The network that popularized reality TV with The Real World, and then brought you such hard-hitting docu-style series as True Life: I Want a Threesome, has now put out a nationwide casting call for a new documentary about what it’s like to be white in America.
Produced by the Brooklyn-based Punched in the Head Productions, the documentary will reportedly tell the stories of young white people (ages 16-24) and their experiences dealing with race. The casting call asks questions such as: ”Are you being made to feel guilty because you’re white?” and “Are you having a problem with race on social media?”
MTV’s documentary will be directed by the journalist, filmmaker, and immigration activist Jose Antonio Vargas, and is part of the network’s “Look Different” campaign.
An MTV survey (pdf) conducted earlier this year revealed that 48% of white millennials believe that discrimination against white people has become as big a problem as discrimination against racial minorities.
The survey also reveals something corroborated by other polls—millennials in general have a difficult time talking about race. But MTV’s decision to make a documentary casting white victims of racism is a bit perplexing, especially following months of less choreographed racial strife on television.