Don’t boycott A&E. They don't like racism. They changed series name to Escaping the KKK: A Documentary Series Exposing Hate in America.
A&E wants people to know their new documentary series is not the kind of reality show that they usually present. The network, which Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo called the “Anything and Everything Network" in a recent tweet, also wants people to know they don’t think the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan is a particularly good thing. To make their point clear, A&E changed the series title from Generation KKK to Escaping the KKK: A Documentary Series Exposing Hate in America.
The cable channel has become known for light unscripted dramedies and the new series explores the weighty subject of the resurgence on the Ku Klux Klan in America.
“This is not a reality show starring the KKK,” A&E General Manager Rob Sharenow told Variety. “This is a documentary series and that’s been the approach from the beginning. I think there’s been a horrible misperception about what it is and what we set out to do. This is a pure documentary that looks at a previously hidden part of the world.”
A&E is partnering with the civil-rights group Color of Change, which will produce segments that focus on civil-rights leaders to keep the show’s perspective clear.
“After reviewing the promotions and episodes and participating in substantive conversations with A&E executives, we are pleased to see that the network is taking seriously concerns that the show — newly titled Escaping the KKK: A Documentary Series Exposing Hate in America— required important additional components — such as specific in-show educational context and content and a post-show town hall as we both want to work together to ensure that it did not normalize and humanize racism and white supremacy,” wrote Color of Change executive director Rashad Robinson in a statement.
The Color of Change productions will be broadcast between segments of Escaping the KKK. The network will also shoot a town-hall special on ending hate in America.
The decision follows some public blowback. An online petition directed to The Walt Disney Company, ABC, and Brad.Abramson@aenetworks.com calls for the cancellation of the series. It has already been signed by 3,177 supporters with a goal of 5,000.
Ellen Pompeo asked her 1.23 million Twitter followers to boycott A&E for “giving ignorance a platform.”
“Hey I have an idea...why don't we all never watch ANYTHING on A&E again who's with me????” Pompeo tweeted.
“Generation KKK documents activists working to expose and end hatred,” A&E tweeted in response. “In the KKK, hatred is passed down as legacy. It must stop. #ExposeHate.”
The series will be an eight-part documentary series that follows Ku Klux Klan families and their younger generation that wants to quit the KKK. The documentary series also looks at how the KKK recruits children and encourages indoctrination. The series was endorsed by civil rights leaders associated with the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, and Black Lives Matter. There was fear that the show would promotes normalizing the hate group.
Sharenow told the New York Times that the show intends to stand against hate.
“This what happens behind the scenes and how hate groups evolve and continue,” Sharenow told Variety. “That was really the focus of the entire series.”
“We believe that A&E’s audience is educated and sophisticated enough to understand what they are watching,” Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League told Variety. Adding that the series is “a laudable effort to understand and expose the Ku Klux Klan from the inside out.”
Escaping the KKK: A Documentary Series Exposing Hate in America is set to premiere Jan. 10.