How many episodes until Race Wars merge?

[AlyCat]

I am really looking forward to this season! What the heck is everyone so afraid of?

They're just stirring up trouble where there doesn't need to be any.

Why is it okay to split the teams along gender or age lines, but not race?

Believe it or not, we are NOT all the same colour! *gasp*

Let all those naysayers spout off all they want. I'm sure CBS is loving the extra free publicity.

Well, people are "afraid" if that's how you want to put it, because racism is a problem in our world today. It's a very emotional subject and splitting the tribes along lines of what race you are is to reminiscent of segregation. Where I live, it still is a problem at times. Occasionally, there can be an outburst of MS-13, and sometimes you can see racist gang grafitti on the local middle school and high school, and it's hurtful. I've seen racism affect people and it's hard to see... Racism is a touchy, emotional subject, and splitting the tribes by race is a line, that we as a nation, just may not be ready to cross yet...

[Gelbarc]

I've seen racism affect people and it's hard to see... Racism is a touchy, emotional subject, and splitting the tribes by race is a line, that we as a nation, just may not be ready to cross yet...

Too late. We as a nation crossed that line eons ago. I've been affect by racism as a child and as an adult. Sadly, that's just how life is for some.

As far as the show, I'm looking forward to it. I've never watched it from start to finish but I'm making sure I don't miss an episode this season. It'll be very interesting to see how each group separately and mixed.

[ShrinkingViolet]

NYC No Fan of "Survivor: Segregation Island"

By Gina Serpe

Who would've thought reinstituting segregation would cause such controversy? Oh, right. Everyone but the producers of Survivor.

A group of New York City officials and civil rights groups have blasted CBS' announcement that it has split the contestants on Survivor: Cook Islands into tribes by race, claiming the producers' decision to pit blacks, whites, Asians and Hispanics against each other during the early rounds of the show would only promote divisiveness among competitors and viewers alike.

"This idea is so ill-conceived that it would be funny--but for the fact that racism does still sometimes rear its ugly head," city councilman John Liu said at a press conference Friday. "This show has the potential to set back our nation's race relations by 50 years.

"Nowhere else do we tolerate racial segregation and we certainly won't stand for it in this battle-of-the-races scheme to prop up sagging television ratings."

Liu claimed the show's divisive premise would do nothing but promote the spread of negative stereotypes based on the actions of the different tribes, something that, just two days after the announcement, is already an issue.

Right-wing mouthpiece Rush Limbaugh, always keen to wax bluntly on delicate subjects, took to handicapping the new season on his radio show Wednesday.

Hispanics, he said, "have shown a remarkable ability to cross borders" and "will do things other people won't do." Asians, per Limbaugh, are "the best at espionage, keeping secrets." Blacks "lack buoyancy" and are "more likely to drown," while the white man's burden will weigh down the last team with "guilt over the fact that they run things."

So much for breaking stereotypes.

Liu, an Asian-American, is hoping to head off any more grandiose and ill-informed statements at the pass, launching a campaign for CBS to pull the season, or at least the season's concept, from the air. (The latter is a nonstarter, since the show has already been shot.) He's teaming up with the council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus to urge the network to rethink the questionable gimmick, beginning with a rally at New York's City Hall earlier today.

"This is not the type of premise that promotes unity," council member Robert Jackson said at the Friday press conference. "This show does not foster an environment that is conducive to diversity."

Caucus cochair Maria del Carmen Arroyo agreed, saying that Survivor's producers didn't realize the impact of their programming decision.

"CBS has demonstrated great lapse in judgment. As a society, we need to hold corporations responsible for their actions," councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito said.

The caucus has already earned the support of likeminded advocacy groups. The leader of Hispanics Across America told Reuters the new season of Survivor was "not reality TV--it's racist TV."

"Moreover, the participants will be held to the daunting and unfair challenge of representing an entire race of people," HAA founder Fernando Mateo said, adding that the stunt was an "offensive and cheap trick."

"What will it mean for a team--a race--to fail in a battle of wits and strength against another race?"

For its part, CBS defended the decision to segregate the tribes based on ethnicity and denied claims it was an incendiary twist designed to grab headlines and ratings--both of which the show, having dropped to a franchise-low average of 16.8 million viewers last season, is in need of. The powers-that-be instead insist the stunt was the next logical step in a series that made its name on exploring social politics.

