NBC's "Superstore" Is Still Fighting the Good Fight

Before getting to that episode let39s jump back to the season opener Essential This one basically served as a reentry to the show that viewers already knew and loved because it kind of wasn39t the same show anymore in the way that life as we39ve known it has changed since the pandemic started There was something cathartic about seeing the introduction of masks long lines and inexplicable toilet paper outages in a way that was relatable and hilarious as opposed to disruptive and anxiety fueling like it is in real life As someone who39s personally held a couple of these types of bigbox store jobs see below both before and during this same pandemic being able to see that from both the employees39 and the freakedout consumers39 respective standpoints really hit me in all kinds of waysAdditionally Amy39s been on her way out ever since the season five finale creating a situation that necessitated a definitive outcome for her relationship with Jonah which we did eventually get in episode two California Part 2 another hilarious episode by the way This all meant a new configuration for the store including a new pandemicbased aesthetic and new employees to fill the void left behind by Amy Glen Mark McKinney got exposed to the virus so even though he39s reclaimed his position as store manager Dina Lauren Ash has been left running the show in his stead while he quarantinesThis brings us back to Hair Care Products Apparently Cloud 9 had a policy of keeping Black beauty products locked in a cage not unlike actual dangerous items like razors or items of necessity that people commonly steal like deodorant Garrett Colton Dunn pictured at top doesn39t consider the righting of this wrong particularly meaningful mainly because besides being the absolute smallest gesture that a multimillion dollar retail chain recently acquired by a tech company could possibly make it also wasn39t the only racially insensitive thing happening in the company Unfortunately for him Dina uses his stance to thrust him to the forefront of this quotmake Cloud 9 less racistquot movement which at the very least means he has to make a list of things that negatively affect team members and guests who are people of color Obviously he does not want to do thisSuperstore doesn39t often directly tackle race issues at least not in an episodelong kind of way Nine times out of ten it39ll be a verbal jab during a conversation amongst bstring Cloud 9 employees or a throwaway reference by someone young usually Cheyenne that calls out the difference in tolerance something dated exudes But in this case the writers went for a straightforward depiction of what situations like this are actually likeAll Garrett did was see the same racism that everyone else did except he was Black while doing it and now he39s got to make this list Often times in real life people will find themselves having to fight much more of quotthe fightquot than they intended usually because they39re the only person there representing the group being wronged or they39re the only person who cares enough to do anything at all In this instance however it seemed that all or most of the nonPOCs involved were completely out of their depths when it came to even addressing the topic let alone being able to call out the racist moments andor understand themtheir impactThe bottom line is that locking up Black beauty products specifically because they39re for Black people is basically saying that only Black people steal Having an animated character named MC Cool Cloud a white cloud that39s appropriating Black culture via its gold chain shades and stereotypical hip hop stance amp8211 is wildly offensive to that same group of people and making Garrett have to basically hold quotracism story timequot in order to literally educate all of his coworkers but specifically the white ones about the Black experience is well lazyProps to the writers for finding an effective organic and as always humorous way to put that message across It is not myamp160or any person of color39s job to educate white people about the injustices we suffer in America The truth is the burden of understanding one39s own privilege falls to the people unaffected by systematic racism and oppression Garrett shouldn39t have been made the face of this movement and the handling of the situation by upper management which involves Glenn and the phrase quotAll Lives Matter pizza partyquot at one point shouldn39t have been so insensitive in and of itselfI39ve been lucky enough to work in places that have diverse staffs and racially sensitive policies and marketing but not unlike Cloud 9 these places are still major corporations at the end of the day Odds are they39re just doing whatever they think will keep people coming in It really comes down to us working together to make sure we39re considerate of one another while making an effort to educate ourselves about the plights of our fellow human beings so that people who don39t have the same daytoday as we do don39t become even more marginalized then they already haveSuperstore is a bastion of downtoearth progressive forwardthinking comedy and it has been since it first came out back in 2015 The writers of this particular sliceoflife comedy have probably felt like they bit off more than they intended to chew as life became a cake that nobody wanted slices from over the past few years Fortunately they39ve proven themselves more than capable of accurately reflecting the times we currently live in and showing the world that honesty and a sense of humor can go a long wayThere are only 10 episodes left in Superstore39s final season I39m going to hate to see it end but I can39t wait to see how this particular shopping experience comes to a closeSuperstore is telecast Thursday at 830 pm on NBCClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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NBC's "Superstore" Is Still Fighting the Good Fight

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Ainsley Andrade

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