So are you insinuating that I am racist or something? The comment about Minorities being shown all the time was from like 6 months to a year ago, and I clarified my point by saying that they were on the show each time I turned it on, and that it may have been because I don't watch everyday.

I really love the DC and PC podcasts, but I am finding it harder and harder to come to the website because anytime my opinions are different, I get attacked or slandered not just by anonymous forum posters(which on the internet you come to expect), but the hosts and authors themselves. I don't get it.

I get that race can be a sensitive subject, and I abhor racism. I guess being a white guy from the northern midwest, I just don't see racism in everything I watch, hear, and do.

Scooter, your avatar says it all.

"Liberal" also means having a kind and generous disposition. Even if you're not a racist, you're an insensitive jerk. Take your pick.

I rarely comment in threads dealing with social injustices because I find it hard to control my level of anger; but for you, I felt the need to make an exception.

I can'r believe they actually made Debbie Morgan say that! And the way the line was delievered it came off as though she calls her boss "Miss Phyllis" all the time. ><

For all the people saying that calling someone "Miss So and So" is a sign of respect, did you read the part where Jamey said people don't do this with people in their own age range? Duh. I'm Black and Southern. Yes, there are some people I call Miss Alice and Mr. John. They're my parents age or (more likely) much older. I don't call anyone within 10 or 15 years of me in either direction Miss Alice or Mr. John. If they're my boss, I call them Ms. Smith, Mr. Jones, or Alice and John, depending on familiarity. Kids do call me Miss "Angie", so Ana doing that to all of the adults really isn't a probably, not even with boring ol' Lily. I could see Harmony calling Katherine "Miss" because of her age, but Phyllis? Please. And note, people do not need permission to react to what they consider racist, whether intentional or unintentional (so institutionally ingrained that the writer isn't aware how racist something is).

For all the people saying that calling someone "Miss So and So" is a sign of respect, did you read the part where Jamey said people don't do this with people in their own age range? Duh. I'm Black and Southern. Yes, there are some people I call Miss Alice and Mr. John. They're my parents age or (more likely) much older. I don't call anyone within 10 or 15 years of me in either direction Miss Alice or Mr. John. If they're my boss, I call them Ms. Smith, Mr. Jones, or Alice and John, depending on familiarity. Kids do call me Miss "Angie", so Ana doing that to all of the adults really isn't a probably, not even with boring ol' Lily. I could see Harmony calling Katherine "Miss" because of her age, but Phyllis? Please. And note, people do not need permission to react to what they consider racist, whether intentional or unintentional (so institutionally ingrained that the writer isn't aware how racist something is).

Scooter, you go back and re-read what I said. WHERE does it say, that I CALLED YOU A RACIST!? I quoted what you said because YOU FELT the show wasn't being racist. Dial it back. You've NEVER seen me type that up point blank PERIOD. If you don't want to listen to the podcast or read the blog, that's all on you.

I really wish I could go to Cali and burn Donell's contract.
As a black female, I find this beyond embarrassing. Restless is awful anyway, but even if the rest of the show was stellar I couldn't bring myself to watch a show a show with a character like this. How can it be anything but racism for Maria to see a legend like Debbie Morgan, who played an iconic character for years and go: CRACKHEAD! and uneducated to boot. As awful as Genie and Maura West's stints have been, they didn't have to deal with stuff like this.

Thanks everyone I was just channeling Alice Walker for a minute! My that woman seeps into your soul.

Man! I can just see next Christmas episode. Finally Maria and company put to bed A Christmas Carol for a slightly more modern American classic "Gone With The Wind". (picturing the Carol Burnett Version) Miss Nikki Sauntering down the stairs to see the Mustache Victor Newman, wearing the drapes and the curtain rod across her shoulders. Sophia opens the door "Miss Nikki! Miss Nikki! Miss Nikki! Miss Nikki!" as Miss Phyllis walks by and slaps her in the face and spits on her..... Oh that didn't turn out that funny.....
Hey actually as badly as they write for minorities perhaps the entire show SHOULD go back in time to the deep south. The Nemans, The Abbotts and The Chandlers are the rich plantation owners. Daniel Romalotti could be secretly teaching Lily how to read while ravishing her body in the barn. Yoharmony the freed slave comes back to proclaim Mrs Chandlers grandson is but a humble slave in her yard being raised by her lead house slave Neil....

Well I have to admit that either I didn't hear the "Miss Phyllis" comment or that it didn't register at the time. I did think it was odd how much Phyllis went on and on about liking Harmony and how well they were going to get along. It was going on so long that I felt it had an undertone of how much MAB and MS liked her compared to VR.

