you do the math

Hm. OK, so 33% of the population in the U.S. is a "minority."

That means 67% are white. 33% are male (yes, there are more females than males).

At risk of revealing the secret that for somebody who's self-righteous about not owning a TV, I watch a significant amount of TV on the internet ...

Here's a breakdown of the shows posted for viewing on the internet, which I assume is a fair cross-section of shows actually on TV:

ABC:
October Road - a horrible, horrible show that just started which got me on this bent. Main character: a white boy, with all white friends. Incidental "agent" and dean are black.

Desperate Housewives - my favorite line ever was Gabriella telling Carlos to "get all cholo on his ass!" But that's very minor in a very white-dominated campy show.

Brothers and Sisters: All white, and I don't think there's even a friend, s.o., or colleague who's minority.

What About Brian - Never seen it. The pic shows a group of white people surrounding a white boy with one black friend off to the side background.

Voicemail is a stupid online thing, all about a white boy.

Knights of Properity - white boy main star, but supporting cast includes an Indian (really Iranian), Columbian, and Black guy. This is more about working class than race, and on the diversity-o-meter it scores the highest grade so far.

What About Jim: white guy with all white family and as far as I know all white friends. Hm, is Jim in the Klan?

Ugly Betty: I've never seen it but heard it's great. Main star is a Latina and includes her culture. But why does the minority need to be "ugly"?

Grey's Anatomy: white girl in a multiracial hospital. It may diss nurses, but I think it's pretty good about incorporating Latino, Asian, and Black people.

Men In Trees: Which I will never watch again because they're always wrong about Sitka and Anne Heche and her co-star were adulterous in real life. Anyway, story of a white girl with almost all white friends, with the exception of an Asian-Black couple. They're in Alaska and nobody's native? That's BS.

ABC score:
White boys are the entire world: 4
White boys and girls are the focus of the world: 3
Minorities may support: 2
Minority characters are key: 1

CBS:
The Class - they went to school in NYC and ALL their friends are white? And all their s.o."s That's BS.

CSI - main characters white with one exception.

CSI: Miami - David Caruso makes my skin crawl so I don't watch. Main star is white boy with supporting including Latinos, as far as I know.

CSI: NY - main characters white, one black support.

How I Met Your Mother - Canadian is as minority as this show gets. Everybody is white, with white boy as main focus.

Jericho - never seen it; white boy stars - don't count it.

NCIS - they have an "Israeli" who is Latina really and an Asian sex fiend - otherwise it's all white boys (and Lauren Holly sometimes, but since they made her cut her hair she's really just a man who slept with Jethro but they wouldn't deal with homosexuality).

The New Adventures of Old Christine - white girl with white family, black best friend and lusted after black teacher. This is probably the most like my life - just hope I'm not as self-centered as Christine is. :)

Numb3rs - white boys star and mostly support, though the support is often minority women (though that's never fleshed out).

Rules of Engagement - Really? All your friends in NYC are white? And women are there only to nag and put out? Sigh.

Shark - white boy focus with some minor minority support.

The Unit - main character is arguably (it's an ensemble cast) black. Still white boy heavy, but not exclusive.

CBS score: (11)
White boys are the center of the universe: 6
White boys and girls are the focus of the world: 2
Minorities allowed to support: 2
Minority-focused show: 1 (sort-of)


NBC:

My Name is Earl - well, there is the Crab Man, and Joy's sister is black. Actually, I think this show is pretty forward-thinking in its bumbling redneckness. It actually faces race issues head-on and then moves on, putting things in perspective.

30 Rock - at first I was pretty offended by Tracy Lawrence's character, but now I'm somewhat impressed. It's mostly about a white girl and white boy (Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey) but not exclusively - Tracy is stealing the show.

Andy Barker, PI - never seen it, white boy star.

The Black Donnellys - saw a two-minute replay and wanted to vomit. Violent Irish and Italian boys? That's so retro.

Friday Night LIghts - never seen it, looks all white. It's football in TExas.

Heroes - I think this one is more diverse, but never seen it.

ER - has traditionally done well with diversity.

The Office - white boys star with some others supporting I think (I've only seen it once or twice, but nobody comes to mind).

Scrubs - ok, I can't complain her about Karla and her husband. Why are the medical shows the best?

Score: (9 total)
White boys are the center of the universe: 3
White boys club, white girls as ornamentation: 1
Significant diversity (either in number or quality of role): 5
Minority as focus/star: 0

OVERALL: (30 shows total)
White boys are pretty much the entire focus: 13
White boys & girls: 6
Significant diversity: 9
Minority as focus: 2

Now, you can argue with me about the way I distinguish the shows. Is "My Name is Earl" really about diversity? Is Numb3rs really not? But it's still a pretty disturbing trend.

So, here are my follow-up questions.
1. Where are the Asians?
2. Why are there only two shows, out of 30, where minorities are the star? And that was a pretty generous count I did.
3. Is anybody else sick and tired of seeing white boys everywhere they look on TV? Don't get me wrong - I like some of these shows a lot. But would I like them any less if the star were a Korean or Jordanian woman? Heck no.
4. Where are the Middle Easterners? Are we really only portraying them as terrorists? That is so messed up!

I understand that a lot of people in this country mostly associate with people who look like them. But a lot of us don't! And a lot of us don't just have one token minority friend, like most these shows do.

Sigh. I'm so over TV.