'Mixed-ish': Will the 'Black-ish' spinoff be able to tackle the issue of white privilege with the seriousness it requires?
In the first episode of 'mixed-ish', Bow begins narrating the story of her childhood to her family. Bow tells that she grew up in a post-racial commune with her two younger siblings, Johan and Santamonica. It was when the commune was shut down for ATF violations and the elders were "detained for 3 to 5 years", that Bow's family moves in with her paternal grandfather and lived in the outside world for the first time.
While the major focus is on Bow and her siblings as they tackle being biracial -- something they were not aware was a thing while they were in the commune -- and understanding their identity, the show also focuses on their parents, Paul and Alicia. Paul is the son of a rich white lawyer (who loves guns) and Alicia is a black woman. When Bow talks about how her parents met in law school, she says that while her father dropped out, her mother did not because as a black woman, she would always need a backup plan. This is the first instance on the show that alludes to white privilege.
While Paul and Alicia agree to bring up their children by sticking to the values they acquired from their time at the commune, it is only Paul who tries to adhere to it strictly and without much thought about it. After all, it is easy for him to spend time growing vegetables when housing for his family is already provided by his rich father who is a staunch capitalist. Alicia, however, realizes in time that she has to let go of some of her values if she wants to survive in this world as a black woman and goes to her father-in-law for a job. Paul is upset with Alicia's decision, berating her until Alicia points out that as a black woman, it is different for her. She also points out that it is different for her children. While Paul's white privilege is not straight-up pointed out to him, he seems to get that Alicia's and their kids' experiences in this new world are going to be different.
'mixed-ish' will certainly have to be more nuanced and deal with more difficult topics than its parent show, 'black-ish'. While white privilege may be acknowledged in the latter, it needs to be explored, especially within the context of its presence within Bow's family. Though the premiere episode does show that Paul's white privilege (and perhaps by extension, his father's) is visible, how this plays into Paul's and Alicia's roles as parents, them reintegrating into society, will all matter in the stories that the writers choose to tell.