As far as people saying "Miss Phyllis" in the real world, I live in a rural community in the south and I do hear it to a very limited extent at work. I have a coworker who addresses a colleague as "Miss Phyllis." I've heard that coworker say "I have to go talk to Miss Phyllis." Those uses are sort of "in house."

I have never, ever, heard that colleague tell a complete stranger that they need to go talk to "Miss Phyllis." They would tell the stranger they needed to talk to either "Ms. Newman" or "Phyllis Newman."

I would say that I was shocked when I saw the scene but than I remembered this show is written by the same woman that named Sophia's baby Moses, has Sophia who is supposed to be the number 2 at a billion dollar company dressed in outfits that are brighter than the Sun, & givens Sophia lines like "go get your man." MAB is a HORRIBLE EP/HW. Sony and CBS need to fire her and get someone in there that actually wants to write for the show and not walk the red carpet.

I think Jamey and a lot of other people are overreacting. I think the remark in question was more because Harmony is from the south (apparently), or, it is quite possible that she was being sarcastic because Phyllis is a bitch, as someone else suggested way back in near the beginning of the thread. But the people here who have decided that this was a vile act of racial hatred are determined that they are right and anybody who doesn't agree is either stupid, crazy,or "just doesn't get it."

I'm not even going to comment on this topic ....

...well, I don't think there was any intention of anything by anyone on that line. If anything it was simply sarcasm. Don't forget that we don't really know Harmony all that well at this juncture, so we don't know just where that character is headed and just what she is up to.

I think Vimal and Rama are only together because the show is ending. When Cris was still around, Vimal was pushed off the canvas for months while they tried, very badly, to throw Rama and Cris together.

The Evans disappear for weeks and weeks at a time and Destiny is treated as an afterthought even when pregnant. Their real chance for a story seemed to disappear when Rachel was fired.

All the soaps today either focus on tokens or don't even try for tokens. It's pathetic.

Okay so I watched it. I love DM but this role is just so wrong for her IMO. As for the "issue" at hand it just seemed out of place. Do I think it was racist? I honestly don't know. I completely understand Jamey's POV but in this particular instance I am not sure how to take it.

If there was a problem I think Debra Morgan would of spoke up by now. Once again, we have wannabe (at best) media hooking people into tome non issue to get the mob mentality going. In the end these are just all words that lead to phrases and you give them meaning. You, not someone else. Think for yourselves.

Why all this outrage, people have for months even years stating that the soaps portrayal of black characters at times more often then not is insulting and this goes for all soaps.

Y&R haven't given a hoot about their AA characters or audience in years yet people didn't seem to care, know that the soaps are done to the bare bones getting upset about it isn't going to care anything.

As for OLTL the Evans are used as props on that show just as the Winters are on Y&R please lets not try to make one better than the other everything Jamey stated for the Evans has been done recently on Y&R and the Evans are hardly featured on the show.

1) You're here, so don't be a dick about the place you're posting. 2)Some things are pretty cut and dry. I'm not massively offended by Harmony calling her boss "Miss Phyllis", but not because it's not racist. It's because it's so boldly racist in 2012 I had to laugh.

TTFN

Glad it wasn't just me that hated that line. I thought I was just being oversensitive since I watched "The Help" for the first time last week and then immediately read the book. It appalls me that human beings were treated as subhuman with no feelings back then.

While I agree with some of you that Miss and Mr is a term of respect and I definitely teach that to my children (along with Ma'am and sir), it is reserved for people older than you. Phyllis is NOT older than Harmony. Also, it is used in reference to your boss but it is more formal. If it were just a boss thing, she would have said "Miss Newman, Phyllis Newman." I was truly repulsed in The Help when the maids were forced to call these young girls Miss Hilly and Miss Skeeter. Give me a break! Yes "The Help" was a hit movie but we do NOT need to turn Y&R into it!

Well then Jamey if you find it so insulting, answer me this: why would an intelligent woman like Debbi repeat that line? Are you saying she isn't clever enough to know when she's being insulted? Is she that desperate for work that she'd come on national tv and say lines that degraded her? I hardly think so.

I too have friends from Atlanta and they use that the term "miss first name here" all the time. When I asked the one guy why they used that manner to address people he said it was out of respect and because his mother would kick his butt if he didn't.

I agree with you completely, Jamey.

