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Chelsea Dinkenor

Mr. Phillips

Cultural Media Literacy

5 January 2020

The Fosters: A Racial Melting Pot

What do you call a family composed of a black woman marrying a white woman, raising

one, white biological son, two adopted Hispanic twins, and fostering two white siblings? A racial

melting pot? Nope, just “The Fosters.” Director Joanna Johnson takes every conceivable

controversial topic and slams it into the five season show called, “The Fosters.” Touching on

issues surrounding the LGBTQ community, gender, racism, equality, immigration, the foster

system, and sexual orientation, Johnson depicts many societal challenges in this heart-wrenching

series. By pulling on viewers’ heartstrings, Johnson captivates her audience specifically by

confronting and defying racial stereotypes through the use of a unique plot line accompanied

with the variety of ethnicities the show pulls in.

Lena, an African American teacher and Stef, a white police officer are the lesbian-couple

tbat raise the beautiful family of whom the show is based around. Stef, previously in a

heterosexual marriage to a Hispanic man, gave birth to Brandon, her Latin-American son.

Together, Stef and Lena adopted Jesus and Mariana, Hispanic twins, and foster Callie and Jude,

white siblings. Their family story is quite unique, resulting from the variety of ethnicities

blending together under one roof. The combination of ethnicities in a family-told story

contributes to the powerful statements made about diversity by breaking down commonly used

racial stereotypes in a profound way. In one particular episode, “Quinenera,” Mariana’s sixteenth

birthday is approaching, and it is tradition in her Latina culture to throw a Quincenera to

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celebrate the day. There is tension throughout the episode dealing with financial constraints, yet

the main conflict evokes from Lena’s mother, Dana, and her comments throughout. “Being a part

of the Latino culture is not just about the color of her skin,” remarked Dana, when discussing

how much this party cost (Johnson). The idea of adopted families attempting to integrate heritage

into their children’s lives is important because it is rare in today’s society. Dana attempts to

make a claim that although she has “Latina skin”, throwing money into a tradition does not make

her any more Latina than it did before. Her claim, however, is quickly overturned by her

daughter’s response, claiming that she doesn’t want Mariana to forget where she came from. The

representation of diversity on “The Fosters” is “smart and sophisticated,” highlighting the

importance of one’s ethnic background that is commonly forgotten in the foster system

(Aggarwal-Schifellite). Going along with that point, the idea of accepting the differences of their

children makes the show so accepting, avoiding “

In that same episode, the issue of African American skin color arises, bringing up the

controversial topics of shadeism and colorism. Lena, a light-skinned woman is discussing color

with her dark-skinned mother at the table one night. Dana states that, “Like it or not, the color of

your skin has afforded you more opportunities than anyone like me has ever had,” referring to

how her darker skin has only given her troubles (Johnson). Lena responds that she did not ever

feel integrated with the black, nor white community, making her just as aware of the struggles

her mom was referring to. This conversation is groundbreaking, because racism is no longer

confined to a white person and a black person. Racism is no longer solely rooted in those with

differing backgrounds. Racism is no longer based exclusively on ethnicity. This dialogue,

however, broadened the spectrum of oppression within the same race. Lena and Dayna, both

women of color, share in a conversation that is “pretty revolutionary in terms of discussions of

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race in popular culture” (Aggarwal-Schifellite). Shadeism, the idea that “although two people

may both be black, one may suffer further discriminatin,” is a result of today’s societal beauty

standards (Hurford). This is no surprise, seeing as magazines, billboards, and catalogs

“airbrushing photos of black celebrities such as Beyoncé and Lupita Nyong’o to make their skin

look lighter” (Hurford). This, among other examples featuring empowering scenes of Lena as a

light skinned woman discredit the idea that although she may not be as dark, does not mean it is

any easier. This brings attention to a problem that most white people aren’t even aware exists.

This also shines a light on the fact that the idea behind darker skin in African American culture is

somehow “less attractive” or “less desirable.”

The “light skin privilege” ideology many African American deal with, women

specifically, stems from slavery. When white slave owners would rape black slaves, their

biological child that possessed a lighter skin tone would be given preferenntial treatment as they

“appeared whiter” (Hurtford). This sparked “systemic racism internalized by black people,” a

condition that still haunts many today (McClinton). In that same episode, a comment about

Lena’s light-skin hair is made by her mother, remarking how her hair is much easier to deal with,

echoing the conflicts in her life as well. This stacks the oppression of whites towards blacks on

top of the oppression of blacks towards blacks, and brings to the surface the internalized racism

many outside of the culture aren’t aware exits.

In another episode, “More Than Words,” Lena is forced to deal with her half brother’s

use of the “n-word.” Her mother, who is also black, seeks to leave the past in the past, fearing

making any trouble or fuss will just undo the relationship she has formed with her half-son.

Lena, however, says that is ridiculous, stating that “when someone calls one person the N-word,

it hurts all of us, that word cuts” (Johnson). This idea of standing up for not just yourself, but the
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black community as a whole, emphasizes the idea that injustice is never “settled” with time, yet

another impactful way “The Fosters” communicates and addresses the pervasiveness of racism.

Although “The Fosters” attempts to paint a picture that shatters day-to-day racist claims,

painting police officers as “racist jerks” and employing the use of ignorant whites to further their

point still shows up throughout the plot line (Admin). While many Americans, typically white

people, believe racism has settled, it is those of color who feel as though it has picked back up.

Women with darker skin see “successful black men coupled with fair-skinned female partners

who pass ‘the paper bag test,’” conveying the cyclical pattern of internalized racism, for light-

skinned women “represent the beauty in the black community” (McClinton). Joanna Johnson’s

revolutionary dialogues prominent throughout send a wave of uneasiness and uncomfortableness

throughout her viewers, achieving her point of making the unaware, aware of struggles within

the black community.

Works Cited

Admin. “'The Fosters' Tries Its Hand at Smearing Cops as Racist Jerks.” Media Research Center,
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7 July 2015, www.mrc.org/cmi-tv-blog-post/fosters-tries-its-hand-smearing-cops-racist-

jerks. Accessed 3 January 2020.

Aggarwal-Schifellite, Manisha. “The Fosters and the Successes of Representation.” Shameless

Magazine, shamelessmag.com/blog/entry/the-fosters-and-the-successes-of-representation.

Accessed 2 January 2020.

Hurford, Kate. “Shadeism and the Politics of Skin Tone.” Socialist Review, 1 Jan. 1993,

socialistreview.org.uk/425/shadeism-and-politics-skin-tone. Accessed 2 January 2020.

Johnson, Joanna. “The Fosters.” Season 1, episode 4, 2013.

McClinton, Dream. “Why Dark-Skinned Black Girls like Me Aren't Getting Married.” The

Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 8 Apr. 2019,

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/08/dark-skinned-black-girls-dont-get-

married. Accessed 2 January 2020.