not welcomed to the neighborhood

When I first saw a commercial for this new [non]reality crap that passes for television programming these days, I seethed with anger, but I couldn't write a blog about it because I was having difficulty articulating the disgust and frustration it unleashed to an audience with varying levels of understanding of the situation. I've gone on and on about my leftist ideas and my obsession with urbanism, but I don't think you necessarily know that housing is my particular interest. And of course I'm particularly focused on social justice/civil rights issues. So perhaps I can let this little blurb from The Bible's industry news speak for itself. If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention (or so a bumpersticker on my car says). Also note that I added the emphasis (bold) to the last bit. Is that executive stupid, naive, or on crack?

New Reality Series Draws Fire From Minority Activists, Others

Welcome to the Neighborhood, a reality game show in which the prize is a new home in a suburb of Austin, TX, is drawing fire from minority rights activists long before its scheduled launch date on ABC on July 10, the New York Post reported today (Monday). Neighbors will be allowed to select the winning contestants, who include African-American, Caucasian, Korean, Latino and gay families as well as one in which husband and wife are heavily tattooed and another in which the couple practice a kind of witchcraft. Among those protesting against the show is Shanna Smith of the National Fair Housing Alliance, who told the Post that it "perpetuates the problems of housing discrimination, segregation and racism in America." The gay organization GLAAD said that watching the neighbors "get rid of disenfranchised families they don't like is really disturbing." However, the show's co-exec producer Tony Marsh told the Post: "This isn't like [the judging families] were renting an apartment to somebody or actually the sellers of a home. This is a prize, so in that realm, those discrimination laws and all that stuff are not part of this process." He added that the intent of the program is "to show what people really say behind closed doors."

You know I could go on and on, but I'll be brief. You must understand that just because this stupid "game" is not subject to such discrimination laws does not mean it operates outside their context. If anything this show highlights the extreme importance of these laws and their enforcement to protect people's rights from such stupidity and ignorance.