WHAT'S A "BLACK" STORYLINE?"
A Discussion of African-American Roles on Daytime
SCA: One of the results of that report was that everyone started
buzzing that daytime needed more "Black stories." But what in
the world is a "Black story?" Is there such a thing?
TT: I have been having this conversation since 1987. I want to
know what a Black story is myself. When I talk to the writers, and they
start talking "Black story," I'm like, "I don't know what
that means." When you talk about a "Black storyline," do
we have to go to the ghetto, does it have to be gang-bangers and drugs?
This story that we are getting to do now, the actors just happen to be
Black but the situation could happen to anybody of any color. So, I think
the term "Black story" just needs to be erased from the vocabulary.
Because if you write a storyline that is human and a Black person is portraying
it, then it is a Black storyline.
NDG: There is no Black story. There is just life and there are
stories to be told. I have to really give As the World Turns some
credit because they were developing this story before that report came
out. We are beautiful people of color and we are integrated now in Oakdale.
ATWT was brilliant in that, for this story, they have a veteran, Tamara,
and they have two semi-veterans who have been there, Peter and Paul, and
they have me. They didn't just force-feed you with a bunch of new people.
They are people that the audience have gotten used to and care about now
and feel invested in. Hopefully, with them being invested in these people
for so long, they will be interested in this story. And the fact that
it is played by Black characters, hopefully they will be like, "This
is cool. This is dope."
LR: What's a Black story? That's such a tricky question because
even though I'm American, there's also the reality that I'm a person of
African descent. And because of that, some of the things that happen in
my life and in my community are going to be a little different. What makes
something a Black story is a story that has some of those real elements
of what it is actually like to grow up as an African-American.
PP: I don't think that daytime tells Black stories. They have
stories that have Black characters in them. I don't think our story is
being written as a Black story, and sometimes it does bother me. People
say, "Just tell a story." But you can't create everybody like
they are White and ignore that there are different dynamics within a certain
culture. Black culture tends to deal more with society -- the limitations
and restrictions of society. In a soap story, you tend to just deal with
personal relationships and family dynamics, and there's not as much social
context dealt with. Like, why are people doing what they are doing? How
are you impacted by who you are within the society? Sometimes, when they
deal with interracial relationships, it's dealt with like it's just two
people who get along. But the characters also have to deal with that within
a certain context of society. I see a great absence of that context in
the storytelling, but it's very much a part of my life as an African-American.
Next: Question
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