Ice Cube is a well-known legend when it comes to music and film, but what many didn’t know was that in 2006 he produced a TV show where contestants swapped races.
Leave it to Twitter to discover anything and everything you may not have known existed. On Saturday (April 9), a TV show that didn’t have much popularity on-air suddenly became the talk of social media.
The reality show — titled “Black. White.” — aired on FX and featured families switching races for six weeks. On the show, the contestants would get full-on makeovers complete with airbrush body paint that would transform Black people into white and vice versa.
The idea of swapping lives isn’t completely foreign. TV shows such as ABC’s “Wife Swap” have done similar experiments for years. At one point, there was even a celebrity spin-off version. With Cube’s show, though, Twitter users didn’t seem to be thrilled about the idea of “black face” being used in a reality series.
According to IMDb, the show’s theme song was “Race Card” by Ice Cube. A description of the show reads, “What’s it like to walk not just in another man’s shoes, but in another man’s skin? That’s the question this series asks as it transforms through extensive makeup work a black family into a white family and vice versa. The two families live together for the duration of the experiment, discussing their experiences — sometimes heatedly — after the makeup comes off.”
After the six weeks were up, the contestants washed away their borrowed DNA and transformed back to their birth race. The series showed the families discussing the situations they experienced while living in a different race’s shoes.
For anyone interested in viewing this social experiment, old clips can be found on YouTube. For now, though, here’s what Twitter is saying about the show.
Ice Cube calling up WB and saying he has a great idea for their next Superman movie pic.twitter.com/0BUHWQuYZ5
— Narrative Matters (WandaVision Critique! Pinned!) (@itsnarrative) April 10, 2022
Nah Ice Cube got to explain this show pic.twitter.com/oBj3xvLGN7
— more ice 🍨 (@Maurice1Charles) April 10, 2022
I do not get why. People are making such a big deal, That ice cube was part of this. I believe, The show was canceled because of how ridiculous the the white people were. It showed a reality that people are still trying to hide till this day. https://t.co/sjmFTBDutx
— Mastercacique (@forthelovofus) April 10, 2022
Executive Produced by… Ice Cube? pic.twitter.com/236ATbs4MY
— Hoodie Melo (@dazzaveli) April 10, 2022
why am I not surprised Ice Cube is behind this pic.twitter.com/BSl6cQEgy7
— cory🫥🫧 (@micahxcordell) April 9, 2022
Ice cube was like pic.twitter.com/D02MhXEjqg
— Joe but in Spanish (@yallhearsumtin) April 10, 2022
Black. White. Was a good reality show. I watched the whole season. It showed the hate people had for each other, but how EVERYONE only see color not the person. #icecube was ahead of his time.
— CB-EZ (@83christianb2) April 10, 2022
They’re not transracial they’ve just painted their face brown for a week for a TV show 🤣
— Alex Thomson {Tall Stories Creative} (@alexjlongman) April 10, 2022
Ppl who didn’t see the show wouldn’t understand. It was for the ppl to briefly experience what it was like to be black/white. Now the black as white makeup looked terrible but I know where Ice Cube was going with it.
— Its_Kay0504 (@ItsKay0504) April 10, 2022
Nah this Black. White. TV show is wild lmao…we need answers @icecube
— NON SWAGGY P (@pnoble_) April 10, 2022
ICE CUBE BLACK WHITE you guys are really mad over an old show you never watched that wasn’t even that good? The concept was interesting but if you’re mad it’s probably because you’re LOOKING for a reason to be mad. @icecube owes you no apologies
— Anthony Tippett (@TZAROFTULSA4EVR) April 10, 2022
aint ice cube sit down w whyte supremaciest donald trump a year or two ago?? im not surprised he dressed black people up as white people & vice versa. its very on brand for his energy. pic.twitter.com/Xhj8QUtfrJ
— t*ler #1 MGK HATE PAGE. FUCK MGK!!! (@immaterialbf) April 10, 2022
Oh wow I remember that show Black White from Ice Cube. They should do it again. So much has happened. Allow people to experience life in someone else's shoes. We're missing that today. #icecube #blackwhite #compassion
— The Common Sense Liberal (@TenderLiberal) April 10, 2022