

The children cast for the show are also slightly less melanated than the average African American–a point which didn’t go unnoticed by fans on Twitter.

Marshall Sinclaire@SinclaireOO

Replying to @_IanJ and 5 others

Black Excellence encompasses all black folks, yet they choose to only cast light skin folks

Colorism is a very real thing that dark skin folks understand because it actively happens to us.

This is just another example (of which there many) of colorism in practice.

52

9:01 AM – Dec 21, 2019

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She’s Here@i_stay_on_100

Replying to @strongblacklead and 3 others

How does a show called black excellence have a cast that’s only 10% black

Kayyyyyyyyyyy

21

9:39 PM – Dec 20, 2019

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monoracial Black people are only cast for “urban” projects.

dark skin Black people are cast as criminals, druggies, gangstas, babymommas, the poor, uneducated, prostitutes, etc.
you gotta pass the brown paper bag test to be able to portray Black excellence.

— MllnCll&ThNfntSdnss (@mlnchlysdnss) December 21, 2019

ayoxdide@https_mide

lol, if u were going to make a show called black excellence, u better damn well make sure ur darkest cast is white mixed with like 30% black

1

8:33 PM – Dec 21, 2019

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Barris’ first show “Black-ish” was a hit with audiences and critics winning numerous awards and spawning two spin-offs-“Grown-ish” and “Mixed-ish”. Some complain that colorism is as much Barris’ landscape as is his humor and sometimes confrontational show themes.

Just like he deals with hard issues on his comedies, Barris tackled the cries of colorism.  He responded, “Guys, this is supposed to be real. What do u think Rashida & I’s kids would look like?…And I’m also not gonna make up a fake family that genetically makes no sense just for the sake of trying to fill quotas. I LOVE MY PEOPLE!”

Apparently the whole colorism issue got under Barris’ skin as he spent much of his online time leading up to the Christmas holiday trying to explain his position saying at one point, “I’m going to say this and then let what happens happen… Colorism is a divisive tool used by the powerful to separate the truly powerful.”

While some fans agreed with Barris that colorism is divisive, is his argument valid?  Watching “Witcher” over the weekend, it was noticeable that the Netflix show compared to another powerhouse fantasy series— HBO’s “Game of Thrones”—was cognizant enough not to commit the same casting mistake of few Black actors in major roles.

Criticisms of colorism don’t seem to plague other creators like Lee Daniels, Shonda Rhimes, Ava DuVernay and Tyler Perry.  The talent of actors like Viola Davis and Kerry Washington didn’t hinge on how long and silky their natural hair is or how light their complexion?

Black families are like the black crayon encompassing all the different colors to make it black. Most Blacks have dark-skinned and lighter skin siblings, parents or whatever.  Based on that fact, Barris has the right and Hollywood juice to cast whomever he chooses. But maybe he shouldn’t call the show “Black Excellence”, slip in multiracial actors, hope no one will notice and get salty and defensive when they do notice and call him out on it.