TAKING SURVIVOR TO TRIBAL COUNCIL

Survivor ’s 22-year-long run has historically favored white contestants.

Words by Eden Stratton | Art by Fe Kligerman

Love Island, Too Hot to Handle, Ex on the Beach

— there’s nothing more entertaining than watching a group of conventionally attractive people screw each other over in paradise. But in the early 2000s, one show stood above them all — Survivor. Currently boasting an impressive 44-season run, Survivor was the blueprint for challenge-filled, island shenanigans, changing the fabric of reality television.

For contestants of color, however, challenges weren’t exclusive to the game of Survivor. Over the course of its 22-year-long run, the show has struggled to promote diversity and treat storylines featuring non-white competitors with respect.

Nothing was more egregious than Survivor: Cook Islands, which aired in 2006. In a stomachturning display of cultural insensitivity, contestants were divided into teams based on their race and ethnicity. To the surprise of no one (with the exception of the show executives, perhaps) the season was a complete shit show.

“The assumption of that [season was] that ‘yeah, let’s put all those of Asian descent on one tribe because they’ve all got to be the same and just naturally get along,” Carolyn Hedges, professor of communications at Syracuse University, said. “Nothing’s more problematic [regarding] demographics and dividing people by race and ethnicity.”

For Ramona Gray Amaro, the first Black woman to compete on Survivor, her depiction post-edit was saturated with racist stereotypes.

“We can’t swim... we butt heads, we’re athletic, but maybe not smart and strategic,” she told NPR in 2020. “I’m just saying, ‘Do right by us.’”

Amaro and fellow Black alums have continued to fight for future competitors, advocating for more diversity on the executive production team, implementing a zero-tolerance policy for racist acts, and creating storylines for people of color that play into racial stereotypes.

While Survivor allows us to connect with our inherent competitive spirit, it can reveal the worst parts of ourselves, and gives us permission to feed into our own bias and prejudice. The enduring scope of the show gives it the power to inflict biases onto its audience, and sustain harmful stereotypes in the media. While later seasons of Survivor have attempted to safeguard contestants against targeting by addressing racism during tribal councils, it’s not a concrete solution.

“Does it mean the work is done?” Hedges said. “Absolutely not.”