"CBS fully recognizes the controversial nature of this format but has full confidence in the producers and their ability to produce the program in a responsible manner," the network said in a statement. "Survivor is a program that is no stranger to controversy and has always answered its critics on the screen."

Last season for instance, the contestants were initially split into four tribes consisting of the oldest men, the oldest women, the youngest men and the youngest women. The groups eventually merged into two mixed teams and eventually one tribe.

On Tuesday, when he first announced this season's segregation on CBS' Early Show, host Jeff Probst said that the contestants had "mixed reactions" about the division.

Probst also claimed that, controversial as the premise was turning out to be, the idea to divide its cast was well intentioned.

"The idea for this actually came from the criticism that Survivor was not ethnically diverse enough, because for whatever reason, we always have a low number of minority applicants apply for the show," Probst said.

Inadvertently or not, the producers of Survivor do appear to have contributed to the cause of racial unity. Thanks to the division, all ethnicities seem to have united--in their opposition to the show.

Survivor: Cook Islands kicks off Sept. 14.

Link

[GingerLVNV]

This hoopla over the new groups is SO ridiculous. It's exactly what Mark Burnett wants, and everyone is giving it to him.

I have to wonder if the same reactions would be taken if there wasn't a "white" group. Why is it okay for comedians to be blunt with racist comments and they are loved to pieces? Why is it okay to make a MEN team and a WOMAN team and let viewers pick the one they want, but not this????

These team members CHOSE to do this show knowing the scenario (well, maybe they don't know since they divide them up after jumping off the boat), but I'm extremely interested to see how this is edited and handled. They always make a big deal about the man vs woman thing and it always seems irrelevant after the first week or so. I would imagine the same thing this time. I also wonder if they were "FAMILIES" if this would be taken the same way.

Personally, I'm excited to see a larger group of diverse personalities, rather than your single black player or pair of players.

Everyone needs to calm down and take a bigger look at this show, watch it, if it still offends them, turn it off.

I M H O

[MissThing]

This hoopla over the new groups is SO ridiculous. It's exactly what Mark Burnett wants, and everyone is giving it to him.

I have to wonder if the same reactions would be taken if there wasn't a "white" group. Why is it okay for comedians to be blunt with racist comments and they are loved to pieces? Why is it okay to make a MEN team and a WOMAN team and let viewers pick the one they want, but not this????

I don't find the hoopla ridiculous at all. Unfortunately, racial inequality is not only still a reality, even in this day and age, but it's a divisive issue that brings out the very worst in people. It's also dangerous territory. When was the last time a group of militant women (or men) rioted and looted (just as an example)?

Not only is this division of participants unfortunate, depending on how the groups do (such as a series of uneven eliminations, much like the older women's team last year), it could lead to very bad stereotyping being 'justified' to both the participants themselves, and the viewing public.

[Krom]

It's stupid, and counterproductive to try and ban this. People can (and should) vote with their Remote Controls.

Mind you, I agree its divisive and stupid, but by forcing that conclusion down people's throats and suggesting a banning, you are sending the wrong message.

I want to hope that the Producers know what they are doing. That they have some magic solution where they use their World Famous manipulative creative editing to send a message of unity and understanding. Where pitting these people against each other in racial teams leads to tons of footage where they admit to admiring the other teams, and when they merge, everyone lives together in peace and harmony.

But... this is SURVIVOR. Even during a "regular" season its about interpersonal conflict. Its about people being petty, deciding they hate each others guts, lying, scapegoating, passing the buck, and DEFINITELY establishing peer groups who judge each other. In other words, a disaster of a situation from which to set up anything "enlightening".

I'll watch. But when I am, I won't forget WHY they are doing this, and I won't expect any good to come of this. And I get the creeping feeling that I am probably NOT going to want to talk about this version of the show with other people as much as I have with other editions of the show, for fear that any discussion will devolve into a silent battle of "my people are better than your people".

[Peekaboo]

I am really looking forward to this season! What the heck is everyone so afraid of?


Why is it okay to split the teams along gender or age lines, but not race?

Believe it or not, we are NOT all the same colour! *gasp*

Let all those naysayers spout off all they want. I'm sure CBS is loving the extra free publicity.

