A ‘Proud Family’ Clip Trending on Twitter Has Everyone Talking About Bad Parenting
From Family Matters to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Black parenting has often been the topic of popular sitcoms. American television has a very deep and disturbing fascination with Black child-rearing in a way that’s problematic. Several tropes plague depictions of Black parenting, such as the myth of the absent Black father and the idea of strict Black parents. Many Black sitcoms fall into one of these tropes, unfortunately, and The Proud Family is no exception.
On August 9, the Twitter account Disney TVA shared a clip from The Proud Family in which Penny’s parents lock her out of the house for lying. Her dad gives her bus fair and tells her to head to Sugar Momma’s house, but otherwise, she’s left to fend for herself outside and late at night.
Hopefully I don’t have to convince any of you on why this scene is so messed up. Leaving your child outside because they came home late or lied is beyond cruel parenting. And it seems like a good chunk of Twitter thought so as well.
As Twitter user @Sawkman notes, plenty of Black people on the website have already criticized the scene, both for its inhumanity and poor depiction of Black families. There’s this prevalent idea that child abuse is more rampant in Black and Brown families that has very real consequences. According to ACLU of New York (NYCLU), Black and Brown families are more likely to have their children taken by child welfare services, a predatory institution propped up by white supremacy.
Media like The Proud Family enforces these dangerous myths without much critique. It’s difficult finding Black shows with good representation nowadays, but a few do exist. As Twitter user @XigXeon points out, both Craig of the Creek and Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur manage to avoid these problems. They’re Black shows that highlight positive Black family relations and healthy parenting.
It’s not the first time The Proud Family has caught criticism for stereotypes. As Collider wrote, a queer character by the name of Michael was reduced to a gag for while on the show, fitting a little too uncomfortably in the effeminate gay trope box.
Make no mistake, there’s a lot to like about the show as well. As we’ve talked about before, there are important themes of Black girlhood in the show that are done fairly well. And it seems like the new reboot is angering conservatives across the country, so it must be doing something right.
These tropes aren’t exclusive to Black shows and it’s common to see white kids in cartoons mistreated as well, but every moral failing done by a Black character weighs much, much heavier. The stakes are higher for Black media to not perpetuate harmful attitudes about Black communities than it is for white people.
(featured photo: Disney Animation Television)
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