In the last few years Survivor has been accused of lacking diversity. Only two of the winners from the past twelve seasons have been minorities. Mark Burnett, executive producer, admits they have "taken a lot of flack" for having primarily white contestants. Jeff Probst, the host of Survivor addressed the lack of diversity in a 2005 interview saying, “The overwhelming majority of people who apply to Survivor are white. We’re aware of racial [and] cultural diversity, because our show is built on people from all walks of life.”
This season Survivor has decided to meet the accusation head on, but deciding whether their approach is helping or hurting their case is up to you. CBS released today that Survivor: Cook Islands will divide the twenty players into four groups determined by ethnicity. There will be a black, white, Asian, and Latino tribe. Producers seem to be stirring the racial pot for ratings instead of taking the accusations of prejudice seriously. Burnett says that "We're going to take some heat for it," but also is excited for the sparks that will fly around the water cooler.
So much for the great American melting pot and team building across differences. It appears that Survivor has not heard the latest over the past 50 years that racial segregation is out. I am tempted to zip them over a copy of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education that ruled that separate is not equal.
Pitting segregated racial and ethnic teams against one another will only fan the flames of lingering, often hurtful stereotypes. Will the Asian team be smarter? Will the black team be star athletes? Will the Latino team have the most spirit? Will the white team be elitist? On so on: in what can only be considered offensive. They are going to instill all the stereotypes that America is battling to get rid of. Plus, let's not forget that it is the Survivor producers
doing the casting, and can pick among thousands of Survivor cast
wannabes to get the team flavor they have in mind. Are you supposed to root for your racial team? And how about multi-cultural diversity and mixed races? The whole thing has me fuming.
Ultimately, this latest stunt is a blatant attempt to boost ratings. Even though Probst claims that everyone in the tribes has a "1-in-20 shot at a million bucks" he must know the type of racial tension Survivor is starting. And let us not forget what may be cut on the editing floor, we will see each ethnicity as CBS best sees fit to cross the finish line first when Survivor: Cook Islands premieres September 14th.
Image: CBS
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