"Miss Phyllis" is completely incorrect in a professional setting. If the goal was to be reverent and showcasing etiquette, the correct title would be "Miss Summers" not fucking "Miss Phyllis". "Miss (insert first name here)" is reserved for domestic types and children towards their elders who are within their family circle of friends. Everybody knows that [/Phaedra Parks]. Last time I checked, DM/Yoharmony is not a damned kid, nor is Phyllis her elder. And she's not working for Phyllis as a maid. Harmony doesn't know Phyllis enough to be using "Miss Phyllis" as a term of endearment, disdain (as some can use "Miss" in a nicety sort of way), or any other emotion.

TIIC are trying way too hard to showcase Harmolanda's "blackness". Like we didn't notice that Debbi Morgan is black. The obnoxious slang, the do-rag during the Holidays, the lack of knowledge of how to navigate sugar cubes in a gotdamned sugar bowl, and now this - complete overkill! Did no one on that set even bother to rethink "Miss Phyllis"? I think DM would know that was going to rub some people the wrong way. My pet theory is that MAB recently saw "The Help" (I'll reserve my rant on that for another day) and thought that would be a real "doozy". It is so obvious this character is supposed to be Drucilla version 2.0. I'm surprised they didn't make her illiterate, too [/eyeroll]

MAB - you are so dumb, you're really, really dumb - for real!

Why the assumption that Yolanda is Southern? There has been absolutely no backstory confirming Yolanda is from the South. Not all African Americans originate from the American South. And even if she was, not all southerners behave in the same way.

This is just another example of MAB being completely clueless outside her little "Ladies who Lunch" bubble

I dislike MAB as much as the next person but unless it happens again I'm going to assume it was a flubbed line. Remember Phyllis is portrayed by Michelle Stafford. Maybe DM caught herself calling the character by the actress' name and compensated by calling her 'Miss Phyllis' to keep from having to reshoot the scene. Just a thought..

I think between those two characters it might be misconstrued. Hopefully they will change the dialog from now on. The fact people are discussing should give them a sign. It may indicate class.

I have a black friend who calls me Miss Irene when I see him. I never thought about it before. I think he just feels comfortable with it. I am about 15 years older. There is no other work relationship. Just see him once in awhile.

I would still edit the dialog a little more though.

I'm posting again because I am still in shock. This is Y&R, not the real world. In the real world, many people may still use these terms...but it doesn't matter because NO ONE ELSE (except Ana) uses those terms on Y&R.

Why assume that Yolanda is from the South to justify something that is obviously out of whack with the lines that other characters say?

No one else on Y&R calls their boss Miss or Mr, so why is Yolanda written that way? It could have been an ad lib gone wrong, or it could have been written with very good intentions. It is not going over well because MAB's Y&R has been treating its black characters like crap for years.

If MAB hadn't created this environment based upon how she treats the black characters, I don't think it would have stung this bad. I could be wrong. It bothers me moreso because of everything else.

@Jamey/Jillian: When you compare Y&R to other soaps it has generally missed the mark by casting too many African Americans as something below the gutter. The Winters/Barbara clan despite the Emmy worthy acting from Rowell, St. John and Williams had to deal with 2 siblings who were street urchins. And then everything else that was said above given the history.

But here's my bigger point:

Look at say Passions. I'll cut for the show when it comes to the fact that they had a full black family and the adults were professionals. Even when they added in characters like Chad and Liz etc. You could have them as a characters to balance out things. They were also treated as equals and given the same amount of air-time in storylines (good or bad) as their Caucasian counterparts. And they weren't in the storyline ghetto.

For the time that the Grants existed on GL they were fully integrated. They even established the family as one of an Upper-Middle Class background. I could identify with that, since my parents were frequently referred to as "high siditty."

All My Children always had some form of an Black presence on the show and for the most part they were all professionals. So a Randy here or a Jamal there was just fine. And Noah (played by the Actors Actor Keith Hamilton Cobb) was one dude from the wrong side of the tracks with a heart of gold. So any of All My Children's down trodden African Americans were A+ compared to Maria Perry's Why Did I Get Cast On This Soap style of writing and casting for that fact.

And and then there was Generations who schooled the genre on how to portray Wealthy African Americans on screen. They knew how to cast a black bitch (Jonelle Allen as Doreen), The young bitch in the making (Vivica A. Fox as Maya), The heroin (Joan Pringle as Ruth), the tough patriarch (James Reynolds as Henry) etc.

And just to add a little flavor to the punch Days did good by not casting any of the black characters they have had (while being woahfully underused over the years) as anything but high class people. Take Tanya Boyd as Celeste. Now that was a daytime first for a black actress.

So that brings us back to Y&R. A soap about executives battling over cosmetics markets ah la in the business world. Yet Neil a 2 decade vet of the show can't run his own company? Could not have moved into being the 3rd wheel in the battles between Jack and Victor. So they had to go cast a new Caucasian and give him all the power they won't allow a black actor to play and their character to have on a soap watched by mostly black women.

