Television networks are already busy announcing their fall line-up. And of the 26 new television shows that will air on the major networks in the Fall, not one will star an African American actor. Blacks, along with Latino and Asian-Americans, will have almost no secondary roles as well.

At the annual convention of the NAACP this week in New York, Kweisi Mfume,President of the civil rights organization, blasted the major TV networks for the lack of racial diversity in their programming. Mfume said: “When the TV viewing public sits down to watch new prime-time shows scheduled for this fall’s lineup, they will see a virtual whitewash in programming. This glaring omission is an outrage and a shameful display by network executives, who are either clueless, careless or both.”

Guest:

• Angela Oh, Los Angeles-based trial attorney who is currently engaged in writing and public lectures on race. She is a visiting scholar at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), and was a member of President Clinton’s Initiative on Race.