GH's LACK of Minority Characters and storylines...

Yeah, that article rings true. GH doesn't use minorities that much. Come to think of it, not a lot of the soaps do.

it goes back further than that...


Brain and Claudia were NEVER A s/l characters...but AT LEAST we got to see enough of them...and they wer eincorporating into other s./ls enough that you got to know and love them.

After that...one...we've not had an AA COUPLE on the show *except for Simone and Justus...but the brokke that up*...

We got Tom and Simone in the late 80s...and at first that s/l of interracial marriage started out good and they flatten that one quickly...

THEN...like I said we got Justus and Simone when she first came back to PC...but then we heard nothing more about her...I can't even remember how she left town again...

They had Justus with Dara...then Dara with Taggert...again...no s/l to go with it...

We had Keesha with not one but TWO Qs...and her relationship with AJ should have lasted WAY longer than it did...but NO instead we had to have him marry Carly...sorry but I agree that they should have had it a Keesha/AJ/Carly/Jason quad situation.

And Gia!!!...After he relationhship with Nik ended...she just left...Pbbbt!

Lainy and Justus...they killed him...put her with Stan...killed him...

What does TPTB of GH have against black folks...forseriously?

Re: the other soaps...Yeah ALL ABC soaps have been bad about the roles of minorities on the shows...On Ryan's Hope although he was never a MAJOR character, Lem was a doctor who was friends with the Ryan's...and when he left they never really replaced him till Zenia *Tichina Arnold* came on the scene in the late 80s.

On AMC...yeah we had Angie and Jessie...then derek and Livia, and dang I forgot what Derek's wife's name was but Sheri Hedley played her...and we also got the Santos family, I forget Julia's husband's name...the black dude with the dreads....so at least AMC tried.

OLTL did REALLY well at first...they were THEE FIRST...form the beginning they had an African American character that was a MAIN character...Carla Gray and her mother Sadie were MAJOR characters throughout the late 60s, 70s and into the early 80s. In the beginning (1968) carla...a light skinned Balck woman, PASSED as a white woman and was dating SERIOUSLY another major character...a doctor. Her mother Sadie *who was dark skinned*...if I'm not mistaken was the housekeeper for the Lords *Viki's family*...but don't quote me on it....IN the 70s, Carla ends up marrying Ed Hall and they end up adopting their son Derek *played at the time by a young Lawrence Fishburne*...Ed *who was a cop and eventually became police commissioner* and Carla's relationship was one of the major plot points during OLTL's GOLDEN age of the 70s that also uincluded the story of Viki with Joe Riley...and Larry and Karen Wolek...and Dorian being married to Voctor Lord...and Pat Ashley and Herb Callison... OH YEAH BABY...OLTL in the 70s was GOOOOOOOD....and then after Ed and Carla got divorced...he hooked up with Courtney *played by Phylicia Rashad before she left and became Clair Huxtable*...and then it was a little while before we got the Price sisters, Sheila *and dayum what was her sister's name?*...and then the Gannons...but we got them...and they were a STPALE during the 90s.

But GH...they fucked up...ROYALLY...when they disbanded the Wards...and the Taggerts.

Now all we got is Piph...who no longer has a family...and Lainey who also has no family...WTH?


they need to AT LEAST bring back Keesha...as she is by relation a Q...

I was all for the Qs having BLACK kin...as it was ironic...of all the families on GH who woulda thunk the QUARTERMAINES would have a little color in their blood. I LURVED IT!...and what I LURVED more about it was that it PROVED that the Qs...while seemingly blue blooded...were very much HIP and with it....they accepted the fact that they had black people in their family and went on with their lives as if color was not really an issue.


TBC in my next post.

Now regarding OTHER Networks and their soaps...


DOOL has been good about Abe...he's been a STAPLE of that show for almost 30 years...and they've given him MAJOR s/ls and minor ones...by him being married to a Demeara though...that's a good thing for him....I don't watch DOOL...so this is as far as I can comment on this.

Let e just get this out the way ...I LURVED Generations...was PISSED when it got cancelled. ...yeah I followed Kristoff to Y&R *sorta*...I was partially already watching because Olivia was on there.

GL has black characters in major storylines also...in the Early 90s...Nia Long was Kat...and her dad and her where a major part of the show for a WHILE...till Nia blewup in the movies.

Bold and Beautiful...guilty like GH...they bring in monirity characters and do NOTHING with them...

The two soaps that I can REALLY discuss are Y&R and ATWT...

Y&R...for the longest...they ain't have not a one as a regular ...till MAMIE came on the scene as part of the Abbott clan...but Mamie didn't REALLY get a s/l till her niece Olivia...and then later niece Dru came on the scene....

