Racial I-dad-ity

How I Met Your Mother is a show that is fairly void of racial diversity. All four of the gang are caucasian with the only racial diversity being Robin and Barney's Canadian heritage. But, there is one person in the show that brings pretty much all of the minorities to light in this sitcom: James. Barney's brother James is not only African-American, he is also homosexual, married (and then divorced) with an adopted child. Because James is the only person of color in the show, we are going to be looking at racial identity, in association with critical rhetoric, based on an episode that is centered around him as the main character.

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To look at identity and its connection with race I am going to focus on a single episode from season 6. While I am talking about this episode I will also be using some of the racial terminology that they chose to use on the show.  "Cleaning House" (S6E2) is rife with racial stereotypes that show us what the show says it means to be black. In this episode, Barney's mom (Loretta) starts to move out of Barney's childhood home and Barney enlists the help of the gang. Barney and James end up finding a picture of themselves that their mother never sent to a man named Sam Gibbs. Barney and James go to Sam's house to find out who's father he is and when he is James' father, Barney goes into a state of denial and thinks that Sam is his father as well.

Because of this misconception, Barney spouts off many racial stereotypes. To look at these stereotypes, we are going to pick them apart and see what each quote says about race.

"This explains why I was always so awesome at basketball."
So this quote seems pretty straightforward. They are obviously implying that all black people are good at basketball. This is obviously not true and actually can be a pretty sore subject to those that are black and not good at basketball but great at other sports or with other abilities in general. But, the show also does not show James or his father being good at basketball at any point so it almost neutralizes this stereotype in a way. But, there is also a little textual wink inside this quote because, earlier in this episode, we learn that Barney was actually terrible at basketball and his mother lied to him about being good at it for many years. Overall this racial slur is trying to be lighthearted and funny but is honestly cracking more of a joke at Barney's ignorance than at race in general.

"Guys, I'm Black. Sorry. African-American. No, I'm allowed to say either." 
This quote is not trying to make a statement about Blacks in specific, but at the labeling of racial groups from an internal and external perspective. The show is exposing the dichotomy that people find themselves in when describing race. If you are not a part of a certain group then you are not allowed to call a certain group by specific names, but you will hear others within the group calling each other the name that you are not allowed to say. When looking at this it has more to do with power relationships than it does with race. Excluding people from calling you a certain nickname is a power tactic. All of a sudden, you are in the minority and feel excluded. Barney is breaking these boundaries and calling himself a name technically should not be saying. Therefore, the show is speaking to the power of labeling and the ways that it is used.

"Man, try to hail a cab in Manhattan. Am I right? Nope. No one's stopping for this." 
Back to racial stereotypes with this one. This quote is making a statement about it being hard for a black person to hail a cab in Manhattan. Whether this be because the majority of cabs are driven by immigrants and they have a distrust for blacks as the Huffington Post suggested, or whether it is just be an (literal) urban legend, the fact remains that this is a stereotype that is promoted throughout big cities like New York that many city-goers would understand.

"Why do white people like Carrot Top?"

http://demon-dayz.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html

And, finally, a white stereotype. Barney asks his mom this question right before she knocks some sense into him about Sam Gibbs not being his father and Barney not being black. Just over 8 hours of Barney "being Black" and he is already perpetuating clichés about white's. This idea is that white people only like low end comedy or they will laugh at pretty much anything.

While Barney brought up a bunch of typecasts and even a discussion on power relationships, his quotes actually did not do any harm. This is not because there was not truth or intent of harm behind the words, but more because there was a more realistic version of what it meant to be black was in the form of James and Sam. Every time Barney said something or did something to showcase a stereotype, they were there to show his absurdity. So, even though Barney may want to watch his mouth when it comes to racial slurs, we've got a pretty good example of what black really is in James and Sam.

Video credit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOFCPzyJKHA

Image credit:
http://recultured.com/entertainment/17/how-i-met-your-mothers-greatest-hits-the-best-moments-of-season-5-and-6/