Making Room for the Minority Screenwriter

The reported comments of “NYPD Blue” co-creator David Milch’NYPD’ Figure Tries to Clarify Race Remarks,” Calendar, Nov. 10) offer the opportunity for a much-needed discussion of the minority writer’s role in the entertainment industry.

Our group, the Organization of Black Screenwriters, has worked for six years to assist the development of African American screenwriters and their access to the industry through education and orientation projects. We note Milch’s statement that his Oct. 15 remarks were taken out of context. However, we feel it important to respond to two of the points he reportedly made:

First, we support the need for “affirmative action for writers” in the most basic sense of a conscious, ongoing effort to increase the numbers of minority and female writers working in the entertainment industry. (Milch apparently expressed opposition to affirmative action for writers although he later said he is committed to finding qualified writers of all ethnicities.)

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A study by the Writers Guild West last year found that minority writers made up only 4% of the industry total. This is far below the ethnic makeup of the feature film and television audience. It is also far below what is achievable with applied effort. Projects such as writers’ workshops and other efforts at inclusion have found a strong response from minority writers. More can and should be done.

The quality of American film and television projects will increasingly depend upon the industry’s ability to portray our society’s ethnic diversity in all its human complexity. The best and most consistent way to maintain such quality is through a steady increase in ethnic and gender diversity throughout the entertainment industry.

Secondly, we disagree with the notion that black writers have a greater difficulty writing about the “dominant culture” than members of other ethnic groups. From birth, African Americans are inundated with the values, history and opinions of the dominant culture. Indeed, the challenge for blacks is to find their own ethnic perspective within that dominant culture.

Since the turn of the century, black writers such as W.E.B. Dubois have commented on the cultural duality that is a hallmark of African American life. This duality arises from the narrow perception that blacks have not substantially contributed to American culture. A strong element of “emotional neutrality” toward the dominant culture is an important survival mechanism for blacks in America.

Casual observers should be careful not to view the effects of inexperience and less training among some black screenwriters as an inherent obstacle to such writing by blacks. African American’s dualistic role in this society gives us a unique creative perspective on the dominant culture.

We are very confident that over time, the ongoing development of black screenwriters, and their increased inclusion by the industry, will produce achievements comparable to that of African Americans in novels, poetry and indeed the whole array of creative work.

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