Racism On TV

You don't have to be watching PBS to learn some interesting things about race and class in American society. Whether it's The West Wing, Wife Swap, or even Extreme Home Makeover, sometimes it seems like TV is addressing what's going on in our society better and more directly than most elected officials and media outlets.

Now comes a new FX reality show, Black.White, in which two families essentially switch lives and go through their days as another race. It premiers March 8th and sounds like it tries to do a responsible job of depicting the subtleties of racism and the challenges of that old ideal, being color blind. Here's the NYT story about it. Confronting America''s Racial Divide, in Blackface and White