A timely window on Black America’s rich elite

Real Housewives of Atlanta introduces America to four black families who made it way before Obama, says Charles Laurence

FIRST POSTED NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Lisa, NeNe (above), Sheree and DeShawn are, in their way, breaking the racial barriers of America just as surely as their president-elect, Barack Obama.

They are The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the stars of a reality show on the Bravo cable channel as ghastly - and eye-popping - as most of them. The show comes on the stiletto heels of Real Housewives series set in Orange County, California, and New York - both of them hits. But the Atlanta version features an attention-getting innovation: these rich American women are black.

The timing is terrific: as the nation imagines a black First Family in the White House, Real Housewives introduces them to four families who are already living the fabulously wealthy style of the American elite.

Real Housewives introduces America to four black families who are living the fabulously wealthy style of the American elite

Tomorrow sees the final episode: the claws, we are promised, will be out as scores are settled. Meantime, the most recent show offered a birthday party for NeNe laid on in a Country Club which makes Gleneagles look cheap, if tasteful; DeShawn being given a Rolex watch by her husband Eric, a professional basketball player; a giggling group-shopping trip to the lingerie parlour; and pole-dancing lessons from a professional stripper who boasts that "black women have booties, and we shake 'em and we're proud".

What else? Lisa, an Asian-African-American and therefore, like Obama himself, a "mutt", invites her buddies to a lunch cooked

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Talk about superficial! Housewives of Atlanta wins the prize . . . and that is no compliment!! Housewives of Atlanta highlights the emphasis on materialism and self-indulgence elevated by the Republicans from Reagan to Bush 43 . . . The all-about-me mentality led America away from its core values to the place that the nation and the world needed Obama to help get us back on track. On November 4, 2008, the largest electoral majority in recent American history rejected 28 years of such mistaken priorities and opted for a better future based on mutual responsibility and shared rewards. Long ago, the Black community invented a word for these people . . . "bourgie" from the French "bourgeoisie" . . . and, again, it is no compliment. The term is applied to pretentious superficial, self-important people . . . who indulge themselves while their brothers and sisters languish in the aftermath of disadvantage and the perpetuation of social inequity. There is no need to adopt a vow of poverty but there is no excuse for ignoring social responsibility and the obligation to give back. The axiom -- From those to whom much is given, much is required -- still applies! Barack and Michelle Obama are nothing like these people! They rejected cushy high-paying jobs to use their education and skills to help elevate others . . . to spread opportunity. They are not moving into the White House for luxury, status and servants. They are coming to Washington, DC to help restore our national commitment to decency at home and abroad and to make realizing the American Dream a possibility for all. If folks on the eastern side side of the pond find this sort of citizenship appealing, there are a whole bunch of out-of-power, materialistic, egotistical manipulators that we will gladly encourage to come your way. We will even throw in a hasty bon voyage party to mark their departure!! Cheers!! Mark Fischer Washington, DC

Posted by fischerwdc at 4:30pm on November 17, 2008