If you spend any time on social media you’ve likely come across a video clip here or there of some media personality—perhaps somebody you know or have, at least, heard of—sitting at a table in the middle of a room surrounded by people all vying for a chance to “debate” some topic or set of topics. The first time I saw this series, I witnessed Mehdi Hasan sit in a room full of a bunch of people who I’d hope to never spend time around in real life. At the time I didn’t know it was a recurring show. I know now it was Jubilee’s “Surrounded” debate 20v1-style web series.
The latest person to sit at the “Surrounded” table is none other than Amanda Seales, on an episode billed as “1 Black Radical vs. 20 Black Conservatives.” And…it went about as one might expect, regardless of what side of the aisle you sit on. As a quick sidebar, the whole concept of the series really is curious; arguably, nobody is ever going to change their minds and it kinda sorta allows people (on both sides) to more or less go off with or without facts, again, on both sides. I watched parts of an episode featuring Candace Owens and people really get to say some terrible things in the spirit of “debate.” There’s probably a deeper discussion about platforming to be had, but the entertainment value is so high that it might not even be worth it.
With that said, Amanda Seales was absolutely born for these types of moments. Seales has built a reputation over the years as a person that most people either love or hate. She’s very smart, opinionated to a fault, loves Black people and is highly opinionated about what that love should look like. It’s part of the reason her platform and brand has become so big. This show is BUILT for her to thrive and thrive she does, especially when paired with a bunch of people (say 90 percent) who are showing up to a gunfight with a knife—and by gunfight I mean a debate unprepared for just how smart she actually is and how smart she believes she is.
In one particular clip that’s circulating for all of the right and wrong reasons, a young man whose name I don’t think they ever said sits across from Seales for the discussion about reparations and manages to work in an insane amount of anti-Black talking points in a short amount of time. He manages to say, “Black culture is toxic,” “there are no fathers in Black homes,” “White supremacy is a lie,” that white people are in positions of power because of white culture, which is the opposite of that “toxic Black culture” mentioned. He also felt it really important that Seales know that white people helped Harriet Tubman.
Right before this gentleman sat down, Amanda—exasperated by the prior guest’s insistence (again paraphrasing) that redlining didn’t exist and that it is racist for Black students at MIT to suggest a shared living space (dorm) would make them feel safe when (in his view) Black people (well other Black people, not him of course) basically spend all of their time killing one another—sarcastically said that she hopes some of those in attendance are (were) acting.
Nope. But sometimes when you let all of the voices typically shielded by social media into a space to speak freely, and with purpose and with a target, it often feels like a world of make believe.
