Author: [log in to unmask] Date: 12/14/94 1:10 AM [Editor's note: This message was submitted to SCREEN-L by the "Author" noted above, and not by Jeremy Butler ([log in to unmask]).] Melissa says: I do have a question to regular viewers, do the parents live in a white middle class town? Do they have any non-white friends? I am interested in looking into this because tv shows either seem to mix races well (ie: Homocide, Northern Exposure) or terribly (ie: Any soap opera, Beverly Hills 90210). kal says: I believe they live in Pittsburgh or its environs. The parents do not seem to know any non-white people. In the Adult world, the principal (who's a prick and martinet) is the only recurring character. Ricky is Latino, and there are non-white students, but Angela hangs in a white world. Which is its own realism of course. When I visit high schools, I see a lot of de facto segregation (through tracking, through kids in a comprehensive hs who hang out with their neighbors (which are in most of the US racially segregated) Side note: I think that the daytime soaps are quite a mixed bag: All My Children and One Life to Live so a lot of social relevance storylines including race stories--one life did the first tv rendering of the "tragic mulatta" story in the 60s with Ellen Holly taking the role of Carla Grey--who was "passing" and about to marry a white man, hence having to deny her black mother. AMC has since the late '70s anyway had black characters centrally located in storylines. Now the younger cast is quite racially and ethnically diverse. Anyway, Some are definitely better and others much worse. kal kal alston ed pol studies/ women's studies uiuc 380 education champaign, il 61820 217-333-3673(ofc)/333-2446(sec'y)