Last week, National Public Radio aired an interview I did with them discussing my interracial, interfaith family. You can listen to it at: http://pgpclassicsoaps.blogspot.com/2012/10/classy-people-dont-discuss-race-or.html
Since the beginning, soaps have had a checkered record when it comes to presenting racial issues. We've previously addressed some of them here, here, and here.
In 1989, Generations premiered, featuring a core Black family, as part of an attempt to rectify the imbalance.
Creator/Executive Producer/Headwriter Sally Sussman recalled for my book, Soap Opera 451: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama's Greatest Moments:
Our purpose in creating a multi-racial series was to not shy away from controversial storylines. We hoped to make our show different by creating black characters who had not been seen on daytime before; like Doreen, the black conniving bitch, or Martin Jackson, the manipulative businessman. Generations didn’t look like every other show. Sadly, we were a little ahead of our time and the series only lasted two years. But the impact of the show still resonates as it presented African-Americans in a very aspirational way.
Read more from Sally, as well as find out (and watch) what she believes to be the show's most powerful scene in:
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