'Shades' of meaning as W. Kamau Bell probes cultural divides
NEW YORK (AP) — "America's Best Bigots" is NOT the name of W. Kamau Bell's new CNN series — "although that would be a great name for a show," says the popular black comedian who hosts it.
Bell's series, premiering Sunday at 10 p.m. EDT, is instead titled "United Shades of America," and, while it will routinely place him in a culture clash with the week's chosen groups or subcultures, the point is not to spotlight prejudice.
Bell's mission is to build a bridge — even if only a shaky footbridge — of understanding between him and a racially, ethnically or otherwise divergent sample of his fellow habitants in these United States.
Future episodes of the eight-episode season will feature inmates at San Quentin State Prison; happily disconnected folks who in a Snapchat Age opt for living "off the grid"; retirees and spring-break college kids who annually collide in Daytona Beach, Florida; and a few of the hipsters gravitating to Portland, Oregon, along with longtime residents who weather this assault.
[...] while one might argue that it would have been smarter to film this episode last, not to start with, "I figured if it really goes badly, we only shoot that one episode and I become a legend."
"[...] I tried to be very clear, in each case, that we're here to make fun out of this situation, not to make fun OF this situation," he says.
The episode (which includes a cross-burning, complete with fun facts including the correct terminology: "cross lighting") doesn't laugh off the Klan's hateful principles.
EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press.