I was not upset by what Mike said in the first episode -- that was his ignorant uncle's limited experience. What upset me was the fact that he lacked the sentivity and common sense to curtail his words in the presence of two African-Americans.
I feel that Malik's decision to school Mike on African-American history was very constructive. I can totally understand why Coral may not want to take on the role of the "educator." I find that people of color are always placed in the position of being sensitive to other people's ignorance and trying to help "others" understand. The "educator" role can get old real quick, because quite frankly, we have to do it TOO often.
HOWEVER, Coral seems to go out of her way to insult and embarrass Mike. If Coral doesn't like Mike, she should just not speak to him. If he says something offensive that is one thing, but if he admits that he doesn't know something, that is an entirely different situation. It was very rude of Coral and Malik to openly laugh at Mike for admitting that he did not know the answers to their questions. You know if their other housemates were to openly laugh at them about something they thought everyone should know, both Malik and Coral would be very upset (and they would probably think it was a racial incident). Of course, after being tutored, Mike was obnoxious enough to say that he was going to tell Malik's friend about HIS history and then proceed to get some of the details wrong. One remedial lesson and he thinks he is an expert!
I like how Malik's friend challenged Coral's "superior than thou" attitude. He was very diplomatic. And how in the world can Coral be so presumptuous to say that she doesn't do anything that bothers Mike? She bothers me and I am not living with her! For someone so stuck in her ways, she really shouldn't expect Mike to change his ways overnight.
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