Small steps to continue tokenism? The guy has been on the show since 2006/07 and he's now getting a contract. I think he's the only person who's been on the show that long without one when everyone came AFTER him were given insta contracts and storylines. Tilford was thrown under the bus in a pathetic storyline but it suddenly becomes a choice of who to keep when we have beautiful Caucasians 24-35 masquerading in all their glory with more to come. Good luck Ringgold - you'll need it.

Um... maybe because he was never meant to be such a prominent character (If you want to call it that), with his connections to Greg and Destiny.

I don't see why you all are trying to turn something positive into something negative. We all know soaps are somewhat racist, and the writers these days will never write (properly) for minorities, but people can't be glad that a deserving actor got a contract? Geez.

Edited October 23, 201015 yr by Eric83

Um... maybe because he was never meant to be such a prominent character (If you want to call it that), with his connections to Greg and Destiny.

I don't see why you all are trying to turn something positive into something negative. We all know soaps are somewhat racist, and the writers these days will never write (properly) for minorities, but people can't be glad that a deserving actor got a contract? Geez.

Thank you.

Wow, you're EXTREMELY offensive. I didn't mean what I said offensively in any way. Yes, the show has problems in dealing with African Americans and the show's choices are offensive, IMO. My small steps remark had NOTHING to do with that or him being African American. It had to do with FINALLY giving the fan favorite, the "ugly" one, the one who patiently waited for a LITTLE bit of spotlight some love. Duh, I'd guess MOST of us prefer Sean Ringgold, INCLUDING me. That was the POINT. That's ALL I meant.

Do you mean I'm extremely offenDED? Then hell yeah, I am. I don't know how you think referring to a good man and IMO, a better, more organic actor than many of the skinny, white, charity cases currently sucking up screentime, as "ugly" and an "ogre" could not be offensive. For God's sake, he's not Shreck! The people at 30 Rock and Ugly Betty saw his talent. So did the filmakers who cast him in Notorious. So you'll just have to forgive me if I'm not willing to degrade Sean Ringgold's talent just because you need to believe OLTL isn't the soap equivalent of the Tea Bag Nation.

I'm saying hopefully, with the writers listening to fans the tiniest bit, maybe we can have more full-fledged African American characters. Or some returns of veteran characters we love.

But they aren't going to "listen to fans the tiniest bit" and there won't be "more full-fledged African American characters. Or some returns of veteran characters we love." And there's no reason for you to think there will be.

Of course the odds are stacked against us. Shoot me for at least trying to be optimistic. Wow.

I'm not going to shoot you but I'm not going to give OLTL a pass on their racism. And I'm not going to give you a pass on supporting it.

Um... maybe because he was never meant to be such a prominent character (If you want to call it that), with his connections to Greg and Destiny.

I don't see why you all are trying to turn something positive into something negative. We all know soaps are somewhat racist, and the writers these days will never write (properly) for minorities, but people can't be glad that a deserving actor got a contract? Geez.

The only people turning a positive into a negative is you. I'm thrilled Ringgold is getting a steady check but that doesn't mean that I've magically forgotten what OLTL is.

Stickney, Purdee, Sumpter, Duplaix, Tilford. All tokens. All gone. You're not pissed because we aren't happy. You're pissed because the show keeps proving us RIGHT.

"We all know soaps are somewhat racist, and the writers these days will never write (properly) for minorities..."

Let's just read that over and over again.

Edited October 23, 201015 yr by marceline

Do you mean I'm extremely offenDED? Then hell yeah, I am. I don't know how you think referring to a good man and IMO, a better, more organic actor than many of the skinny, white, charity cases currently sucking up screentime, as "ugly" and an "ogre" could not be offensive. For God's sake, he's not Shreck! The people at 30 Rock and Ugly Betty saw his talent. So did the filmakers who cast him in Notorious. So you'll just have to forgive me if I'm not willing to degrade Sean Ringgold's talent just because you need to believe OLTL isn't the soap equivalent of the Tea Bag Nation.

But they aren't going to "listen to fans the tiniest bit" and there won't be "more full-fledged African American characters. Or some returns of veteran characters we love." And there's no reason for you to think there will be.

I'm not going to shoot you but I'm not going to give OLTL a pass on their racism. And I'm not going to give you a pass on supporting it.

You are correct that he's a good organic actor who's handsome in his own right! That was my entire point! I'm glad the show opened their eyes for once. When I called him "ugly," I'm assuming that's how the show saw him given his recurring status for years while Terrell gets a contract out of the gate. Hence THE QUOTATIONS.

And excuse me, me having optimism is MY business and MY opinion. You can't just tell me I have no reason for thinking anything.

