Segregated 'Survivor' - Island Life in Black and White (and Yellow and Red)

By now you probably know that during season 13 of 'Survivor,' the 20 castaways will be divided into four groups based on race: Caucasian, African-American, Asian or Hispanic.

Is this a good idea? Or, asking the question the same way watchdog groups have posed it: Is it racist? Has 'Survivor' executive producer Mark Burnett finally gone too far in his quest to turn around sluggish ratings?

Sufficient Outrage Abounds
Soon after the "social experiment" to divide tribe members by race was announced, critics pounced and dubbed it a "race war" that would set to boil a melting pot already brimming with enough combustible ingredients.

Pundits bared their angry pens when "Survivor" host Jeff Probst admitted his ignorance about Asian ethnicities and the fact that they include Japanese, Koreans and Chinese folks who aren't all joined arm-in-arm singing "Kum Bah Yah, my Lord..."

I say give the guy a break. Like he admitted, Probst is a "white guy from Wichita" who had little exposure to other nationalities. Only in recent years did I - a woman of color - discover that Indians are considered Asians, too. Or, "South Asians," as the case may be.

Touchy, Touchy
The racial paranoia has begun even before the 'Survivor: Cook Islands' premiere. AsianWeek.com noted that in CBS publicity photos, the black and Latino teams are positioned in the rear, while the Caucasian and Asian groups are in the front.

Never mind the fact that the people up front are kneeling, offering a more prominent view of the bodies behind them. Heaven forbid if the 'sistahs' and 'brothas' had been the ones in the prayer position. Talk about outcries of racism. I really believe that many detractors are getting the jump on being outraged in order to prove how 'enlightened' they are on matters of race relations whilst tossing ethnic-sounding resumes in the trash at work.

Is this nitpicking the type of stuff we have to look forward to this TV season? Perish the thought. What I'm hoping will come from this exciting change in the CBS lineup are valid, inspiring discussions on race relations. Stuff you want to know about other races but are afraid to ask, for fear of being attacked and called a racist bonehead from overly sensitive souls quick to cry, "Prejudiced!"

NAACP's Reaction
At least the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) is taking a 'wait and see' approach, for the most part. On Tuesday Bruce Gordon - NAACP president and a CBS Corp. board member - finally broke his silence on 'Survivor: Cook Islands' controversial concept of division by ethnicity.

"There are countless race abuses that exist in the entertainment community every day," Gordon is quoted as saying in the Los Angeles Times. "For the media to give airtime to the format of a TV show when it is silent on the absence of African Americans on Sunday morning news shows is shameful."

Though Gordon called the segregated format "a bad idea," the NAACP announced that it would reserve full judgment until after 'Survivor: Cook Islands' debuts then continue to "monitor the public response."

Can't we all just...
...watch the show and check our hurt feelings at the door? Maybe we'll learn that some black people actually like to swim. Or, as I learned only after gaining Chinese friends, that people don't necessarily "speak Chinese," but that the language includes many "dialects" such as Mandarin and Cantonese, a hotbed issue all to its own.

Maybe someone will touch on why Spaniards don't consider themselves Hispanic, as I've been told. At the very least, I hope all nationalities will use it as a chance to come closer together and dispel racist myths in a safe and open forum, without fear of retribution. Kum Bah Cook Islands, my Lord...

That's my prayer. Whether it will transform the country into one as incorrectly polarized as during the OJ Simpson trial remains to be seen...this Thursday night. And this would-be Manihiki (African-American tribe) member will be watching.

Paula Mooney is editor-in-chief of Real Moms magazine.