The disintegration of Roseanne Barr shows the power of Black women in Hollywood and the rise of class over crass
Roseanne Barr woke up with a million-dollar job and by lunchtime in LA it was gone. She got her big show chopped down like an old Civil War statue.
Her show was indeed a monument to white privilege, a place where supporters could celebrate President Donald Trump and dismiss ABC shows like Black*ish and Fresh Off the Boat with the back of their hand. This is not simply symbolic. In one-episode Roseanne and her TV husband, Dan Conner, sleep through the primetime TV shows and when they awake, her husband says, “We missed all the shows about Black and Asian families,” to which Roseanne’s character says, “They’re just like us. There, now you’re all caught up.” She dismisses them, saying we needn’t pay attention to them and the nuances of their lives because they don’t matter. You can ignore them and feel fine about it.