Black chaps on the telly?

Well, I don't watch very much television, but I like to pop in the occasional Digital Video Disc and watch that. Right now, I'm making my way through the second season of the HBO drama the Wire, a cop show based in Baltimore. Besides the gritty realism and bloody fantastic acting, what sets this show apart from the other copper programs is that the cast is predominantly black (or African-American?). To be honest, I didn't notice that last bit until about five or so episodes in. I was so enthralled by the human drama which this show is world famous for, as well as the rich characters, that I didn't bother to think about the show in such a superficial way as: so how many black chaps are there compared to white folks?

Instead, I was absorbed by the characters and their situation. The Baltimore police department is trying to build a case on the Barksdale crime organization. These baddies, who turn out to be intelligent, loyal and misunderstood, deal heroine out of the Balitmore projects. I suppose in a normal show this sort of antagonist would be laden with stereotypes. In fact, many of gang-banging drug dealers in this show conform to some stereotypes such as being trigger happy and "getting high on your own supply:" this show is well known for its realism; however, the underboss goes to community college to brush up on the concepts of supply and demand. Now that's not seen very often! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COf2bQEQ7Zw. Clearly, there is much challenging of stereotypes and racism. This is one of the themes of the show, I believe. Every major character is three dimensional ranging from the half-black half-Chinese lesbian cop to the heroine junkie informant.

Do these characters reflect the black people I know in real life? Not at all. I know no person who is a heroine addict, policeman or gang-banger. I don't think its bad that a show with a majority of black characters is also one about city corruption and drug dealing. In Baltimore, that is accurate (actually most of high corruption is committed by white fellas). Just like in the Godfather you have hair-slicked-back italians running an olive oil business and killing people in spaghetti restaurants. Neither is racially offensive and if it is, it really shouldn't be. In the wire, the black characters are not merely stereotypes or caricatures, but deep and layered people, just like every other character in the show.