Channing Dungey
Not all history was made before my lifetime. For example, I can remember when the first black President of the United States of America was elected. Another example of recent history is Channing Dungey, the first African American President of a major television network. Dungey became the President of ABC in 2016, merely 3 years ago. Still, she made a big impact on the company as well as television itself.
Channing Dungey made her voice, as well as the countless voices of Americans that face racism themselves, heard when she made the decision to cancel her network's biggest hit "Roseanne". The star of the show, Roseanne Barr, had made a racist tweet that Dungey claimed did not reflect the values of the network. Barr was fired and without the lead actress, "Roseanne" was cancelled.
This was a big win for African Americans who have had to put up with the bullying and harassment of racist coworkers and even bosses under the excuses that people have the right to free speech. Hate speech is not free speech, and Dungey saw that and acted accordingly. Following this incident, there has been an increase in famous people being held accountable for what they say and do. Not even the stars of shows are above consequences for their racism.
Now, Dungey is moving from ABC to another network, where I hope she will continue to stay true to her values and support tolerance and denounce intolerance.
Koblin, John. "Channing Dungey, First Black Entertainment Executive
at a Major Network, Is Leaving ABC", The New York Times, Nov 16, 2018,
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