The year is 1760, and Miley Cyrus, in Tennessee, is flipping back the gums of an African savage, trying to see if she will acquire him. Don’t be alarmed; she just wants to take something home, “something that just feels Black*,” according to Planet IV.
Blackness has always been a commodity to America: from the cotton pickin’ days to Living Singlethe 1990s sitcom. Staring Queen Latifah and Kim Fields, the show illustrated the personal and professional lives of six African American friends in Brooklyn. The Fox network premiered the sitcom in 1993. Underrepresented on television during the 1980s, the African American community flocked to the comedic sitcom. Fox struck gold, again, as it did with In Living Color, which premiered April 15, 1990 and New York Under Cover, featuring strong minorities leads, which aired from 1994-1998. When the 1990s ended so did the support of the Fox network for African-American sitcoms. It’s a popular motif within cable networks. The WB, UPN, and CW all followed this model as they built there networks on the viewership of minorities, then once on solid footing these shows were replaced by White sitcoms and vampires.
Cyrus falls in line with a long tradition of White America reaping what Blacks have sown by way of the media. Yes, Justin Timberlake and Eminem borrow from Black culture, but they have shown a true respect for African American tradition and art. They respect living and past legends, while only chiming in on gimmicks not building an identity of monolithic Blackness around these gimmicks. If Cyrus is truly ‘bout that life, I say back to the auction block with her.
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