And with the way the storylines are written, black people can only be lifted by white people. Proof is in the pudding.

I subscribe to Black Enterprise (http://www.blackenterprise.com) and Savoy Magazines (http://savoynetwork.com). These publications both focus on successful black people, 2/3's of whom are running their own companies. Uptown Magazine (http://uptownmagazine.com) caters to the black upper middle class.

And so when I tuned into Y&R it was to see buppies and the rest of the cast in the corporate world. Not Dynasty on one end and The Parker's on the other. So what they write for black people on this show is a disgrace.

And I'm not gonna watch as long as the Coonery and Buffoonery is still airing, along with the general bad writing.

I am one of those parents who teaches my kids to refer to adults they know by first name (or their instructors for say, dance) or friends of mine as "Miss/Mrs./Mr." I have also called ladies at work of various races (when speaking directly to them), Miss [insert name here]. I teach them that as a form of respect, and when I say it myself, it's a term of endearment.

However, when the line this thread is related to was uttered on Thursday's Y&R, I was taken aback. I believe it was because Harmony was speaking to Ricky about who to see about a job, and I don't feel it was appropriate there. Is Yolanda a character I know little about, yes? But do I think Jamey's wrong in being bothered by it, absolutely not. There are some commenters here on both(?) sides that have addressed this with respect and a willingness to state their opinion and support their opinion with their experiences. I enjoy reading the different Points-of-view immensely, especially when topics like this are discussed constructively and even more so when a little levity is employed.

Unfortunately, others have chosen to be defensive and/or rude and throw out such non-helpful, pointed (and overused, possibly carried around like Linus' blanket {/hypocrisy ends here...or does it}) comments about 'see[ing] racism in everything.' I find that sad and unnecessary - Jamey's writing above states an opinion, then offers support of said opinion, citing references to some historical and recent patterns/instances; while supposition is no doubt a part of many opinions, I also see credit given where it is due. I hardly see this, in conjunction with the vast majority of Daytime Confidential stories or as a standalone topic, as "seeing racism in everything." I actually thought Scooter's first comment was a well-phrased personal viewpoint and saw why subsequent replies may have put him on the defense, but I read others and see a lack of empathy and/or even a lack of support for generalizations.

I'm sorry but I still don't get it. I mean, I left for hours and came back and now the thing is that this was DEFINITELY not a flubbed line?

I think we should stop insulting each other just long enough to get the truth. And if this was scripted, THENNN we could bash the show and vow to never watch the "crap" again. I just think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves, and I'd hate to see Y&R sink to even LOWER lows based on a misconception...

SIDENOTE: I wish everyone would stop glorifying All My Children and OLTL. Both of those soaps COMBINED don't have the amount of African American contract roles that Y&R have. And whether we like YoHarmony or NOT, she's featured pretty regularly now. Sooo, one soap is no better than the other in the diversity department. Give me a break....I watch them all, and I haven't seen a prominent black family in yearss....not SINCE Passions actually...lol. And we all know how that turned out. It's sad and disgusting, but its reality. Y&R isn't the only bad guy here...all of them are. But I understand that this site is against Y&R in every way, which is understandable...I just don't think EVERYTHINg on the show is as horrible as everyone makes it while everyon praises OLTL for being "diverse" and "Fresh"....no no no

I am also curious about where the line originated, though a line I dislike is simply that, rarely amplified by who wrote or uttered it, but certainly intent (which can be hard to decipher) can be a factor.

When I saw Jamey's thoughts on this, I felt inspired to post because it's one of those (as others have noted), "did I just hear that?" moments, not because there was a sale on torches and pitchforks at The Home Depot. (No, really, get 'em while they're hot, people!) While the Internet has its' darker side and I've seen my share of people grandstanding, full-on propaganda, and/or piggybacking off of/parroting others' statements [only] to fit in or because one isn't capable of having their own intelligent thoughts based in truth/research/Miss Cleo/well-reasoned statements, it's interesting when something seemed cringe-worthy or off-putting to you, and you find you're not the only one. I'm an individual, and while agreeing with many doesn't in itself make things true (see: the Earth is flatter than my chest at prom, circa 450 BC), it can be an opportunity to listen, learn, and even teach.

@ Winnie - I appreciate your thoughtful and eloquent posts. Hope to read more of your posts more often around this site.

Thanks, soapbaby! I usually read and run, taking in the glee, the anger, the (perceived?) betrayal, the jokes, the snark, and the praise. Daytime Confidential: Bringing Winnie her internet "stories" since '08.