It’s funny how Hollywood tries to promote diversity by implementing racism.
It’s even funnier when producers think we’re too dumb to catch on to their tricks.
I can’t lie. I sometimes indulge in reality TV. In fact, one of our house favorites is Big Brother. My kids love to watch the competitions and bet on who will back-stab who next.
For twenty-two years, sixteen houseguests have piled into the incredible house Big Brother built. Each week someone leaves until, you guessed it, the last person standing cashes in with a $500,000 prize. It’s half of what the Survivor payout is, but it’s also cushy living compared to a deserted island.
Somehow, in twenty-two years, the show never crowned a black winner.
Now, I haven’t gone back and analyzed these twenty-two seasons in search of prejudice, but I can say it didn’t seem to be intentional. I could be wrong, but I do know this. Choosing a black winner to change the optics of the game doesn’t actually have a positive impact on the players, or the viewers.
It’s a lot like raising children. If you hand your children everything they ever want or need, not only will they be spoiled, but they will also grow to doubt their own abilities. While they may love the spoils on an obviously level, behind the smiles will be a wall of insecurity. Because when a child never has to earn anything, they start to think perhaps they’re incapable of manufacturing their own success.
Straight out of the gate, Season 23 was riddled with “ineffective parenting.” In the very first episode, we met Derek F, son of boxing legend Smoking Joe Frazier. Of course, his father’s identity was a secret from the rest of the cast. Derek gathered the other five black people and immediately formed a secret alliance known as the cookout. The goal of the cookout was to get all six black players to be the last six people in the house in order to guarantee Big Brother’s first black winner. It’s Hollywood’s way of rebranding “Affirmative Action.”
In the Bag
I think it’s great that each of these individuals aspired to be the first black winner. Just like I think it’s awesome when I see a girl drummer in a rock band. It’s important to always challenge ourselves to not let “the expected outcome” become a negative self-fulfilling prophecy.
I’m quite confident that if I walked around thinking “Kevin Jackson would never have a white girl write on his platform,” he never would’ve bothered to put me on his team. However, I knew I had something valuable to add. Now, not only am I part of his team, but I get to work for a man that never coddles me. Instead, he constantly challenges me by giving it to me straight. As such, I’ve grown as both a writer and a professional. It’s almost tragic that Big Brother never displayed the same level of confidence in their contestants.
Clearly Rigged
Everyone knows there’s a certain amount of “rigging” involved in every reality show. My daughter appeared on American Idol in 2020. And we learned pretty fast that it’s not always the biggest talent that goes the furthest. There’s a certain amount of playing to the ratings involved.
The cookout was no different. This six-person alliance never faced any real danger of elimination. Things like veto wins and head of household accomplishments consistently favored the six black contestants. And as the last white person was voted out, she appeared on camera to say that although she was disappointed, she could never be mad at someone for trying to accomplish something so monumental.
Give me a break!
You just lost $500,000 Claire, because of someone who promised to be your ride or die. And you’re not the tiniest bit mad? I call BS.
Eventually, the season ended, and Xavier was crowned the first black winner of Big Brother. Amazingly, the prize money got it’s first ever increase- to $750,000. Then, Derek F, the “creator” of the cookout, took second place and $75,000. Lastly, Tiffany, the black “mama” of the bunch was awarded “Houseguest Favorite” and a cool $50k. All three prize winning categories produced a black winner. It’s almost too perfect. Which is how we know no matter what we saw on screen, behind the scenes forces were always at work.
The sad thing is that Kyland, Xavier, Derek, Tiffany and Azuh were all really bright people. Incredible athletes, and overall contenders. At no time did any of these people need a little favoritism. Ok, maybe Derek needed a hand in the physical competitions, but overall he was a Big Brother shark. Still, the fact that the show manipulated the outcome actually steals much of the glory from the winners.
If you think Big Brother is the only show falling prey to the scam of getting WOKE, think again.
Cookout 2.0
My mom called me last night to express her disappointment with what I like to call “Big Brother’s cousin: Survivor.” It’s the same premise. A bunch of people thrown together vote each other out one by one until the last person standing collects the prize. Now, it looks like Survivor formed the Cookout 2.0 with their brand new all black alliance. These four black contestants are now “working together to uplift one another.” Hmmm. I’ve heard that before.
Shan, one of the black contestants, was quoted saying, “Listen, I want us to be on the front page… just like, look what we did.” Again, I’ve heard that before, too. From Kyland, Xavier, Tiffany, Hannah, Azuh, and Derek. Suddenly, I’m reminded of Pete the Repeat Parrot, never an original word of his own!
Then Liana added, “As people of color there is a shared experience. You immediately have this bond you’re like, oh you’re the only one in your classroom that looks like you? Me too. So you have this bond and connection right off the bat. We do want to uplift one another in this game and it would be a really beautiful thing.”
But if CBS thinks they hit pay dirt with their new black strategy, they may want to think again.
According to The Heavy:
Twitter was immediately abuzz with fans blasting the alliance for being racist and saying “Survivor” is now “going the way of ‘Big Brother,’” in reference to the all-Black alliance the Cookout that made it to the final six on “Big Brother” season 23 this past summer. Some fans even vowed to stop watching.
“And…I just watched my last #Survivor episode. I can’t handle another racist season like we just sat through with ‘Big Brother.’ See you next year, #Survivor, if you’re done with the f***ing bulls***,” wrote one viewer.
“#Survivor just became a racist game like ‘Big Brother’. F***. Not good at all,” wrote another fan.
“Looks like CBS again make ‘racist’ issue…I never see white cast doing s*** like this…done with ‘Survivor,’” wrote a third fan.
“#Survivor going the way of #BigBrother where the true racists show up!” wrote another viewer.
“‘Survivor’ having a racist alliance just like ‘Big Brother.’ Dear white people; from now on assume the black players are aligned, and vote them out. #Survivor41,” one fan called for.
Too bad CBS didn’t ask Kevin Jackson to consult on their new strategy.
Kevin recently wrote about a lawsuit in which a man won $10M from his former employer after being pushed out of his job for being white. Turns out, it wasn’t hard for the judge to see just how being non-colored cost David Duvall his executive employment.
Kevin had some sage advice for those looking to succeed in corporate America.
As a former management consultant to some of the largest companies in the world, I recognize what some perceive as the lack of blacks, women, etc. in corporate America. But not seeing blacks for example, is not the issue.
It’s not like blacks can’t get great corporate jobs by, wait for it…starting our own companies. And for those who want to climb the corporate ladder, I have some advice for them: stop with the ethnocentric BS and just perform like a rock star.
Even better, perform with no agenda. Don’t push for a promotion, just do your job to such a degree replacing you would be damn near impossible. If you do that, you will succeed.
As most spoiled children eventually learn, successes earned are far greater accomplishments that first place participation trophies can ever be.
