Who doesn’t love a good throwback Thursday (a.k.a. #tbt)? I also know one thing that can make any good idea great -- television. So what is better than celebrating the almost nationally recognized holiday with a throwback to an old television show? The answer should be nothing.
My personal favorite, old-school Disney show is a clear choice, obviously That’s so Raven. For those of you who were deprived of a childhood or lived under the rock from 2003 to 2007, the show features an African American family and their every day affairs in comical fashion. The daughter, Raven Baxtor, has frequent “visions” that would allow her to see into the future. Her and her friends typically would try to prevent the future and often ended in hysterical outcomes.
However, there is nothing comical about the message the show gave its young viewers during African American month. This episode had Raven and her best friend, Chels, both interview for positions at a local department store. It was clear that Raven was the better candidate for the job; she has impeccable folding abilities and great people skills. Her best friend, on the other hand, could not organize any clothes and was completely lost when it came to the industry. However, Chels still ended up with the job. How did this happen? The store owner later says that she didn’t choose Raven for the job because she “doesn’t hire black people.”
As a child, we are all raised to believe that racism doesn’t exist in the modern day due to Martin Luther King Jr. and other great leaders that helped lead our country in monumental steps towards equality. We thought that we had ”crosssed the line” and as a society changed the norm of society to be colorblind.
However, the harsh reality is racism is still prevalent in today’s society. Before this episode, I had never even thought that people wouldn’t get a job just by the color of their skin. That’s so Raven awakened the minds of young children everywhere and made them aware of the cruelty of the world around them. The media too often desensitizes viewers while Disney took steps towards preventing such narrow-minded behavior.
