The conversation around diversity has been intensifying lately, making everyone think about its importance in all areas of life. One recent topic of discussion? The iconic 90s sitcom Friends.
Quinta Brunson, known for her role in Abbott Elementary, recently pointed out Friends for its lack of diversity. While hosting Saturday Night Live, Brunson used her monologue to highlight the absence of Black characters in the beloved show.
Brunson contrasted the diversity on Abbott Elementary, which features the lives of teachers in a predominantly Black, state-funded elementary school in Philadelphia, with the noticeable lack of diversity on Friends. The difference was strikingly evident.
With her well-known wit, she joked: “I wanted to be on SNL back in the day, but the audition process seemed long – so instead, I just created my own TV show, made sure it became really popular, won a bunch of Emmys, and then got asked to host. So much easier, so much easier.”
While the audience chuckled, the underlying point was clear. Brunson continued, “It’s a network sitcom like, say, Friends. Except, instead of being about a group of friends, it’s about a group of teachers. Instead of New York, it’s in Philadelphia, and instead of not having Black people, it does.”
Her playful commentary sparked serious reflection, even from Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman. Kauffman has publicly expressed embarrassment over the show’s lack of diversity and pledged $4 million to support African and African-American studies at a university.
“I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years,” Kauffman admitted. “Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago.”
She added, “It took me a long time to begin to understand how I internalized systemic racism. I’ve been working really hard to become an ally, an anti-racist. And this seemed to me to be a way that I could participate in the conversation from a white woman’s perspective.”
The discussion around diversity is far from over, but it’s clear that the conversation has advanced—even for a cherished sitcom like Friends.
Farmer Finds Pasture Empty, Sees All 32 Dead Cows In One Big Pile
In Missouri, occasional lightning strikes and thunderclaps are to be expected this time of year.
The area has suffered greatly as a result of recent severe weather and flooding.
Springfield farmer Jared Blackwelder and his wife Misty heard loud crashes on a Saturday morning after feeding the dairy cows, but they didn’t give it much attention.
But when Blackwelder went back to the pasture to gather the cows for the nighttime milking, he saw the terrible scene: his thirty-two dairy cows lying dead on the mulch piled on top of one another.
According to Stan Coday, president of the Wright County Missouri Farm Bureau, “he went out to bring the cows in and that’s when he found them,” CBS News reported.It occurs frequently. It does occur. The sheer quantity of animals impacted was what made this situation the worst.
The local veterinarian who performed the examination informed Coday that lightning was, in fact, the reason behind the cows’ deaths.
The cows might have sought cover under the trees in unison as the storm raged overhead.
Coday stated, “You’re at the mercy of mother nature,” and mentioned that he had lost a cow to lightning a few years prior.
Coday said that although farmers are aware of the possibility, suffering such a loss is extremely tough.
They are not like pets at all. However, I’ve raised every one of the ones I’m milking,” Blackwelder said to the Springfield News-Leader.Because you handle dairy cattle twice a day, they are a little different. It gives you a strong knock.
It’s also a financial debacle.
Blackwelder claimed to have insurance, but the News-Leader said he’s not sure if it will pay for his losses.
He estimates that the worth of each certified organic cow is between $2,000 and $2,500, resulting in a nearly $60,000.
“The majority of producers don’t have insurance,” Coday stated.“You lose everything if you lose a cow.”
In response to inquiries from nearby neighbors, Coday, a breeder of beef cows, would like to make it clear that meat from Blackwelder’s animals could not be recovered.
“Those animals are damaged, and when he found them, they had obviously been there for a few hours,” he remarked.An animal must go through a certain procedure in order to be processed. They wouldn’t have been suitable for ingestion by humans.
Because of Missouri’s gentler climate, Coday also pointed out that the majority of farmers in the state do not own a separate cow barn.
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