Television Earpiece Needs Change For African Americans

By Environment Man

Since Barack Obama ascended to prominence, I have noticed more blacks on television. I have also noticed the earpiece more because it is white and stands out against brown skin. It really dawned on me when I was watching Dr. Ron Walters, Director of the African American Leadership Center at the University of Maryland, when he appeared on C-Span on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. I noticed then that if the earpiece had been brown or clear, that it would not have distracted from the important information he was sharing with his audience. I also noticed that I did not notice the earpiece on the moderator, who happened to be white.

Oh these pesky little racial details. But this just shows that television studio appearances have included few blacks up until now because there has been no consideration to the earpiece issue. Of course, it will be solved over the next year of so because I am sure the television show producers notice it too. And television being what it is, it will get some brown or clear earpieces specifically for African American guests. Just one more step in our move towards being a post-racial America.