And WOW, I NEVER said I supported the show's racism. But am I going to not watch and enjoy the show because of it? NO. That would mean I would literally not enjoy most media because there's an element of racism in almost all of them. You have no right to call me a racist supporter when you clearly watch the show, or at the very least, did, as well.

Edited October 23, 201015 yr by alexisfan07

And WOW, I NEVER said I supported the show's racism. But am I going to not watch and enjoy the show because of it? NO.

This says it all.

This says it all.

Thanks for ignoring everything else I said on the matter. Since you watch the show, you're a hypocrite. Enough said.

You have no right to speak for me or anyone else. I'm APPALLED with how the show underutilized Tika. Layla was one of my favorite characters. But I'm equally appalled that Farah Fath is still employed. To me there are MANY issues with the show and if the reasons I enjoy the show are still there, I won't just stop watching due to the problem areas. I also don't have to hold the same opinions as you with the only alternative being "wrong."

Edited October 23, 201015 yr by alexisfan07

Thanks for ignoring everything else I said on the matter. Since you watch the show, you're a hypocrite. Enough said.

I don't watch the show and I haven't watched in years.

Edited October 23, 201015 yr by marceline

I don't watch the show and I haven't watched in years.

Then why are u in here trying to start fights with people?

Then why are u in here trying to start fights with people?

LMAO! The irony of that statement coming from you of all people! :lol:

As I've said, I think the world of Mr. Ringgold and I'm happy he's getting a regular check. The fact that you and the rest of the OLTL Defense Squad can't handle the fact that some of us can support the actor without climbing up into Ron, Frank and Frons' colon, isn't my problem. But when someone refers to him as ugly and an ogre, I consider those fighting words.

Let's just read that over and over again.

What is that supposed to mean? We hear he is getting a contract, some people leave positive comments, and hear come people saying "it doesn't mean anything", "he's black, he will never get anything", "he's just a token". We KNOW that. Nobody thinks he is all of a sudden going to start getting TSJ/Michael Easton type airtime. We are just glad that he got a contract.

The current soaps will never abandon its racist ways, you said that yourself in the ratings thread. I agree with you, that it is time for these out date shows to be put to rest, but while they're here, what are we going to do? They don't have much longer anyway.

What is that supposed to mean?

It means I want people to read it over and over again.

It means that when people show up crying, wondering what killed soaps, ONE of the answers is right there. Crystal clear and inescapable. The difference is that you think it's something that we should work around and I think it's the reason these shows deserve to die.

We all know soaps are somewhat racist

Soaps writers writing stories that don't in the least bit reflect the world they live in (culturally or otherwise) is "somewhat racist"?

Edited October 23, 201015 yr by DeeeDee

Um... maybe because he was never meant to be such a prominent character (If you want to call it that), with his connections to Greg and Destiny.

I don't see why you all are trying to turn something positive into something negative. We all know soaps are somewhat racist, and the writers these days will never write (properly) for minorities, but people can't be glad that a deserving actor got a contract? Geez.

Correction - soaps are very racist. It's not about being negative but recognizing the fact that it took Rinngold 3+ years to get a contract and now that he has one it still means squat because he's Black. And if you don't think it's suspicious that he's NOW getting one when they threw Tilford under the bus then you're blind. If people choose to be grateful that the show is managing small steps for minorities then more power to them. I, for one, am not going to applaud OLTL for their interchangeable tokenism when they have no problem creating multiple storylines for White characters that ain't worth [!@#$%^&*] when Blacks repeatedly get the shaft. We have Vivian, Sean, Destiny, Darren, Theo, and The Evans mother and father and we know absolutely nothing about them. Destiny is the only actress on contract and she's on permanent prop duty. When Sean finally get a frontburner storyline about him and his family and he isn't propping someone's lame ass to infinity then check back with me to see if I'm still being "negative".

What is that supposed to mean? We hear he is getting a contract, some people leave positive comments, and hear come people saying "it doesn't mean anything", "he's black, he will never get anything", "he's just a token". We KNOW that. Nobody thinks he is all of a sudden going to start getting TSJ/Michael Easton type airtime. We are just glad that he got a contract.

The current soaps will never abandon its racist ways, you said that yourself in the ratings thread. I agree with you, that it is time for these out date shows to be put to rest, but while they're here, what are we going to do? They don't have much longer anyway.

Your post makes no sense. If you know the show has racist qualities and you know Sean will not be given the TSJ/Easton treatment then why do you expect people to clap like seals because Sean is given a contract when you know it does not mean anything? If you're agreeing then why are you so hellbent in labeling people negative when you know they speak the truth???