Everybody Hates Chris is a sitcom that is know for addressing racial stereotypes using a cynical and humorous approach. In the 22nd episode of the 3rd season of Everybody Hates Chris, entitled Everybody “Hates Graduation”, Chris has been told by his only friend Greg( who happens to be white), that they will not be attending high school together anymore. Greg's mom and Ms. Monroe – Greg and Chris' teacher – submitted Greg for a scholarship to go to The Bronx Academy of Science unbeknownst to him. Chris is deeply grieved because he and Greg are best friends and outside of each other they did not have any other friends. Chris decides he wants to go to The Bronx Academy of Science with Greg, however his father Julius, who is known to be an extreme penny pincher, doesn't want to pay the tuition because he feels it to expensive. Greg asks Ms. Monroe to help Chris get in. She feels that Chris is being to prestigious, unrealistic, and that school of such stature is far beyond his means. Ms. Monroe is a middle class white woman who believes and internalizes every racial stereotype about African Americans. Moreover, this episode of Everybody Hates Chris addresses how hegemony has heavily influenced the stereotypical beliefs concerning African Americans. Furthermore, hegemony has created minoritized discourses of the African American race.
During the first 10 minutes of the Graduation episode, there is a scene with Chris, Greg and Ms. Monroe. Ms. Monroe is going on and on about how bright Greg's future is, however she tells Chris that graduating from junior high must be like getting a PH.D in his family. When Chris stated that he wanted to go to The Bronx Academy of Science, she told him that he should not get to “up-ady”. Ms. Monroe clearly associates a school like The Bronx Academy as an institution that should only be available to people whom have the same racial background as her and Greg. Considering hegemony is a “framing [of] all competing definitions of reality within [the dominant class's] range” (Lull), it is easy to see that hegemony has produced minoritizing discourses – silently cites norm/s in order to position subject or representation – concerning the intellectual capability of the African American male. Moreover, hegemony controls the images and representations of people in society. Furthermore, hegemony has produced very narrow and rigid images of African Americans male, that have brainwashed a vast amount of whites (not meant to be racist, rather meant to address white supremacy) in to thinking that African Americans are not able nor entitled to accelerated forms of education.
Moving along, this scene frames the remainder of the episode. Ms. Monrow agrees to help Chis, after he remains her that he is “worthy” of attending The Bronx Academy of Science. Ms. Monrow states that he would have to apply for the scholarship under the minority curve, so Chris takes the admissions test and pass, which qualified him for an home interview. During the home interview Chris' mother is asked a series of racialized and stereotyped questions, such as “How long have you been addicted to herion” and “What is the name of the fathers (notice its plural) of your 3 children?” When she states that he (man conducting the interview) has her confused with the wrong person, he says “Lets move on must be a sensitive subject”. Chris' teacher Ms. Monroe has misinformed the man by telling him she believes Chris is a crack baby and his mother is delusional because she has treated herself to believing that she is married to a man who works 2 jobs and own a home; basically Ms. Monroe told him that he should not believe a word she is saying. However, Chris' mother is not lying. In the middle of the interview the police raid the house because of some other things that took place in the episode. When all the dust settled, the man states that Chris is in because Chris needs The Bronx Academy more than he thought. However, after checking his mother's financial records, Chris' acceptance is revoked because his mom was ironically telling the truth, furthermore Chris' parents make too much money! Considering that the African American family is heavily portrayed as broken/dysfunction – single mother, multiple father's of children, some form of drug abuse – it is nothing close to happen stance that this episode played out this way. It is evident that hegemonic views have blurred and denied any space for any other representations/minoritizing discourses of African Americans to be believable.