Because RACE is a social concept, and anyone subscribing to this concept is racist by definition, and who wants to be a racist? But, I am just a mere sociologist. Race is biological phenomena brought on by centuries of geo-enviromental factors. I am, and everyone else on this earth is an biological amalgam so why not just check the box: human! Also, history as well as the present have shown us that NOTHING good comes from skin-hue compartmentalization. This is in bad taste, and no amount of Listerine (TM) can rinse the foulness of this series. How do you really discuss the concept of RACE? Not like this. This is supposed to be a REALITY show (well under the guise of realtiy), but with defacto segregation aside, we no longer live in a segregated society by law (USA). What purpose will this show serve? What will the water-cooler talk be? "I am rooting for the ASIAN tribe because they are smart." "I can't stand the BLACK tribe because they are so disorganize." "The WHITE tribe thinks that they are better than the other tribes because they are 'white'"(in quotes because it is a social concept). "I definitely despise the HISPANIC tribe because of illegal immigration." "The BLACK man won survivor because the NAACP was threatening CBS." These are some of the possiblities of water-cooler talk... I know that these same conversations can take place even if the tribes were heterogenous so there is no point to enlighten this fact. This latest installment of Survivor is vexing and divisive. DOWNGRADE!

[Krom]

Because RACE is a social concept, and anyone subscribing to this concept is racist by definition, and who wants to be a racist? But, I am just a mere sociologist. Race is biological phenomena brought on by centuries of geo-enviromental factors. I am, and everyone else on this earth is an biological amalgam so why not just check the box: human! Also, history as well as the present have shown us that NOTHING good comes from skin-hue compartmentalization. This is in bad taste, and no amount of Listerine (TM) can rinse the foulness of this series. How do you really discuss the concept of RACE? Not like this. This is supposed to be a REALITY show (well under the guise of realtiy), but with defacto segregation aside, we no longer live in a segregated society by law (USA). What purpose will this show serve? What will the water-cooler talk be? "I am rooting for the ASIAN tribe because they are smart." "I can't stand the BLACK tribe because they are so disorganize." "The WHITE tribe thinks that they are better than the other tribes because they are 'white'"(in quotes because it is a social concept). "I definitely despise the HISPANIC tribe because of illegal immigration." "The BLACK man won survivor because the NAACP was threatening CBS." These are some of the possiblities of water-cooler talk... I know that these same conversations can take place even if the tribes were heterogenous so there is no point to enlighten this fact. This latest installment of Survivor is vexing and divisive. DOWNGRADE!

And those general observations will boil over easily into outrage. Someone--either on the show, or in the media, or maybe even right here--will inevitably say SOMETHING which will SEEM to imply to someone that they think that the African-American tribe isn't working hard enough on their shelter. Someone else will accuse that first person of being a racist who is saying that Black people are lazy. Someone else will, possibly even innocently, point out that the Hispanic tribe are good fishermen, and then another person will imply that he or she is implying that all Hispanics have to know how to fish because they are poor.

Now increase the paranoia about the above by a thousand and that's what's going to happen. Some statements will be made as jokes and interpreted (in some cases maybe even correctly) as racist. Some will be said quite innocently, and some others very broadly misinterpreted to the worst case. Some will be deliberate provocation after people have started fighting.

Add to that the fact that the show will be LOOKING for conflict and we are in for a mess of trouble. Every on-screen villain, or person who comes off badly, will be scrutinized with the belief that someone is being shown unfairly or scapegoated. Just imagine, for example, the damage someone like Osten will do in a season like this. Or, for that matter, if there's someone on the island who genuinely IS ignorant, if not actually racist, and is led into some unwise statement in the Interview clips, imagine the hell they will pay for that eventually.

Ah well. I know! I notice there's no "Jewish" tribe. Perhaps the other tribes can all band together and pick on them!

(See how easy it is to provoke? I bet a few dozen of you ALREADY want to hit me...)

[MissThing]

(See how easy it is to provoke? I bet a few dozen of you ALREADY want to hit me...)

Well, maybe - but it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Survivor .

[Gelbarc]

I notice there's no "Jewish" tribe. Perhaps the other tribes can all band together and pick on them!

That would make 2 white tribes (well, I consider them white).

Plus they already own the island.

I'll watch. But when I am, I won't forget WHY they are doing this, and I won't expect any good to come of this. And I get the creeping feeling that I am probably NOT going to want to talk about this version of the show with other people as much as I have with other editions of the show, for fear that any discussion will devolve into a silent battle of "my people are better than your people".

Personally, I'm excited to see a larger group of diverse personalities, rather than your single black player or pair of players.

Everyone needs to calm down and take a bigger look at this show, watch it, if it still offends them, turn it off.

too!

It'll be very interesting to see the contestants reactions once they jump off the boat, if they don't know the spin on this series.