“The Boondocks” is a controversial animated series which deals with many issues surrounding the Black community in the United States. The series is based on a comic strip created by Aaron McGruder. The show can be considered racist by some people, for its harsh view on both black and white culture. The show centers around the Freeman family who have moved from inner city Chicago to the nice suburbs. Robert freeman (Grandadd), is an old school ex-civil rights activist who is in charge of his two grandchildren, huey and riley. Robert is often an irresponsible and gets caught up in all sorts of shenanigans. Huey and Riley are complete opposites. Riley is basically a product of all of the negative stereotypes in mainstream black culture. Huey on the other hand is an intelligent, well-read militant who looks up to revolutionary leaders like Malcom X and Che Guevarra; He also believes Ronald reagan was the devil.
I think the show uses Riley as a symbol of things wrong with the african american culture, and Huey as a symbol of progress, or someone who wants to make things better. The Show places the characters in all kinds of situations, sometimes based real events. The election of President Obama was the premise of one episode for example. The show even won a Peabody award for an episode in which Martin Luther King Jr. wakes up from a coma and is disappointed to see where black culture has gone. The show may be a bit brash for some, but in my opinion it uses dark humor to expose many issues surrounding race. The new season premiers tonight on adult swim.