Comments on: New 'Survivor' A Race Among Races

Probst Reveals Contestants And Controversial Tribe Change

[lissamtd]

I originally thought it will be interesting. But then I thought about my 7 year old watching. We actually use to look forward to watching as a family.I just don't think children should know these things at a young age.They should have no worries or negative views.Don't get me wrong,I totaly believe we are not all the same,and I will teach him when the time comes.Children are not born knowing the difference. However it is a fact and they should be taught eventualy or they will find out on thier own anyway. I am hoping this show will show that to the the people in the dark and the people pretending to be in the dark. I look forward to watching, however have to watch without my child or think of a way to desribe the separation without letting him know the ugly facts yet.Let this be a lesson to all you "head in the sand" parents teaching your children we are all the same. If that were true they wouldn't be able to have this venue for the show.

[hfbrooks11]

This is what I just sent to those on my email list:

If you have been following the reality series %u201CSurvivor%u201D then you know it was the first reality series that all the others have copied. In my opinion it has been the second best reality program on TV, second only to %u201CThe Amazing Race%u201D. But with each successive season it has gotten worse.

The new series begins sometime next month, and I just heard what the format will be. If what I heard is correct, and I have it from a reliable source, there will once again be four tribes to start with, but this time it will be the, %u201CAfrican-Americans%u201D, the, %u201CAsians%u201D, the, %u201CHispanics%u201D, and the %u201CCaucasians%u201D.

If this is really so then what a joke it will be, in a time when everyone is trying to get along as one American people, to separate tribes on the basis of race, and pit them against one another, is unconscionable. If I did not hear it from a reliable source I would not believe it. I will probably watch the first five minutes of it to find out for sure that this is correct, then turn it off and not watch this series or any subsequent series again.

If anyone has heard anything that will confirm or discredit this please let me know. I would like to hear I am wrong, but I fear I am not.

Fred Brooks

Elverta, California
(Sacramento County)

PS: I just checked it out and, unfortunately, I was correct.

[engelsleninmarx]

I don't see this as necessarily a bad idea--how much is race really talked about in this country in an honest and open manner? As a 'white' person I do feel like we tip-toe around this issue, leaving our true feelings to simmer inside and have no real outlet to express them. The healing process of becoming a truly integrated and sensitive society cannot be accomplished with just forced political correctness.
I think that maybe with this new survivor we will have somewhat of a chance to start open converstations with each other about the differences and similarities between the different ethnic groups. I doubt this will perpetuate any false stereotypes, hopefully because the contestants weren't chosen on how well they fit those stereotypes in the first place.

[jonesjonesb1]

In a country that has not handled race very well I feel that a major network should not jump on the bandwagon to further separate people in terms of race. Ratings are very important to CBS. This concept shows just how much the bottom line is to CBS. I would hope that there would be a ground swell of people who will vote with channel turners and not watch this "social experiment".
How low can you go?

[frmdbb]

I really dont understand the big deal about ethnic groups. There are many colors of the rainbow and what counts is who is a real team player and carries their own load. This racial thing is getting real old.

[tesslynn83]

Come on people.. This is just a show.. It is entertainment... The contestants are there by choice, It's not something that was forced on them! It is not segregation, it is just a different twist on things.... Which in the end, they will all end up as one... What's the difference.. Last season it was young guys and old guys, young girls and older women... With the shape that our world is in today... Can we not just enjoy "Survivor" without making a MOUNTAIN out of a mole hill!!!

[mebrown998]

I'm a caucasian from the state of Mississippi - still recovering from our misguided actions of a few decades ago. Finally, our state is trying to climb out of the "racist" category. Here CBS is trying to force the entire country back into the 1960/1970s charged arena of colorful stereotypes. What is the deal with that? I, for one, am proud to be above these issues now.

On another note, Bavarian29 is right. What is with all the West coast participants. Hopefully the next "twist" will be to divide the teams into geographical regions. Oh no, then we'll have another North v South thing going. At least that won%u2019t be as WRONG as Black v White.

[originonline]

I found it interesting this morning listening to Jeff describe the races...Asian-American, African American, Hispanic and WHITE. When did white replace caucasian?

Let alone why can't I be European American Mutt

[jackie19671]

Ethnicity

Hmmm...

Asian Americans probably have descendents from Asia?

African Americans probably have descendents from Africa?

Hispanic Americans probably have descendents from some spanish speaking country.

White Americans?????? They must be those folks of alien descent that no one knows.

This white ethnicity has always been a curiosity to me. I'm a mix of european and native american descent with white skin. Just call me a Mutt American please :)

Excellent concept....let the "nanny" police say whatever, majority of the viewership will certainly enjoy.

[msturner2]

CBS has again demomstrated extremely poor judgment by pitting Americans against each other by "racial" lines in an attempt to boost its ratings. For decades, we have been trying to rid American society of segregation and polarizing institutions, but these kind of cheap exploits only perpetuate unAmerican divisions. I am curious how much thought went into the ethnic makeup of each "racial" team. Were you sure to have the proper balance of irish, italian, germans on the "white" team; puerto ricans, mexicans, cubans on the "hispanic" team; koreans, japanese, chinese on the "asian" team? How ridiculous.

Why not pit a group of multi-racial Americans against "tribes" of French, Japanese or Nigerian teams? Or would that be too nationalist? This latest idea by CBS is stupid and whoever approved it should be fired, or be sent to for racial sensitivity training.

[dgodemann]

I really don't care about how you divide the groups... but there are alot of folks from California...LA or other California areas in the group. Can't you get a more diverse group from across the United States? Seems that there must be people from all 50 states that would fit into the show.

[snoozecafe]

Oops... the previous post was in response to the fact that there were no American Indians on the show

[snoozecafe]

Neither are Asian Indians for that matter...

[robinsoncm]

What is so wrong with it. I have children of mixed race and am married to an african-american mad. i have gone through hell as well during my 20 year marriage but if contestants choose to take part, that's their choice. People can choose to watch or not watch.

[clumberfoot]

First Reality TV is an oxymoron. Second the Black, Yellow, Brown, White tribe thing should be on the history channel. Let%u2019s get contemporary. They should have Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Atheist tribes.

What gives. The 20 contestant's home states are slanted toward California by a 14 to 6 ratio. Not exactly representative of non-CA states. Well, La-La-Land will control the outcome!

[apdepetris]

I've watched every season of Survivor (except for this first one oddly enough) and this is just another way to shake things up. In the past they've seperated by gender and by age and now by race/ethinicity. It certainly doesn't have to be stereotypical - I guess that might depend on the editing. It may end up breaking down stereotypes if the people don't end up fitting the mold that other people may have in their minds. Personally, I think people get too worked up over this stuff. Nobody screamed when they divided people by gender or age, why now. It seems that things have gotten so bad that everyone is afraid to address race issues anymore. We're just so afraid of offending anyone anymore that it's just gotten ridiculous. Get over it people. It's just a TV show. Most reality shows in this day and age aren't even real anymore.

[cwfabian]

And hey, why don't we name the tribes "Spear chuckers", "******", "********" and "Crackers"? Have you dumbasses at CBS lost your minds?

[gladys_over]

If Tiger Woods wished to participate in this, which tribe would be join ?