Ice Cube is under fire after a 2000’s reality TV show he produced about race-swapping resurfaced online.
On Saturday (April 9), a clip from a 2006 FX reality series titled Black. White. made its way onto Twitter, and while it didn’t have much longevity on television, the program was a topic of much criticism over the weekend with many people analyzing and dismantling the subject matter. Ice Cube was a co-executive producer of the show.
The show follows two families, one Black and one White, who lived under one roof and “swapped races” for six weeks. The family members wore makeup that made them have either lighter or darker skin complexions.
Regarding the premise of Ice Cube’s show, according to Google, the synopsis for the program says, “What’s it like to walk not just in another man’s shoes, but in another man’s skin? That’s the question this series asks as it transforms through extensive makeup work a black family into a white family and vice versa. The two families live together for the duration of the experiment, discussing their experiences—sometimes heatedly—after the makeup comes off.”
In the beginning of the very first episode, a cast member named Bruno, a White man, says, “My name is Bruno and I became a Black person.” Another person on the show, a Black man, said, “No one knew I was a Black man when I had my white makeup on.”
One person tweeted in response to the apparently tone-deaf show, “Lol I’ve been trying to remind y’all about black & white for years! Lol Ice Cube was mad wild for that ????.”
Meanwhile, another Twitter user deemed it a “social experiment” and feels people are taking the show out of context.
“Everybody talking about Ice Cube executive producing the 2006 Doccieseries “Black. White.” It was a social experiment guys nothing more just that, don’t read more to it…,” the person typed.
A third person wrote, “I’m tryna watch this Black White show Ice Cube produced and ngl this shit pissing me off and I’m only 8 minutes in the first episode…”
The show, which was not renewed for a second season on FX, can be viewed on YouTube.
Ice Cube has been in the midst of controversy over the last few years, with him showing support for former President Donald Trump and being accused of promoting anti-Semitic theories on social media.
See more reactions to Ice Cube producing the show Black. White. below.
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