Black Survivor alums complain about being stereotyped

NPR

The recent Black Lives Matter protests have galvanized Black Survivor alumni in a private Facebook action to demand CBS makes changes to make the show more diverse, especially behind the scenes. Season 1's Ramona Gray Amaro, the first Black female Survivor contestant, recalls being portrayed as lazy. "I became the lazy person, which is the furthest thing from the truth," Amaro tells NPR. "That really upset me and it took me a long time to get over it. ... To realize, we signed our life away. They can do whatever they want to do." In watching Survivor since then, Amaro has noticed similar portrayals of Black contestants. "We can't swim ... we butt heads, we're athletic, but maybe not smart and strategic," she says. "I'm just saying, 'Do right by us.'" As NPR's Eric Deggans reports, "there are a few different groups of Black Survivor alumni trying different strategies to make their opinions known. One group sent a letter to CBS on June 19 — the Juneteenth holiday — to request a meeting. Another Black alum, J'Tia Hart, created a petition on MoveOn.org asking for a range of changes to help diversify the program, including insuring at least 30 percent of the show's cast is Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC). So far, over 4,500 people have signed it." Survivor alum Rob Cesternino, who is white, recently hosted a virtual Zoom roundtable discussion featuring 12 Black alumni. As Deggans reports, "the Black alumni spoke about the stress of auditioning before rooms filled with white executives, the challenge of not offending white castmates while also trying to play the game, having fans sling racial slurs or death threats and having white castmates use racial slurs around them. Chief among their concerns: feeling that the show mostly marginalizes the Black people who play on it, because the production staff that creates the show isn't diverse enough." Deggans also notes that fellow CBS reality show Big Brother has also been accused of rarely showing white contestants' racist behavior. "It's a criticism CBS has faced regarding another one of its unscripted competitions, Big Brother: that racism committed by white contestants is rarely shown, leaving viewers unaware of why people of color on the show might be reacting badly," he says.