I've always been an ABC soap person...but I grew up also watching Y&R 8every now and then*...because my Great Grandmother watched ALL the soaps...anf then in the late 80s...My grandmother began watching Y&R...right during the Olivia and Nathan love story...so I got hooked around that time on that and them...I LURVED Olivia and Nathan..and I've still not forgiven Y&R for breaking up that couple...I was glad they FINALLY put Neil and Dru together also...BUT hated the whole Neil and Olivia LURVE one another s/l...and REALLY hated that Liv married Malcolm...and was totally PISSED at the whole Malcolm taking advantage of drugged up Dru...and it later being that Lily was HIS daughter...still mad about that...I got my reasons to but I'll just keep them to myself.

ATWT was my show because it had Jessica Griffin...LURVED Jessica...she was my girl!... I'm talking WAAAAAAAAAY back in the 80s...and yeah I was around when she married that bore Duncan and had Bonnie...I used to HATE what they would make her do though...still mad she cheated on Ben with Marshall....AND GOT PREGGIE BY him...maybe...although I'll always believe that baby was Ben's....I actually stopped watching ATWT for good when they stopped writing for Jess...who had been on the show for 20 years...I didn't blame Tamara Tunie one bit when she went to L&O:SVU permanently...and she took my viewership right with her...I became a permanent fan of the show once she became a regular as Melinda Warner... and one of my FAVORITE eps ever is the one when Melinda and Eliot were taken hostage at the bank and my girl proved that she could handle things cuz she used to be in the Air Force.

I've never understood why on earth they don't feature minorities in general, not just African Americans, they hardly feature anyone who isn't caucasian with the exception of Latino (Maurice Benard and Natalia Livingston for example, even if you can't tell with Nat!)

They had IMO a goldmine with Dominic Rains as Dr. Leo Julian, and they let his character fall by the wayside so badly that he didn't return for NS2. That man is the epitome of hotness, talented, and had immense potential for story. They recast his character with his brother, and totally changed the character (I don't know why they even bothered naming him Leo he was so different), but Guza refused to bring any of the NS characters over.

Don't forget Leyla Mir and Dr. Kelly Lee, both good actresses with the ability to carry a great story or at least be a part of any story!

I was furious when they dropped Lainey's story with her father. It was compelling, heartbreaking, and deep. They barely scraped what could have been done with that story, but I guess I was the only one who was interested. Yeah, right. I loved Justus, and they killed him off, I drooled everytime they showed Stan (Kiko Ellsworth), and they killed him off as well. I'm very surprised Lainey is still alive, they way they've been killing off all her love interests.

exactly KMF...


no it's not just the Af. Am. actors/characters...*I mean on AMC all that's left of the Santos family is Maria...but I don't think she's even been shown in like MONTHS*

And on GH...yes...why is it that Kelly isn't used more...and Leo...WTH is he?

BTW I though on NS2 that Leo's brother was on there...not Leo himself.

To me, GH is targeted for the non-African American audience and it always has been. I'm probably the only one that thinks this....but hey, I gotta voice my opinion. Maria Santos on AMC hasn't been on for at least 2 years, maybe more. I liked Justus and Stan as well but they both got the axe. GH just sucks with minority characters/actors. They can't seem to hold on to them long enough to produce a good compelling story.

IMO GH was one of the few soaps that always grabbed me...storyline wise...*some of which COULD have been written for Af. Am or other minority characters*...


Re: Maria...you're right...I was thinking of Julia...who they KILLED OFF...

right now...on GH there are TWO characters that I can see engaged in an interracial relationship...Monica and Alexis...

But you know...my Lex...she gotta get back with my Sonny dammit...

Also...I owuld like to see Lainey with a decent black man...*bring back Justus I refused to believe he's really dead*..

ISIS wrote:exactly KMF...


no it's not just the Af. Am. actors/characters...*I mean on AMC all that's left of the Santos family is Maria...but I don't think she's even been shown in like MONTHS*

And on GH...yes...why is it that Kelly isn't used more...and Leo...WTH is he?

BTW I though on NS2 that Leo's brother was on there...not Leo himself.

Leo was played by Dominic's brother, Ethan. They also introduced Leo's brother Kyle, who was white, and explained that he (Leo) was adopted.

They made so many changes to Leo's character that they should have renamed the character and said he was Leo's cousin or something. Leo was laid back, relaxed, loved music, was caring, and sweet. NuLeo hated the interns, especially his brother, was cocky, high strung, and down right rude. By the end of the season, I liked him, but he still wasn't Leo. Maybe that's why you didn't realize Leo was there; it was like he wasn't.

General Hospital truly sucks when it comes to catering to the Minorities' Talents and Attributes!

Honestly, I can't think of many soaps that do have a large minority cast. Days has Abe & Lexie, they are main characters with prominent storylines.

