In the immortal words of the late, great Ronald Reagan, there you go again, Superior Donuts. This time, the extremely liberal show that seeks to teach leftist lessons to its audience every week, claimed that Obama is the first and last black president because white people “gave us one just to shut us up,” then got “so mad at having a black president that they elected an orange one.”
In Monday’s episode, “Always Bet on Black,” donut shop employee Franco (Jermaine Fowler) is upset at business owner Fawz (Maz Jobrani) for putting a sign in front of his store that reads “Happy Black History Day.” Franco points out that it’s actually Black History Month, and Fawz replies, “Yikes. Give them an inch…” Because, of course, entrepreneurs and business owners are evil, greedy racists. #EyeRoll
Franco then laments that's what he hates about Black History Month.
Franco: That's what I hate about Black History Month, man. People just paying lip service to make some money. Like when these companies hire a gospel choir in their commercials to sell some chicken nuggets. Or the place down the street doing the Harriet Tubman Escape Room.
Sweatpants: The white people got a map.
Sofia: Don't worry. The business council is putting up banners featuring four icons of black history. Rosa Parks, M.L.K…
Franco: George Washington Carver and Harriet Tubman.
Sofia: How'd you know?
Franco: Those are the same four people recognized every year. And I appreciate the effort, Sofia, I do, but there's so much more to black history than just that.
Sweatpants: People don't know about the unsung heroes, like Wesley Snipes. First black vampire? Oh, oh, you're right. Eddie Murphy. Vampire in Brooklyn.
Randy: You know, Franco, you got to give us a little more credit than that. We know something about black history.
Arthur: Yeah.
Franco: Oh? You-you know something about black history? All right, okay, well, let's see how many black historical figures you guys can name in about 30 seconds. Sweatpants, time it.
Sweatpants: Okay, go.
Arthur: Michael Jordan, Walter Payton.
Franco: No athletes.
Tush: I got one. O.J. Simpson. But for his acting.
Sweatpants: I'll allow it.
Sofia: Marcus Garvey, Charles Drew.
Franco: Hey, if you name one more, you get an honorary black girl name.
Sofia: Madam C.J. Walker.
Franco: Oh, damn, Yashika. Okay.
Sweatpants: Ten seconds.
Fawz: Uh, the first black astronaut!
Franco: I need an actual name, Fawz.
Fawz: Uh, Darth Vader?
Sweatpants: Time's up.
Franco: That was pathetic. There's so many people y'all should be knowing about. Writers, engineers, inventors. You know something? I'm gonna bring in somebody to teach y'all about the parts of black history y'all know nothing about.
Fawz: Did you say, "Know nothing about" or "Care nothing about?" Because there's a lot of overlap.
Franco: I'm gonna make you care. And, look, I know we have a long way to go, but hearing these stories from these icons, it makes me want to keep fighting.
Of course, the white characters knew nothing about historical black figures. I could name several that they didn’t mention (Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass, Nelson Mandela, Medgar Evers, Clarence Thomas), but this is Hollywood’s version of reality, which isn’t very real at all.
Franco’s friend Sweatpants (Rell Battle) suggests that Franco bring in an elderly black man from the nursing home he works at. Luther “Wheels” Langdon says he was a famous baseball player in the Negro Leagues, and Franco decides to invite him to the donut shop to speak to kids from his old Little League team about black history from his perspective. “He's gonna motivate 'em to follow their dreams,” Franco proclaims, “And who knows, one of 'em might end up being the next black president!”
Franco: Anyway, let's get started, kids. Gather round. Come on, come on.
Child: Ooh. Do we get free donuts?
Franco: Even better-- you get to meet a real-life hero who's gonna tell you about his amazing life. Everybody, put your hands together for Mr. Wheels Langdon! Wheels Langdon!
Landon: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Franco: Listen up, there was a time in history when black people weren't even allowed to play in the big leagues. But Jackie Robinson was the first. Now, tell us, sir, did you ever meet him?
Langdon: Meet him? I used to play against him all the time.
Franco: Oh! Whoo! Oh, see? He played against him all the time, the great Jackie Robinson. All right, man, so tell us, what was he like?
Langdon: Oh, Jackie? He was a big-time ballplayer.
Franco: Yeah, he was.
Langdon: And an even bigger S.O.B.
Franco: Which stands for Super Outstanding Ballplayer.
Langdon: No, no. He was a weasel, a real suck-up.
Sofia: Franco. May I?
Franco: Mm-hmm. Mr. Langdon, tell us, what was it like going from the Jim Crow era to seeing our first black president?
Langdon: Yeah, the first and the last.
Franco: What?
Langdon: Well, they gave us one just to shut us up. After that, white people got so mad at having a black president that they elected an orange one. And so, orange is the new black.
So Black History Month should be about assigning false motives to white people and misrepresenting them as hateful racists to the next generation? Lovely.
The end of the episode speaks volumes about how much the writers care about the truth. After learning that Wheels lied about his experience in the Negro Leagues (he had a poor record as a shortstop and was mostly known for being the bus driver for the players, which is how he earned his nickname), everyone ends up being fine with him lying. Donut shop owner Arthur (Judd Hirsch) argues that Wheels is still “part of history, too” and that his stories were “really interesting.”
This episode is the first one written by Jermaine Fowler who plays Franco. If you thought there might not really be an agenda behind the episode, as well as the show itself, here’s your proof that there is a definite agenda at play.
Fowler told Variety Magazine, “Hopefully, young kids of color who are used to watching CBS’ current broadcasting, are going to watch Superior Donuts and aspire to disrupt what society has projected as normal. CBS garners a predominately older white audience and by having a show like Superior Donuts on their weekly programming, it distorts what people are used to seeing in a positive way. It’s a show I think was necessary.”
Yes, by all means, let’s celebrate black history, let’s teach about equality and preach against racism. But teaching young kids of color that white people are hateful racists who only voted for a black president to shut black people up and that they’re angry with Obama based on the color of his skin rather than his faulty policies and political actions is not okay.
Fowler should take his own advice, as quoted in Variety: “Just because someone has a different opinion than you, a different upbringing than you, a different perspective than you, people shut them out without trying to see where they’re coming from.” That goes for skin color, too.
