The Token

As I was reading Classen, something stuck out for me near the beginning. On page 47, Classen states "viewers of network and local television had, among other things, seen a world that was 'almost totally white in both appearance and attitude'...when blacks did appear on the screen they were represented as whites saw them, not as they saw themselves." This quote just reminds me of the token minority on almost every television show; the need for most shows to have a token black, a token latino, etc. I wonder if the token minority character is extension of 1950s Mississippi television. But why are they there? Is it to defend that we have come a long way and are cutting ties with our racist past which is still part of our present? For the "token" character, the race is significant to the role they play; they could probably be played by any race since the plots never really delve into how their ethnicity is essential to their character make-up. Their race is for the most part irrelevant and are there so that the show/the network can claim that they are diverse and believe in equal opportunity. I wonder when we can successfully integrate shows so that a character's race is no longer an issue? I am unable to think of a show that does this. Yes I can think of shows whose cast is solely made of blacks, "Girlfriends" and "The Game" but I am unable to list any show that consists of just white actors, I wonder how significant that is the grand scheme of things.