Soap Operas and The Black People They Need

In the mid 90s daytime soap operas did something miraculous, it began to tell rich diverse stories about communities I recognized. The Wards were introduced on General Hospital, Brenda and Sonny became the supercouple we adored, and Tea Delgado became to romantic lead that we yearned for. Black and Latino families became a mainstay on daytime television. The trend in daytime coincided with the increased presence of Brown/Black people on prime time television. New York Undercover and Living Single helped establish Fox as a network. The Wayans Brothers were happy, singing, and colored on The WB. Even the daytime programming on Saturdays represented some aspect of me, (Hi City Guys). Those diverse changes in programming from the mid to late 90s eventually became a part of a fad practiced by networks before they truly established their networks. But in daytime television those rules do not apply. Once a family is introduced they become a part of the fabric of the story, if the family stays more than five years they are not easily forgotten. Family is a through line of any story regarding a place or space.

The Wards were one of those families that could not quite become untangled from the General Hospital tapestry. The remaining members of the family floated in and out of the cast into the 2010s.  Justus Ward was unceremoniously killed when I was in high school. The death of Justus was the end of storytelling for middle class Black families in Port Charles. Maya Ward popped back into town for a couple of years only to be regaled to a forgotten side chick in the end. The Young and the Restless was one of my favorite soap operas simply because of the Barber/ Winters clan. Victoria Rowell brought such a familiarity to Drucilla that I felt I knew her. I definitely knew a version of Neil in my father who struggled with substance abuse and fostered children with his wife. The Winters were grounded in something familiar, in most ways they were Black on purpose. As an adult I realized this was due to the work of the actors. Kristoff St John and Victoria Rowell elevated the work they were given. Despite the popularity of these Black families and the abundant talent of their portrayers, soap operas have failed to hire Black writers to run the shows that are propped up by a large Black audience. Why are the same 7 white writers rotating through these shows as their man voices?