On one particular Wednesday night, I found myself watching a block of Prime Time Television. For what reason? I have no idea, perhaps I was feeling a strong sense of loathing that day. In the end, it didn’t really matter, as I was not actually watching the program. Instead, I was just sitting there browsing the Internet on my phone, relaxing in my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle boxers, as the television remained muted.

My mother walked in and noticing the oddness of the situation, asked me the most obvious question, “Why aren’t you wearing pants?” After a long debate on how I will not subjugate myself to society's clothing based oppression in my own home, she asked a second, possibly more important question, “Why was the television muted?”

My quick answer of “I don’t like this show, but I want it to do well” was met back with a confused gaze. She sort of just walked out—with what I assume were questions on where she went wrong as a parent—after which, I was left alone with my thoughts.

The exact name of this show is not important, what is noteworthy, however, that it was a show starring a cast of black actors. As someone who is half black, I feel a sense of responsibility in doing whatever I can to get more diverse representation on television. I want black people to be given roles beyond that of the simple shoehorned-in token character that executives throw into popular television in order to satisfy the number of Americans who are not Caucasian. I find the concept so obvious and insulting, that when a show appears to have a cast of diverse characters, I really want it to do well.

So, when this one particular show was starting to air, I decided I needed to watch it. I gave it a shot, but my God, I could not turn it off quick enough. It was your standard, cookie-cutter sitcom, full of cliché, two-dimensional characters, forced laugh track, and predictable plot lines. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t clever, and it just wasn’t good television. If it hadn’t been a black show, I would have just turned away without a second thought. Horrible sitcoms get cancelled all of the time, it doesn’t matter if this one does too. However, there was a fear here I had not experienced before: what if this show getting cancelled makes networks believe that Americans don’t want to watch television with black actors? I didn’t want to contribute to this media trend—so I muted the television and carried on with my business.

It took a minute for me to understand this, but this mindset wasn’t right for a number of reasons. For starters, my family doesn’t have a Nielsen box, so my contribution to ratings is more or less nonexistent on a grand scale. Second of all, I couldn’t support something just because I wanted more minority representation on television. Poorly written television is poorly written television, and if it isn’t made with some level of decent care, it has no business being out in the world warping the minds of tomorrow. Just because I see the benefit of expanding the role of minorities in television, doesn’t mean I should allow myself to compromise a certain set of standards. As, proven time and time again, shows with minority representation can be done properly.

Two shows I will mention by name are “Blackish” and “Off the Boat,” two shows featuring either a black family or an Asian-American family. Both shows are marginally better than the aforementioned show and critics and audiences agree. The fact that both programs have been renewed for a second season shows that minorities can do well on television. As a television viewer myself, I can go back to older shows like “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” to remember that there is a certain level of quality that should be achieved.

In the end, my opinion on the subject is relatively miniscule on the grandness of the world. Just because I believe something is abysmal doesn’t mean there aren’t millions of other people who consider the same thing to be the best thing since the deep fried Twinkie. More or less, this little tidbit of time is about understanding that while individuals such as myself or others with similar mindsets may feel a certain responsibility to help push forward racial representation in the media, we may not know how to react to the compromise of principles versus necessity for progression. A bit dramatic for watching a television show, but visual media is one of the greatest molders of the world’s future.