I guess Passions had the most, but they took it off the air, (I didn't watch it, it was way too far out there for me, but they did have a larger, more ethnically varied cast)

I think GH did make an attempt with minorities a few times. Ric was supposed to be latino, he spoke Spanish when he first came to GH, but I guess he forgot it.

GH doesn't only suck with minorities, they made Lucas gay and quickly hid him back in the closet.

Were all of these posts supposed to be in this thread? I'm confused... (Easily done, yes, but still)

NewYearsRockinLuckysWorld wrote: Were all of these posts supposed to be in this thread? I'm confused... (Easily done, yes, but still)

Nope, I'll move them.

Ok, I just wondered, I thought I was tripping out or something. Like someone spiked my Kool Aid... whooooaaaaa, dude.

I moved them and I want some spiked Kool-Aid.

<you.... < Me...

NewYearsRockinLuckysWorld wrote: <you.... < Me...

sounds like a plan baby

I'm glad they don't use latinos, the only time they pull us out is to make us criminals or the help. I guess Guza doesn't realize some of us are actually honest people.

Maybe now that Obama's in the office, there will be more opportunities for minority people. I pray it will open doors for many. I feel that the system is set up for minority failure....setting up more and more prisons, feeding them drugs and getting them to sell drugs so that the AA race will get hooked and all end up in prison. It's documented in history of all this. And sad to say that becasue of it all, it is having a domino affect by killing each other over drugs, gangs, power, etc..... That's why I have my children in the church, so they will know that there is a better world out there for them than failure because they are mixed. I want them to have great opportunities and know their worth. That's another thing that's wrong with our youth today, they have been rejected by their very own, having to take care of themselves by any means necessary. If only some of the young babies having babies understood. Another set up........education. They tried to just pass my oldest son through the system having an IEP with learning disabilities.....I didn't lay down for that.....alot of uneducated people would because they don't know their options. That "no child left behind act" is a bunch of crap. My child is goinf to learn and I'm making sure of it and my second son....when he was in KINDERGARTEN, they tried to say he needed an IEP just because he didn't know all his letters......I didn't lay down for that either and I said "NO HE DOESN"T NEED AN IEP" and today, he is Gifted and Talented.

Well as you can all see, I'm alittle passionate about this subject.
Don't get me started.

It's good to let it out.

I feel the same way as you do. I remember when you told me he was Gifted and Talented. I've always seen on smart and special he is.

I really have high hopes for what Obama can do. I've always told Reyna she can be anything she wants, now I can show her the President as proof.

We ALL need to start getting back on track, we need to get these kids back on track too. I know No Child Left Behind is a bunch of crock. I can show you a 12th grader with the education of a 5th grader. But, like you said parents have options. As a parent you have to speak up and look out for your children. We need to talk to our tweens about sex. Give them the truth and don't leave it up to them, my mom never talked to me about it, all she said was "don't do it".

Parents just need to be parent to put a stop to this cycle. A lot of parents want to be their kids friends, take for example the 12th grader. He never had parents (they were both his BFF) and rules, school conferences were never attended. When he started to use drugs, they got mad at him at first but their was no punishment. He was in gangs, but again no punishments. If he would have been my kid, I would have stuck my foot up his ass at a young age. I would have been his parent.

While race is still an issue, we live in a time where a black man can be president. We as a country need to invest in our future, we need to have hopes and dreams for our children. A teacher can only do so much, we need to thank them for everything they do and in turn make sure that our children respect them and allow them to teach. At Reynas old school, fights were a daily thing. How can they teach if our kids are acting a fool. At her new school, she learns the whole time she's there. I stay in close touch with her teachers and they know they can call, she is after all my problem not theirs.

It's a shame we live in the greatest nation of all, and other third world countries have better educated kids.

Had to chime in here...


I'm very glad that both of you are ACTIVE parents...

GH...you tell a very true story...

BUT

there is also a flip side...one I see all too often...

the child who SHOULD be on an IEP...but is not...has never been tested...because the teachers dont' want to document everything...and the parents don't want to admit their child needs educational services...

RIGHT NOW...I have 12 out of 36 kids WHO NEED to be tested...one child in particular is barely reading at a first grade level...and several others barely at gr 3.

So yes, while some kids are incorrectly diagnosed...some are not...

Also...some children may need services early on in their schooling...and by middle school they don't need it anymore...I had a child like that...he was in sp ed all of his life...but came to me in gr 7 and we slowly emerged him in regular ed classes...and by the 8th grade...not only was he fully included...he was also our BEST student academically.

SO I won't knock sp. ed services because I truly believe they are very useful and do help out children...

and truth be told...over HALF of the students today have SOME form of cognative disability...MANY of our kids could stand to have a sp ed teacher working with them in reading. I've often said that instead of having sp. ed. licenses...EVERY person taking up Education in college should be licensed in Sp. ed automatically...the curriculum in the colleges need to change.